Missing (43 page)

‘Hey, Vivi,’ a perky voice chirruped down the line.

‘Hey, Kayla,’ Vivienne chirruped back, turning at the sound of a car coming into the stable yard. Seeing the grey BMW, she felt her heart warm and started to smile. ‘Here’s Daddy,’ she whispered to Rufus, who was half asleep in her arms.

‘Where?’ Kayla whispered back. ‘I can’t see him.’

‘Very funny. How are things your end?’

‘Great news from Sky. Apparently their finance bods have struck a deal with a major cancer trust, so we can use their charity status for the auction. So tax deductions, here we come.’

‘That’s fantastic!’ Vivienne cried. ‘People are much more likely to be generous if they know that.’

‘Exactly. Also, Angus wants me to tell you that he
can
make lunch with Al Kohler and team next Tuesday. He reckons you’ll form a kind of committee which he’s happy to be part of, and wants to know if you’re interested in chairing it, because he’ll put you forward if you are.’

‘I think our role is to publicise the auction,’ Vivienne replied, tucking the phone under her chin in order to shift Rufus onto the other arm. ‘But I’ll give it some thought, because maybe I would like to be more involved. Anything else?’ she asked, her eyes connecting with Miles’s as she walked over to the car. Was it really possible to love him more every time she saw him, because that was certainly how it felt?

‘No, I think that’s about it,’ Kayla responded.

‘Hi,’ Miles murmured, putting his mouth to hers as he took Rufus from her.

‘Hi,’ she murmured back.

‘Hi yourself,’ Kayla put in. ‘Can I go now? Are we done here?’

‘I think so,’ Vivienne replied, smoothing a hand over Rufus’s cheek as he snuggled up to his father. ‘Get Alice to call me when she has a minute. I’ll be back in Chiswick tomorrow and I need to see her.’ As she clicked off she said to Miles, ‘Any news from the school? Has she turned up there?’

‘Not yet. I’ve spoken to her again, though, and I get the impression she could be ready to come out of hiding.’

‘Well, that’s a relief. What did she say?’

‘That she’s sorry and realises she’s being selfish, and because she doesn’t want me to worry she’ll come home but only on the condition …’ He grimaced. ‘I’m sorry about this, but the condition is that you’re not there.’

‘It’s all right,’ Vivienne assured him. ‘I wouldn’t be at Moorlands anyway, and it’s important that you make her feel as secure as you can, particularly while she’s going through all this with her mother.’

He nodded gravely. ‘I just hope she decides to turn up tonight. What time are you leaving?’

‘In about an hour. I’ll collect some things from the cider press first, then start making tracks.’

Gazing down at Rufus’s sleep-flushed cheeks, he said, ‘I’m loathe to part with him.’

‘It’ll only be until Wednesday,’ she reminded him.

‘Still too long,’ he murmured. ‘Kelsey’s friend told me a couple of things today about some kind of bullying or teasing at school—’

Turning to find out what had stopped him, Vivienne saw Stella coming towards them, a very troubled expression on her face. Immediately she was concerned, for she’d never seen Stella without at least the beginnings of a smile, nor did she appear at all surprised, or even curious, that Miles was at the refuge. ‘What is it?’ Vivienne asked. ‘Has something happened?’

‘Yes, it has,’ Stella said bleakly. ‘Or maybe I should say it’s not going to. Oh dear, it’s a terrible bit of news. Not what we was expecting at all. It shouldn’t ’appen like this. It’s mean, is what it is. Getting someone’s hopes up then letting them down …’

‘You need to tell us what it is,’ Vivienne prompted gently.

Stella nodded grimly. ‘It’s our little Sharon. Turns out her donor in’t up for it after all, so she can’t have the transplant.’

‘Oh no.’ Vivienne reached for Stella’s hands. ‘That’s awful. Where’s Sharon now?’

‘She’s at ’ome with the kids. All shook up she is, by the sound of her. I ought to get meself over there, but my hubby’s in having his cataracts done this afternoon, so I have to go and pick him up.’

‘Don’t worry, I’ll go,’ Vivienne assured her. And, turning to Miles, ‘She shouldn’t be on her own now.’

‘No, of course not,’ he agreed.

‘I reckon she’ll like that, if you goes,’ Stella said. ‘It’ll make her feel a bit special. But what are we going to do about this auction now? I mean, if she …’

Hugging her, Vivienne said, ‘It’ll go ahead as planned, because we still need the financial support for when she does get a donor.’

‘Yeah, yeah, course you’re right.’

Spotting a camera pointing in their direction, Stella turned into full frame as she said, ‘Our poor girl. You got to help her. Someone out there, please,’ and with her eyes full of tears, she put her head down and trundled off to her car.

Vivienne turned to Miles. ‘I’ll call you later, when I’m on my way back to London. If you hear anything from Kelsey in that time, don’t forget to let me know.’

‘Are you sure that’s her?’ Sadler growled as Joy replayed a section of CCTV footage. ‘I can’t see how she looks like anyone with all that hair and sunglasses.’

‘That’s what caught my attention,’ she told him. ‘It’s a classic disguise.’

‘What’s to say it’s a disguise? It looks perfectly normal to me.’

‘Maybe it is. I’m just saying, sir, it
could
be Mrs Avery and if it is she boarded a London-bound train at four twenty on the day she disappeared. Six hours
after
she was supposed to be travelling. That gives her ample time to change her hair and clothes, dump the bag containing everything of her real identity, and even to shop for any last-minute items she might need.’

‘Mm,’ Sadler grunted.

‘What’s more,’ she continued, ‘while you were down at the pub having lunch with the boys,
sir
, I had a very interesting chat with DC Ball in Richmond. Apparently he went round to the estate agent’s this morning, and it turns out that someone there
does
know the name Anne Cates.’

Sadler scowled.

‘The agent in question wasn’t in the office when I called yesterday,’ she explained, ‘but he’s been quite helpful today. Apparently, Anne Cates got in touch with him a couple of months ago about renting a house or apartment in Richmond. She wanted a short-term let, which she was prepared to pay for up front and in cash. He showed her quite a few, he says, and was certain she was going to take one close to the green, but then at the last minute she called to say she’d found somewhere else.’

‘Did she tell him where?’

Joy deflated slightly as she shook her head. ‘But I don’t think we’d go far wrong in assuming it’s in Richmond, or possibly Kew, since that’s where the call came from.’

‘Mm,’ Sadler mumbled ponderously.

‘I’ve taken the liberty,’ Joy went on, ‘of asking DC Ball to contact all the estate agents in Richmond to find out if they’ve rented a place to an Anne Cates sometime during the past two months. It could be that the envelope we found contained a letter from one of them.’

Sadler nodded approval. ‘Good thinking. Have you mentioned any of this to Mr Avery?’

‘No, sir. My last contact with him was yesterday when he called to ask if anyone had checked the house he and his wife used to own in Richmond.’

‘And you told him someone had?’

‘Of course.’

He sat quietly thinking for a moment, his expression creased with concentration. ‘Has that pay-as-you-go phone been used again since the call came in?’ he asked.

She shook her head. ‘Not that anyone’s mentioned, and they’ve got instructions to let us know the minute it is.’

‘OK, so we don’t know if she’s still in the Kew area … Are Ms Kane and her son still in Devon?’

‘They were earlier today, sir. I couldn’t be sure now.’

‘Then get onto it, Detective Constable, and I’ll speak to DC Ball’s superiors. I think we need to ratchet it up a little around there.’

Chapter Nineteen

IT WAS AFTER
nine in the morning when Vivienne finally woke up to find bright shafts of sunlight streaming through the skylights above her bed. Since she hadn’t got back to Chiswick until after eleven the night before she wasn’t surprised to find Rufus was sleeping in too, particularly after he’d used up so much energy playing with Sharon’s children before they’d left Devon. As usual, Sharon had tried to put a brave face on what she was going through, but it was clear that her hopes had been devastated by the donor’s withdrawal. Now all she could see looming was the horror of leaving her children with no mother or father.

Vivienne had stayed with her until Stella had turned up and the children were asleep, doing her best to comfort and reassure her, but nothing she could say would ever ease the fear in Sharon’s heart – only another donor could do that. Considering Sharon’s rare tissue type, the chances of finding a replacement in time now were almost non-existent, but Vivienne was refusing to give up hope. They were generating a lot of publicity for the auction, so maybe someone with the right match might yet come forward.

After checking on Rufus, she padded downstairs to the kitchen, where she turned on the TV and filled the
kettle
to make tea. She was about to call Sharon to find out how she’d slept, when she noticed there was a text on her BlackBerry from Miles.

Don’t want to wake you. Kelsey at London house, on way there now. M.

Heaving a sigh of relief, Vivienne checked the time he’d sent the message, and seeing it was about half an hour ago, she tried his mobile first.

‘I’m just joining the M5 at Exeter,’ he told her, when she got through.

‘What happened? How did you find out where she was?’

‘I guessed, and she admitted it when I called first thing. She wants to come back, but doesn’t have any money for a ticket, so I’m going to get her. How are you, this morning?’

‘Fine. Rufus is still sleeping, and one of our promos is going out on Sky as we speak. In fact, they’re showing Stella’s plea after we found out about Sharon’s donor yesterday.’

‘Then let’s hope it has the desired effect. Have you spoken to—’

‘Hang on,’ Vivienne said, starting to turn cold. ‘Oh God, you’re not going to like this. You and I are in the back of shot, with Rufus, and guess what, when Stella clears frame, it seems the cameraman zoomed in on us before he cut.’

‘You’re not serious,’ Miles groaned. ‘I hope to God Kelsey isn’t watching. Or Jacqueline.’

‘I thought the camera panned with Stella,’ Vivienne said helplessly.

‘So did I. Christ, before we know it that image is
going
to be all over the place.’ He sighed irritably. ‘I guess it was just naive to think interest was going to die down now Jacqueline’s made contact. Hang on, someone’s trying to get through. And no prizes for guessing who.’

‘Kelsey?’

‘I’ll call you back.’

At his end, Miles slowed up a little as he switched to the incoming call.

‘I am like so never,
ever
coming home again,’ Kelsey seethed through her teeth. ‘I just saw you on TV with your
son and her
—’

‘I’m sorry, it—’

‘
Sorry!
What good’s that? Have you thought how Mum’s going to feel if she sees it? Hasn’t she suffered enough?’

‘What matters—’

‘How could you shove it in her face like that? You’re mean and selfish and you don’t deserve us.’

‘It wasn’t a deliberate—’

‘I don’t blame her for running away. She’s had a life of hell being married to you. Well, I’m going to find her and when I do you’ll never see either of us again, because we hate you.’

‘Kelsey, don’t hang up—’ It was too late; she already had.

Wasting no time he hit the call-back, but wasn’t surprised to find himself diverted through to voicemail, so after leaving a forceful message telling her to stay put, he reconnected to Vivienne.

‘God knows what she’s going to do,’ he said angrily. ‘She’s got no idea where Jacqueline is, so she doesn’t even know where to start looking and it’ll be at least another two hours before I get there.’

‘I’d go over myself, but we know that won’t help. Here’s a thought, though, Theo’s on his way here. Maybe he’ll go over on his motorbike. If she’s still there, he might be able to stop her from leaving.’

’But she doesn’t even know him.’

‘She knows who he is, and do you have any better suggestions?’

Miles heaved a sigh of frustration. ‘If he’ll do it, I’ll be deeply in his debt.’

‘I can only ask. Once I have his answer I’ll call and let you know.’

Minutes later, when Theo arrived, expecting to be briefed on the coming week, Vivienne explained what was happening. She could have kissed him when, in typical Theo fashion, he took the request in his stride and turned right around to go over to Kensington.

‘Success has never gone to that boy’s head,’ she said to Miles when she called back. ‘I guess that’s why we all love him so much. I’d love to see Kelsey’s face when he turns up.’

‘So would I,’ Miles responded dryly. ‘Let’s hope she’s still there.’

‘I told him to call you as soon as he knows. Now I have to go, your son has just woken up.’

After ringing off she ran upstairs to find Rufus chuntering away to his toes, but as she made to scoop him up in her arms the phone rang again.

‘Vivi, darling, it’s Mum. I’ve been trying to get through …’

Vivienne’s eyes closed. ‘Because you’ve been watching Sky?’

‘You’ve seen it?’

‘I have. It wasn’t supposed to happen like that, but let’s try not to forget who this is really about.’

There was a blank silence from the other end.

‘Sharon, the girl who’s dying,’ Vivienne reminded her angrily. ‘For God’s sake, Mum, it’s bad enough when the press cuts her out …’

‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry,’ Linda cried. ‘Of course it’s about that dear girl. But Vivi, I think I should cancel my holiday.’

‘Why? Look, I really appreciate how concerned you are, but I swear, Rufus and I are fine. You need this holiday—Hang on a moment, someone’s trying to get through.’

‘Hi it’s me,’ Alice said breezily. ‘Angus thought you might like to know that we’ve just received a cheque from
La Belle Amie
which we’re giving straight to you to make your mortgage arrears history. Also to tell you that we’re leaving home in about half an hour, so we’ll be with you soon after.’