Snatched (15 page)

‘Do they think Sue had something to do with the fire?’ Dave asked, frowning down at Pauline. ‘Only I heard they were blaming Nicky. Wasn’t she supposed to have started it and done a runner?’

‘No one knows anything for sure yet,’ Pauline told him wearily. ‘But I don’t think they’re blaming Sue. I think they’re more concerned about whether she’d left Connor in the house by himself, the way they kept asking her if she was sure that Nicky was there when she went out. But we all know she’d never do something like that, so Sue’ll be all right.’

‘What a mess,’ Dave murmured, shaking his head. ‘And what about the other one? Haven’t they questioned
him
yet?’

‘Course they have, but he was at work when it happened, so they know it was nothing to do with him,’ Pauline said. ‘And he went straight home to your Leanne after that, didn’t he?’

Shrugging, Dave said, ‘No idea, love. I couldn’t tell you the last time I spoke to either of them. Suppose I should give her a call, though. See how she’s coping.’

Giving him a direct look now, Pauline said, ‘I would if I was you. I mean, I know you had your reasons for falling out with her, but she’s still your flesh and blood at the end of the day. And if this has taught
me
anything, it’s that we should treasure our nearest and dearest before it’s too late.’

‘Even your John?’ Dave gave her a wry smile.

‘Aye, even him,’ Pauline murmured. Then, ‘Anyhow, best get myself inside and ring that friend of Sue’s like I promised. Poor girl can’t even do that for herself no more, ’cos she lost her phone in the fire.’

Pursing his lips thoughtfully, Dave said, ‘Don’t suppose you’d do me a favour and pass my number along to her, would you? Only I wouldn’t mind keeping in touch – to make sure she’s okay, and that.’

‘I’ll certainly pass it on,’ Pauline said, taking the pen and paper she’d just written Julie’s number down with out of her pocket. ‘But I wouldn’t hold my breath if you’re expecting her to ring you, ’cos she didn’t look right impressed when she saw you just now. And you can hardly blame her after the last time, can you?’

Amused that she was being so protective of her one-time enemy, Dave said, ‘Me and Sue got along just fine before all that shit happened, so the least I can do is let her know it’s all forgotten on my part. Just give her the number and tell her I want to apologise properly, yeah?’

Phoning ahead to make sure that Terry wasn’t at the hospital – in order to avoid a nasty confrontation – Jay took Sue up to the ward where Connor had been moved to and left her there, telling her that she’d be waiting for her outside.

Getting herself a coffee from the machine, Jay carried it into the waiting room and, choosing a seat from where she could see all exits and entrances so that she could intercept Terry if he came back while Sue was still here, she sat down and mulled everything over, trying to figure out what it was about Sue’s account of Friday night that didn’t quite add up.

Sue obviously realised the need to prove that she had left Connor with a responsible person that night, but the way she’d gone on about it, it had seemed to Jay that she was more concerned about
that
than about Nicky having gone missing. Terry, on the other hand, had reacted exactly as Jay would have expected – with absolute horror at the thought of his child lying dead in the house, or wandering the streets injured. But those thoughts didn’t seem to have crossed Sue’s mind, and Jay couldn’t help but wonder why.

But then, maybe she was being too hard on her: projecting her own frustrations about her lack of headway onto Sue and reading something suspicious into her reactions. The woman had just had the shock of arriving home to find her house burned to the ground, so how awful must it have been to then find herself facing a barrage of questions from the police about where she’d been and who she’d have been with? Of
course
she’d have been concerned about proving that she’d provided adequate childcare for her son. Just as she’d have been more concerned to get to him at that moment, knowing that he
had
been hurt, than to speculate about where the one who probably
hadn’t
been injured had gone.

And if Connor loved his mother as much as she obviously loved him, then that might explain his continued silence. Because he’d been waiting for the one person in the world that he could truly trust; the one person who could reassure him that everything was going to be all right. And, now that she was here, he might just tell her what they all needed to know. Jay certainly hoped so.

Inside the ward, Sue was holding Connor’s hand and talking to him in a whisper, her eyes flicking frequently towards the door in case someone came in and heard what she was saying.

‘Please, son, just tell me what happened. I promise I won’t be angry, but I really need to know. Did Nicky do something bad? Was she smoking? Is that what started it?’

Tears trickling slowly down his cheeks, Connor shook his head from side to side on the pillow. He’d been so happy to see her, but straight away she’d done what everyone else had done and blamed Nicky. But he couldn’t tell her that it was his fault, because then she’d be mad at him for lighting the candle when he wasn’t allowed to touch the matches. And mad at Nicky for forgetting to come home and look after him. And then his dad would get mad at his mum for going out when Nicky wasn’t there. And his mum would be mad at him again for grassing her up. And everyone would just be going mad at everyone, and they’d take him away and lock him up, because it was all his fault. And that was why he couldn’t speak. Not even to her. Because, if he didn’t open his mouth in the first place, then he wouldn’t be able to say anything stupid.

‘You haven’t told anyone about me leaving you on your own for a minute that night, have you?’ Sue was asking now, peering solemnly into his eyes, terrified that his silence indicated that he felt guilty because he’d already said something which would incriminate her. ‘You know I’d never leave you alone on purpose, don’t you? And, anyway, I saw Nicky running past when I was in the taxi, so that was all right, wasn’t it? You weren’t on your own for long – just like I promised.’

A flicker of confusion flashed through Connor’s eyes. If his mum had seen Nicky, then she must have been in the house all along. But why would she hide from him? And why hadn’t she come out when the electric went, when she knew he was scared of the dark?
Unless she didn’t love him any more.

‘Promise you haven’t told anyone?’ Sue said now, squeezing Connor’s hand to bring his attention back to her. Exhaling shakily when he shook his head, she said, ‘God, I hope you’re telling the truth, Con, because I’ll get into a lot of trouble if they find out. So if they ask, you’ve got to say she was there. Do you understand, son?’

Nodding now, Connor raised a hand to swipe at the snot that was dribbling from his nose.

Jumping when the door opened behind her, Sue gave the young nurse who came in a guilty smile. ‘I was just talking to him.’

‘That’s good,’ the nurse said approvingly, ‘’Cos he’s been dying to see his mummy, haven’t you, sweetie?’ Wheeling a little trolley over to the bed now, she smiled at Sue. ‘Sorry, but I’ll need to get in there to take a little look at his back.’

‘What’s wrong with his back?’ Sue asked, standing up to give her room.

‘We think he might have been hit by the brick,’ the nurse whispered, turning Connor gently onto his side.

‘Brick?’ Sue repeated confusedly.

‘The one that got thrown through your window,’ the nurse told her, frowning now. ‘Don’t tell me you didn’t know about that?’

‘I was away for the weekend,’ Sue explained guiltily. ‘I’ve only just got back and found out.’

‘And no one thought to tell you about that?’ the nurse asked. Tutting softly when Sue shook her head, she said, ‘Well, I can only imagine they were trying not to worry you, but I know
I
’d want to be told if it was one of mine who’d been hurt.’

Gasping when the nurse raised Connor’s pyjama top now, revealing a huge, angry purple bruise that ranged from just above his hip to just below his shoulder blade, Sue clapped her hands over her mouth. ‘Oh, my
God
!’

‘Don’t worry, it’s not hurting him,’ the nurse assured her. ‘We’ve been giving him plenty of painkillers to make sure of that.’

Gazing sadly down at her son’s wounded body, Sue felt the tears welling in her eyes again. He looked so tiny and vulnerable, and she couldn’t imagine how scared he must have been when that brick came through the window and hit him. But who would do such a terrible thing? Surely not Nicky.

‘I’m going to give him his medicine now,’ the nurse said, jolting Sue out of her thoughts. ‘And he tends to get sleepy quite quickly afterwards, so you might want to say goodnight while you’ve got a chance.’ Smiling now, she added, ‘This boy of yours certainly likes his sleep.’

Murmuring that he always had, Sue leaned down and kissed Connor, whispering, ‘Night-night, darling, I’ll see you again tomorrow. And don’t forget what I said – not a word. I might have lost Nicky, but I won’t lose you as well.’ Kissing him again, she turned and walked quickly out of the room.

Leaving Connor staring after her from the bed, petrified that something awful had happened to Nicky, because why else would his mum say that she’d lost her?

Looking up when Sue came out of the ward, Jay said, ‘Did he say anything?’

Shaking her head, Sue slumped down onto a chair and buried her face in her hands as the sobs wracked her body.

Waiting until she’d calmed down enough to speak again, Jay said, ‘We will find Nicky, Mrs Day. But the important thing right now is that you and your husband are here for Connor.’

‘Terry’s here?’ Sue gasped, her voice thick with dread as she jerked her head up.

‘Not at the moment,’ Jay assured her. ‘But he’ll probably come back fairly soon, because he’s only been nipping home for the odd hour since Connor was brought in.’

‘He’s been here the whole time?’

‘More or less,’ Jay said, wondering if the odd tone of Sue’s voice was due to guilt that she hadn’t been here while he had, or fear of his reaction when their paths eventually crossed.

Murmuring, ‘Oh, God,’ Sue started chewing on her thumb nail. ‘Has
she
been here, as well?’

‘Only on the first night,’ Jay told her. ‘But I believe your husband’s been coming alone since then.’

‘I don’t want her anywhere near my son,’ Sue muttered, a glint of anger in her eyes now as she turned to look at Jay. ‘And that’s my right as his mum, isn’t it? To say who’s allowed to see him?’

Telling her that it wasn’t really a police matter, Jay suggested that she discuss it with Terry.

‘I can’t,’ Sue said edgily. ‘There’s been too much trouble.’

Sensing that Sue was genuinely scared of her ex, Jay sighed. She didn’t really want to get involved in their marital disputes, but the situation was tense enough without them fighting in the hospital if they bumped into each other when no one was around to separate them.

‘Okay, look, I can have a word with him – if you like?’ she suggested. ‘Let him know that you’d rather he didn’t bring his girlfriend in to see Connor, and see if he’ll agree to setting up a schedule so that you can keep your visiting hours separate.’

Thanking her, Sue exhaled shakily. Jay was right: she
was
scared of Terry. Although not because he was the unreasonable wife-beater she’d made him out to be, but because he was precisely the
opposite
: a reasonable man who loved his kids, and would do whatever it took to get them away from Sue now that he knew she’d left them alone for the weekend. And to make sure that didn’t happen, she would have to carry on lying about him – even if by doing so she blew any hopes she still harboured of one day getting him back.

Glancing at her watch now, Jay said, ‘I really think we should get moving if you don’t want to see your husband.’

‘I don’t,’ Sue muttered, getting up and walking quickly to the lift. Stabbing at the button, she said, ‘What’ll happen about my house? Do you think they’ll give me another place?’

Telling her that she’d have to speak to the council about that, Jay waved her into the lift – wondering why, as the doors slid smoothly shut, she still hadn’t said anything to indicate that she was concerned about her daughter.

Julie was waiting for them when they reached the flat a short time later. Yanking the door open before Jay had a chance to knock, she said, ‘Are you all right, babe? That woman who rang said there’d been a fire.’

Bursting into tears at the sight of her friend, Sue fell into her arms and clung to her.

Pulling her inside, Julie jerked her head at Jay and Ann, saying, ‘Come in if you’re coming.’

Leading them through to the living room, she sat down on the couch with Sue and waited for somebody to tell her what was happening.

‘Mrs Day’s going to need a place to stay for the night,’ Jay said, perching on the edge of one of the armchairs as Ann stayed by the door. ‘Is it okay if she stays here, or would you like us to contact the council’s homeless team?’

‘God, no, course she can stay,’ Julie said immediately. ‘But what about the kids? Only, I’ve only got two bedrooms, and they’re not exactly huge.’

Guessing that Pauline Wilson had been sparing with the details, given that Julie didn’t know about the children, Jay gave her a brief rundown of the situation, sure that Sue would tell her the full story when they’d gone.

‘Can you just confirm your name for me?’ Jay said then, taking out her notebook. ‘And give me your account of what happened on Friday night?’

‘Julie Ford,’ Julie told her, frowning. ‘But what do you mean, “my account”? Account of what?’

‘Just the sequence of events leading up to you and Mrs Day going out.’

‘Same as always,’ Julie said, shrugging. ‘I got there around eight, and did my make-up while Sue was getting dressed. Then we waited for Nicky . . .’ Trailing off when she sensed Sue’s body tensing, her frown deepened.