No Longer Safe(99)

Karen didn’t respond.

‘Do you get visits from social services?’ I asked innocently, ‘after…what happened.’

She looked up at me warily. ‘Yeah. I went to see them on the way back from the hospital last week. They’re coming tomorrow for a visit.’

I hesitated. Was this another lie?

‘I’ll give you their card and you can ring them, if you don’t believe me,’ she added, her tongue hooked under her tooth. ‘It’s upstairs.’

‘Stuart and I…are going to leave today. I’m going to get myself checked over by a doctor…’

‘Okay,’ she said blankly.

I shrugged. There would be time later for the awkward goodbyes – we didn’t need to have any now.

After Mel had been fed, Karen started running a bath. I went up after her.

‘I can do it, if you like – you’ve only got one arm.’

‘No – it’s fine,’ she said firmly, putting a clean nappy on the wooden chair. She gathered a couple of towels and squirted bubble bath into the flow of the water. The froth multiplied quickly, foaming up into a cauldron.

I went down to the sitting room and tried ringing Stuart. The landline rang and rang, then his mobile went to voicemail.

‘Where are you?’ I said. ‘Call me – as soon as you get this.’

I’d just put the phone down when it rang, making me jump. ‘What’s happened?’ I said, without waiting for his voice. There was a silence at the other end before a woman asked to speak to Karen.

‘Oh, sorry – who’s calling?’

‘Mrs Ellington – I own the cottage – it’s quite important.’

I left the receiver on the French dresser and ran up the stairs. Karen had the radio on in the bathroom and was singing along with Mel to an old song by Wham. I called out. No reply. There was a sharp glug and the water starting gurgling down the plughole. I called again, then tapped and opened the bathroom door a fraction. Karen was sitting on the edge of the bath, a towel on her knees. Mel was sitting facing me, naked.

My mouth fell open.





Chapter 42




I stared at the baby and then up at Karen’s startled face. There was no doubt about it. The child was a boy.

I made my mouth form the words. ‘There’s a call for you,’ I said, barely audibly, as though in a trance. ‘It’s Mrs Ellington…’

Karen didn’t say a word. She carefully wrapped the boy in a towel and took him downstairs. I stood on the landing, blinking fast, aware of her voice in the distance on the phone.

She came back to the bathroom and carried on as if I wasn’t there, wrapping the infant’s nakedness inside the towel and rubbing him down. ‘Mrs Ellington wants the rest of the payment for the cottage,’ she said with a yawn. ‘I’ll drop it round for her.’

I picked up a wet flannel that had fallen to the floor and held it out like a gift.

‘It’s Brody, isn’t it?’ I said aghast.

No wonder he was crying a lot when he was awake. Karen was a complete stranger. He wanted his mother.

I stared at her. She was like an apparition emerging from the billowy steam. A phantom. Several pieces of the jigsaw began to float into the spaces around me.

I’d never seen her baby’s face clearly the whole time; the hat the child always wore, the oxygen mask, the drawn curtains, the sedatives so she would sleep for long periods – all designed so we wouldn’t see her properly. The stained rubber gloves – of course, Brody’s hair had been blond – the rash around his hairline.

I frowned in confusion. The police had examined ‘Melanie’ after the boy went missing. At some point she must have made a switch; Brody for Mel.

I left the flannel on the edge of the sink, backed out of the room and closed the door.

I had to call the police.

And what about Stuart? Why wasn’t he answering?

I went to the window in the stupid way people do when they’re waiting for someone who isn’t due back for hours. I thought I might see his Land Rover pulling up, or see him walking towards the cottage.

Except, to my horror, the Land Rover was still there. I swung open the front door and, still in my slippers, I ran towards it. I slapped my hand on the bonnet; the engine was cold and the vehicle was empty. Stuart’s cap was lying on the seat where he’d left it, yesterday.

Why hadn’t I checked for the car, earlier? Where on earth would he go on foot? Did Karen know more about his departure than she’d told me?

I came back inside in turmoil. I was going to have to handle this on my own. My breathing was all over the place – too loud, too fast. My hands slipped on the bannister as I raced up the stairs again.