Another secret, but what was it this time, and what did it have to do with Abdul, a man she barely knew?
Isabella climbed up the side of the pool and plonked herself down next to Alice. The anxiety and fear from earlier had been washed clear by the excitement of a private pool. Alice couldn’t blame her, as the pool had been the first thing she’d fallen in love with at the address.
‘Are you going to come in?’ Isabella chirped as water dripped down her long black hair, landing as droplets on her light brown skin.
Alice looked at her and in that moment could see Johnny’s face: the nose and dark eyes were definitely his, yet the skin tone, smile and mass of hair were Faye’s. It made Alice wonder what hers and Ben’s child might look like.
‘Maybe in a minute,’ she smiled. ‘You have fun. Don’t worry about me.’
It was all the reassurance the little girl needed. Pushing herself up, she tottered on the edge of the pool before jumping in, sending waves of water crashing against Alice’s legs, and splashes against her one-piece bathing costume.
Her ringing phone broke through the echo of the water, and she pulled it out of her waterproof bag. She didn’t recognize the number but knew the ‘+41’ dialling code was Switzerland, and that could mean only one thing.
‘Scott?’ she stammered into the phone.
‘Alice? Oh thank God,’ her stepbrother replied, sounding tired and frustrated. ‘I take it you’ve heard what’s happened?’
‘It’s been on the news. They said you were caught smuggling cocaine into the country. What the hell, Scott?’ She wanted to say something far sterner, but was conscious that Isabella would be able to overhear every word.
‘It’s not what you think.’
‘Not what I think? How is it then? They didn’t find drugs in your hand luggage?’
He was silent for a moment. ‘I can’t get into any of that right now; I don’t have long.’
‘What do you need?’ she asked after a moment.
‘Does Mum know yet? About what happened to me, I mean.’
‘She was the one who told me, Scott.’
‘Shit!’ he sighed, crestfallen.
‘What did you expect? You’re international news: a professional cyclist – someone tipped to make a splash at next year’s Tour de France – is arrested at the airport when his bag sets off a sniffer dog. I know you always longed for fame, but I doubt this is what you were hoping for.’
‘It wasn’t my fault. Okay? You need to tell her that.’
‘How is it not your fault?’
Another pause. ‘I can’t get into that on the phone. I don’t know who might be listening in.’
‘Well you’d better tell me something. She’s probably trying to remortgage the house as we speak to stump up money to post bail for you.’
‘Tell her that I’m sorry, and that I’ll explain everything when I get things sorted.’
‘What things? What are they going to do with you?’
‘I don’t know yet. I’ve kept my mouth shut so far.’
An inflatable beach ball splashed in the water near to Alice’s left leg, and Isabella sheepishly cut through the water and scooped it up with a shy smile. Alice forced a smile back.
‘Mum wants me to fly out and help you. She’s worried that you won’t be able to communicate because they’ll be speaking to you in French or German.’
‘There’s a translator here – she’s English but lives in Geneva. She’s been supporting me, translating their questions and responding on my behalf. I don’t need you to come out here.’
It was Alice’s turn to sigh. ‘What do you need me to do then?’
‘I was phoning to warn you: you’ll probably hear a lot about me over the coming days, but I want you to know that half of what you hear isn’t true. Okay?’
Alice frowned, confused. ‘Hear a lot about what, Scott? What have you done?’
‘I told you, I can’t go into that, but someone put those drugs in my bag.’
She scoffed. ‘You seriously expect me to believe that you didn’t know they were in there?’
‘No, that’s not what I’m saying. I knew, but … it wasn’t my idea.’
‘Scott, you’re not making any sense. If it wasn’t your idea, then whose idea …’ Her words trailed off as her mind connected the dots.
You need to sort this! If Alice finds out, we’re both toast.
It was like someone had turned on a light, and suddenly Dave’s nervousness became clear; the reason he’d been waiting for their return, and the reason he would only speak to Ben.
She scrunched her eyes tight, not wanting to know the answer, but compelled to ask anyway. ‘Oh God, tell me this has nothing to do with Ben.’
‘Ben? No, nothing. He doesn’t know, at least I don’t think he does. Whatever you do though, keep an eye on him, and keep him away from his mates.’
‘Dave is here now,’ she said quietly.
‘Now? What does he want? Did he mention me?’
‘I don’t know,’ she sighed. ‘He wanted to speak to Ben alone. What’s going on, Scott? Does this have anything to do with Bournemouth?’
Another pause. ‘What do you know about what happened in Bournemouth?’ He sounded so cold when he uttered the words that the hairs on the back of Alice’s neck rose.
‘The Kerry Valentine thing. Does this have anything to do with Kerry Valentine?’
‘No, nothing. Well, not exactly. I can’t go into that over the phone, but I will explain everything to you when I get back – if I get back.’
‘I overheard them talking about Abdul; does it have anything to do with Abdul?’
‘You and Ben should just get away, okay? Let everything blow over, and when it’s sorted I’ll reach out to you. Listen, they’re telling me I need to hang up. Apologize to Mum for me and tell her everything will be okay. Will you do that? I’m sorry, Alice. I’m so sor—’ the line disconnected before he could finish.
Alice returned the phone to the waterproof bag, nausea slowly bubbling in the pit of her stomach.
‘Are you going to come in and swim now?’ Isabella asked.
Alice looked down at those innocent eyes, yet to be scarred by the secrets adults tell to their friends, family and themselves. ‘Just give me a minute, sweetie,’ she said, pulling her legs out of the water and reaching for her towel.
It was a relief that Scott had said Ben had nothing to do with the cocaine, but that didn’t mean Dave wouldn’t convince him to become an accessory after the fact. She’d vowed to stand by Ben for better for worse, and if that meant kicking Dave out of their house, then she was ready to do it.
Straightening, she saw Ben and Dave emerge from the house. Both dressed head-to-toe in black, they moved swiftly to Dave’s car and climbed in, before pulling away with a screech of tyres and brake dust.
FIFTY-ONE
Racing from the pool enclosure towards her small sports car, clutching Isabella’s hand, Alice’s sole focus was on keeping Dave’s car in sight. She had to know where he and Ben were going and why. Too many secrets had been kept from her recently, and it was time to stop burying her head in the sand and hoping everything would turn out for the best.
In hindsight, dragging Isabella along for what was essentially a hare-brained chase wasn’t such a great idea, but she had no option but to bring her along for the ride.
‘Where are we going?’ Isabella was asking. ‘I don’t have any clothes on.’
Isabella paused for just a moment as she reached the passenger side door. Staring down at the skinny child, who had instinctively pulled her arms around her middle, Alice had to think fast. Wrapping the large beach towel around Isabella, Alice belted her into the back seat and hurried around to the driver’s side.
‘We’re going on an adventure,’ Alice said as she started the engine and pulled away. ‘Do you like adventures?’
Isabella’s anxiety immediately lifted, replaced by giddy excitement. ‘You mean like the Famous Five?’
Alice had never read the Enid Blyton books herself, but had heard of them. ‘Exactly like that,’ she said, beaming. ‘Okay? We need to find the car Uncle Ben is in. Did you see the car parked here when we got home?’
‘You mean Uncle Dave’s car?’
‘That’s right. Ben and Dave have gone off to hide and it’s up to us to find them. Like hide‑and‑seek but in cars. Does that sound good?’
Isabella put on her most serious face. ‘Do we get a prize if we find them?’
‘Absolutely!’ Alice declared as they neared the gates. ‘How does a burger and chips sound? We’ll stop at the drive-thru on the way home.’
‘Can I have a milkshake, too?’
‘Of course you can, sweetie.’
Alice had seen Dave’s car dart to the right and she copied the move, though there was no sign of him on the road immediately ahead of them. Accelerating forwards, knowing that they could have been going anywhere and that the chances of her finding them were virtually non-existent, Alice persevered.
The other properties soon disappeared into the distance as they hit a road with a 50 mph speed limit, but that ended too abruptly as they reached red traffic lights. Four cars separated her from the front of the queue, but she spotted the taillights of Dave’s Land Rover as it continued straight – the last car through before the lights had changed. At least it meant they were going the right way. The road would eventually lead to Romsey and beyond that the options were the M27 west to Portsmouth or the A31 east to Bournemouth. Her gut told her they’d head east, as that’s where Abdul lived, but it was all conjecture at this point.
The car’s stereo cut out as the Bluetooth system interrupted, announcing an incoming call. Hoping it was Ben, she flicked a switch on the steering wheel to answer it.
‘Ben?’
‘Um, no, it’s DC Hazelton,’ came the reply. ‘Is now a bad time?’
Alice looked at Isabella in the rear-view mirror. If Hazelton was phoning to give bad news about Faye, the last thing she needed was for Isabella to hear it from a stranger.
‘I’m driving,’ Alice said quickly. ‘I have Faye’s daughter, Isabella, in the car with me.’
‘Is Ben with you too?’
‘Ben? No, why?’
‘Can I come over? It would be better to tell you in person than over the phone. Are you near home?’
Alice couldn’t inform her of her present location or the reason why. The lights turned to green and the cars ploughed forwards.
‘No, won’t be home for a while yet. What do you need to speak to Ben about?’
Hazelton sighed, blowing loud air into the car’s speakers. ‘We’ve identified a second source of DNA on Kerry. Is Ben at home? Perhaps I could speak to him directly instead—’
‘No, he’s not home,’ Alice interrupted.
‘Ah, do you know when he’ll be back? I need to ask him some questions about that night.’
Alice pulled around the car in front, which had been barely hitting thirty, despite the national speed limit sign they’d passed a moment earlier. She cut back in before a lorry trundled past on the opposite side of the carriageway.
‘I’m not sure, sorry.’
In the circumstances it was better not to lie. The truth was she didn’t know when Ben would be back. All she was omitting was that she believed he was going to get himself into trouble and that she was hotfooting it after him.
‘I tried phoning him, but the answerphone cuts in every time. Do you know where he is?’
‘No, sorry.’ Alice thought again. ‘Um, what I mean is, I’m not sure what he’s up to. He said something about work, but I wasn’t really listening to be honest.’
‘Not to worry. I’ll keep trying his phone. If you see him before I’ve managed to make contact, can you ask him to give me a call urgently?’
‘Will do,’ Alice said, ending the call.
‘Who’s Kerry?’ Isabella asked, looking up at Alice’s reflection in the mirror.
Alice met her stare but didn’t know how to answer. Did the second DNA profile belong to Johnny? Is that why Hazelton hadn’t named the suspect, because she didn’t want Isabella to hear? Or was it because it belonged to someone Alice hadn’t considered? And whatever the answer, why did she want to speak to Ben about it?
Alice was tempted to pull over and phone Hazelton back to demand answers, even taking the call outside of the car so Isabella wouldn’t overhear, but as they reached the roundabout leading to the motorway, she spotted Dave’s Land Rover. It was heading clockwise around the roundabout, exiting at the slip road for the A31. They had to be heading towards Bournemouth or Poole, and she felt slightly relieved that it would be easier to keep track of them on the dual carriageway.
‘I’m hungry,’ Isabella whined. ‘When are we going to get food?’
‘Soon, sweetie,’ Alice replied absently as she pulled onto the roundabout, indicated and followed it around to the slip road. ‘See if you can spot Dave’s car again, and you might earn yourself a pudding as well. How does that sound?’
Alice settled into a spot three cars behind the Land Rover, on an unshakeable course to whatever destiny had in store.
FIFTY-TWO
The Land Rover suddenly indicated for the off ramp at Ringwood. Alice, four cars behind, had been in the process of overtaking a caravan when the manoeuvre happened, and but for the last-minute glance at the turning she would have been oblivious to the fact that they’d left the road. It was too late for her to replicate their move and now she desperately hunted for somewhere she could come off and retrace her steps.
The whole time she’d been working on the assumption that they were headed to Bournemouth, but unless they were taking a scenic route to the town, they were headed elsewhere. With the Land Rover now out of sight, she had no way of knowing where it was they were going.
Thumping the steering wheel in frustration, Alice bit her tongue to stop herself cursing, conscious of Isabella dozing gently in the seat behind her. To have come so far and now lost them all because of that bloody caravan was hugely frustrating. Now she’d never know for certain why they’d suddenly rushed here or what they were planning.
Spotting the exit for Verwood and Matchams, Alice made the decision to get off the road and end the pursuit. There was no point in continuing driving west, especially when even her own stomach was starting to grumble. Following the exit road around and underneath the A31, they were soon on the eastbound side of the road.
‘We’ll stop for food in a bit,’ Alice said apologetically. ‘You still want that milkshake?’
Isabella nodded, half-asleep, but the earlier excitement had waned.
Alice had a vague memory that there was a McDonald’s at one of the service stops on the way back. She tried calling Ben’s phone via the Bluetooth, but as Hazelton had said, it went straight to voicemail, which meant he’d switched it off. That in itself was an odd thing for him to do. Ben was one of those people who had his phone at his side at all times, never far from social media and calls from the office. She could only think of one reason why he might have switched it off: because he didn’t want to be traced. Trying Dave’s phone as well, that too went straight to voicemail.
She tried to ignore the rising dread in the pit of her stomach.
Pulling off the road as the services loomed, she drove past the petrol station, alarmed to see half a dozen sets of blue flashing lights blocking the entrance to the restaurant. An officer was stationed by the line of cars, speaking to the long line of drivers ahead of them. Each time the officer would ask the driver to lower their window, talk for a few seconds and then the car would pull away and rejoin the main road.
As Alice lowered her window, the officer in a bright yellow, high-vis vest offered an empathetic nod. ‘I’m sorry, we’ve had to close the services due to a major incident. If you continue along the road, the next services is in about fifteen miles.’ He straightened to indicate the conversation was over.
‘I’m sorry,’ Alice
called out through the window. ‘Can you tell me what’s happened?’
He bent forward again, clearly conscious of the queue building behind her, with other hungry drivers waiting to be delivered the bad news.
‘Just a local incident, madam, nothing for you to be alarmed about. We anticipate reopening the services in the next few hours.’
He straightened again, leaving Alice with no option but to do as instructed.
‘What’s going on?’ Isabella asked in a disappointed tone. ‘Does this mean we’re not getting food?’
‘No, sweetie, it just means we can’t eat here. I’m sorry, but it won’t be long until we get to the next one, and then we can eat.’
Releasing the handbrake, Alice couldn’t help but glance through the line of police cars, to try and see what could have possibly caused such activity. That’s when she spotted Dave’s Land Rover parked in one of the bays towards the rear of the small car park.
If Dave was there, she had no doubt that the police presence had something to do with him, and her heart dropped as she realized that Ben would also then be in trouble. She wanted to stop, to know for certain, but it wouldn’t be fair on Isabella – she would just have to wait for the inevitable phone call. If only she’d seen them pulling off at Ringwood sooner, maybe she could have prevented whatever had occurred.
With that thought still in her mind, she pulled onto the slip road down to the A31, but was alarmed to see a dark figure suddenly emerge from the trees, waving frantically. Drawing closer, she was even more alarmed when she realized the figure in black was Ben.
FIFTY-THREE
‘I don’t believe it,’ Ben said as he dived into the front of the car. ‘I guess God really does answer prayers.’
Alice hadn’t taken her eyes from the rear-view mirror, urging the police officer in the high-vis vest not to notice that she’d pulled over on the slip road to allow Ben to leap in.
‘What are the two of you doing here?’ Ben asked, as he struggled to wrap the seatbelt around him.
Alice didn’t respond, allowing the next car to pass before pulling back onto the slip road. Her eyes didn’t leave the high-vis jacket until they’d rejoined the carriageway.
Till Death Do Us Part Page 25