by A. E. Radley
“I didn’t do anything. He came onto me!” Kate explained.
Abigail scoffed, and Kate instantly realised that she could never win this particular battle of He Said, She Said. To Abigail, Michael was a saint. She adored her husband to the extent that his behaviour would never be in question.
Kate felt unsteady on her feet. She knew what was coming. Her topsy-turvy life was about to throw her another serious curveball. Everything was about to change.
“Get out,” Abigail repeated. “I don’t ever want to see you again. You have five minutes to get the hell out of my house.”
“But—”
Abigail turned and ran down the hallway, the sound of her bedroom door cracking shut loudly behind her.
Kate sank to her knees, her hands shaking in her lap.
Missing
Selina slammed her car door shut. The last thing she wanted to do was spend her evening filling in paperwork and speaking with her pathetic brother-in-law. Thankfully, it would be a short visit. She thought about the bottle of wine that was chilling in the fridge and mentally flipped through her music collection to find the best pairing.
A free evening at home was a rarity. Not that this was much of one, but she’d take a couple of hours wherever she could find them.
Before she could even get to the front door, it flew open.
Abi’s face was red, her eyes swimming with tears. Selina would have been worried if she wasn’t so adept at identifying her younger sister’s moods.
This was the angry face. The face that first made an appearance when they were children and Selina had told her that she wasn’t allowed in her room anymore. Barring Abi had been the only way she’d managed to get any peace and quiet when they were growing up. It hadn’t gone down well with Abi. She’d been tears and tantrums.
Much like she looked now.
“Problem?” Selina asked, cutting straight to the point.
“That woman,” Abi spat.
“Which one?” Selina started to remove her leather gloves, expecting to be invited into the house any moment now.
“That bitch. She, she was all over Michael. He had to fight her off!”
Selina was becoming frustrated by the blocked entrance and the riddles. Not to mention the fact that Michael was never to blame. She sighed. “Explain.”
“Kate,” Abi said.
“Kate?” Selina blinked. “Threw herself… at Michael?”
“Yes!”
Selina threw her head back and laughed. It was the most ridiculous thing she’d heard all day, and that included Margaret’s request for a £10,000 wine budget.
Michael appeared in the hallway, looking over Abi’s shoulder, as shifty as ever.
“Don’t laugh!” Abi commanded her.
“But it’s hilarious!” She pointed at Michael. “You’re honestly telling me that sweet, pretty, young girl threw herself at that brain-dead, balding, flabby excuse for a human?”
“Selina!” Kate admonished.
Michael simply turned and walked away.
“That’s preposterous,” Selina continued. “Kate would never, ever do something like that.”
She didn’t know how she knew that, but she did. Somehow her few interactions with Kate had left her in no doubt of the woman’s integrity. Besides, she knew that Kate wouldn’t risk her job and home over someone as sickening as Michael.
“She did.”
“Did you see it?” Selina demanded. “Or did your oaf of a life partner tell you what happened?”
Abi stalled for a moment, and Selina rolled her eyes.
“You’re so naïve. That man is sleeping his way across the country. Business trips? Were you born yesterday? I think it’s far more likely that he’s the one at fault here.” Selina paused. “Where is she?”
She was suddenly aware of how cold it was standing on the driveway. A shiver ran up her spine at the thought of Kate not being in the relative safety of the house.
“Gone. I kicked her out.” Abi jutted her chin up. “I didn’t want her near my children.”
Selina barked out a laugh. “If you really cared about bad influences on your children, you’d get a divorce.” She turned around and stalked back to her car.
“Where are you going?” Abi asked.
“I have somewhere to be.” Selina got into her Porsche and started the engine. She wasn’t about to explain to her sister that she’d just thrown a homeless woman out into the streets on the word of her adulterous husband.
She reversed off the drive without a glance back at Abi. Her mind was full of questions. Where would Kate go? What was the address of the women’s shelter? How long had she been gone?
On top of all of that, the biggest question of them all: why did she care?
Selina knew she wasn’t in line for any good Samaritan award. Indeed, if there was an opposite of that, she’d be a shoe-in.
But she was operating on sheer instinct. Desperation raced through her veins alongside the adrenaline. She had to find Kate, had to know that she was okay.
She had no idea what she would do once she found her. That was a problem for later.
Selina put her mobile phone in the cradle, which synced it to her satnav system. Once it had connected, she asked her phone for a list of local women’s shelters. After some trial and error, she managed to find the address of a place that looked most likely.
She looked at the clock. 21:02.
Trawling through her memory, she recalled that Kate had said something about availability being limited at the shelter she’d frequented. She might have mentioned a cut-off time, but Selina couldn’t be certain.
She slammed her hand down on the steering wheel, cursing her lack of interest in other people when they spoke.
For a brief moment, she tried to think about what she would do if she were in Kate’s position, but quickly shuttered that direction of enquiry. She had no idea what she would do. Luckily for her, she’d never been even close to being homeless. The whole concept of it being possible was foreign to her.
But it was a stark reality to Kate, and that worried Selina. She briefly analysed why she cared. Did she feel responsible? Abi had been the one to kick her out. Selina hadn’t even been involved in her getting the job.
But she felt some kind of strange duty towards Kate. It mattered that she was okay.
Selina shook off the thought. She needed to focus on finding her.
She wondered if she would be able to convince Abi that she was being ridiculous and convince Kate to go back to her job. It was unlikely on both counts. Abi considered Michael to be the best husband and father on the planet. And why would Kate want to go back to live in a house with that terrible, harassing man?
She needed another solution, but she’d find that when she found Kate.
After a lot of driving around aimlessly, and consulting her satnav multiple times, she found the women’s shelter. It was a run-down building next to a sex shop which she didn’t know existed. “Ridiculous,” she muttered. Whoever had chosen this location as the perfect spot for a women’s shelter needed to answer some serious questions.
She stepped out of the car, pressing the lock button on her key fob multiple times just to be certain. After a deep breath, she stepped through the door and into the shelter.
A makeshift reception had been created by someone hacking a square hole in the wall between the hallway and an office. She peered in and made eye contact with a kind-looking woman in her sixties.
To say the woman looked surprised to see Selina in her Gucci suit would have been an understatement.
“I’m looking for someone,” Selina explained. “Kate…” She trailed off, realising only then that she couldn’t even remember Kate’s full name.
The woman looked at her with suspicion. “We don’t give out any details of our residents.”
Selina quickly recognised that this would not be a battle won by force. She took a breath to calm herself.
“I can understand that; I just
want to know if she’s safe. She used to come here often, and I understand that she’s suddenly found herself homeless again, through no fault of her own. I’m looking for her to make sure she doesn’t end up on the streets tonight.”
The warring emotions on the woman’s face were clear. She had information to give but was evaluating Selina’s sincerity.
“I don’t need to see her, just to know if she is safe.” She pulled her purse out from her handbag and plucked out some notes. “If she’s here, please give her this. Maybe she can buy some food, a sleeping bag.”
Selina didn’t know what homeless people spent their money on. She’d always assumed it was drugs, but now she knew better.
The woman placed her hand over the stack of notes to keep Selina from adding to the pile. “I’m sorry, dear. She’s not here. She came a while ago, but we’re full.”
Selina’s breath caught. It had always been a possibility that Kate was out there somewhere, but it wasn’t until now that she realised how terrifying that possibility was. For the first time that evening, she actually felt as if she had lost Kate. Which was true, she had no idea where Kate could be. Her one hope had just turned out to be a dead-end.
She dropped her purse back into her bag and turned to leave.
“Your money,” the woman reminded her.
“Keep it. It’s a donation,” Selina called back.
She was in her car and driving before she realised that she should have asked the woman at the shelter where Kate might have gone. Surely, she’d know more about the local homeless population than Selina could guess.
She drove slowly through the various central streets in Parbrook: by the station, by the high street, and by her own building in case Kate was back in the car park. Her heart sank as each location turned up nothing. On top of that, it was dark, and she was finding it increasingly more difficult to see.
She spotted a couple of police officers on patrol and pulled up beside them.
“Excuse me,” she called.
A male officer turned and approached the car.
“I’m looking for someone,” Selina explained. “Long story, but she used to be homeless, then she wasn’t, and tonight she is again. I know this sounds strange, but where do homeless people congregate?”
He tilted his head and looked at her thoughtfully before answering. “Wherever there is shelter. Store entrances, bridges, that kind of thing. You’re a friend?” he asked.
Selina was beginning to realise how suspicious she must look, driving around the darkened streets in her Porsche looking for a homeless person.
“Yes, I’m sort of her guardian angel, but I dropped the ball,” she admitted.
He looked at her for a few seconds. “Try the supermarket,” he eventually suggested, presumably after considering her worthy of the advice.
She sighed in relief. “Thank you.”
“Good luck. What’s her name?”
“Kate. I… I don’t know her full name.”
“We’ll keep an eye out for her. Can I take your contact details?”
Selina eagerly handed him her business card. “Thank you. Even if she doesn’t want to see me, I’d like to know if she’s okay.”
He took the card and slipped it into one of the multiple utility pockets on his uniform. Both officers continued on their way, and Selina drove off towards the large supermarket in town.
She continued looking at every person as she drove. Suddenly, the small commuter town of Parbrook seemed enormous. Not that it was really that small. Just a lot smaller than London, where she and Addington’s had been based ten years before.
The size of her task was not going to put her off. Selina lived for the impossible challenge. However, she did wish she had a little more information, that she had been a little more prepared for this particular hurdle.
Because this one mattered. Kate mattered.
She passed a familiar figure and quickly pulled the car over. She turned and looked out of the rear window to check if her eyes were playing tricks on her. They weren’t.
Kate stood outside the doorway to a law firm, laying down a sleeping bag on the raised step. Selina felt an enormous weight lift from her.
She jumped out of the car and rushed towards Kate.
Kate obviously heard her heels and turned to look at her. She held up her free hand.
“No, no way. Just go away, Selina.”
Selina paused. She supposed she should have been expecting that. She’d not exactly been a good omen for Kate. Nor had she been particularly pleasant to her.
“I just heard what happened. Well, I heard Abi’s pathetic rendition of it and figured out the more likely scenario. I wanted to see if you’re okay.”
Kate stared at her in astonishment. “Yeah, I’m peachy.” She dropped the sleeping bag onto the step and folded her arms. “How are you?”
“Sarcasm doesn’t suit you,” Selina replied. “Come on, let’s go.”
“Go?”
Selina was already turning and heading back to her car. She stopped, surprised that Kate wasn’t already following her. She looked over her shoulder.
“Yes, let’s go. You’re not staying here.”
A bubble of laughter erupted from Kate before she took a seat on the step and continued setting up her makeshift home.
Selina slowly turned around. She couldn’t figure out what was happening. “I’m not taking you to Abi’s—”
“You’re not taking me anywhere,” Kate interrupted. “You don’t get to make decisions for me, Selina.”
“You can’t stay here.”
“I can do whatever I like. You don’t own me. You’re not going to sweep in and make me forever beholden to you. I’m not thanking you, Selina.”
“You’re extremely stubborn.”
“I am. It’s all I have.”
Selina noticed a man in the distance. He swayed uneasily and was walking towards them. She blew out a breath. She didn’t have time to psychoanalyse whatever it was Kate was saying. There was an obvious solution. Kate just needed to hurry up and get with the program.
“We can discuss this later. Get in the car,” Selina demanded.
“Why are you even here?” Kate asked.
“I’ll explain once you get in the car.”
“Am I not speaking English?” Kate asked. “Or are you so wrapped up in your own world that you naturally expect everyone to do exactly as you say? I’m not one of your employees.”
“Please, get in the car,” Selina gritted out.
“Better. But the answer is still no.”
Selina nodded her head towards the clearly drunken man who was still approaching.
Kate turned to look at him and then looked back at Selina. She shrugged. “Seen worse,” she said.
Selina couldn’t believe how obstructive Kate was being. She didn’t have time to figure out what was going on in her head, not with a probable troublemaker edging closer to them. She stalked forward and picked up the sleeping bag. Kate grabbed the other end, and they ended up in a ridiculous tug-of-war.
Selina dropped the sleeping bag in favour of a rucksack and carried the heavy bag towards her car.
“Selina!” Kate protested.
She pressed a button on her key fob, and the boot lid sprung open. She put the rucksack in just as Kate reached in and pulled it out again.
“What do you want from me?” Selina demanded. “I’ve spent the last hour tracking you down. I just want to make sure you have a bed for the night. Not a doorway!”
“You can’t just kidnap me from the street,” Kate retaliated.
“I’m just trying to get you to see sense. Come with me. I’ll take you to my place, I have a spare room. Or I’ll pay for a hotel for you for the night. You don’t even have to talk to me. Just… please.” Selina felt suddenly exhausted. “Please.”
She saw the drunken man stumbling towards them.
“Are you all right?” he asked Kate.
“She’s fine,” Selina said.
“Is she bothering you?” He gestured to Selina.
Selina rolled her eyes and looked at Kate. “Yes, am I bothering you?”
Kate looked at her thoughtfully for a moment. She raised her eyebrow. Selina rolled her eyes.
Kate turned to the man. “I’m fine. Thank you for checking on me, though.”
“You sure?” He checked again.
She flashed him a smile. “Yeah, I’m all good. Thank you. Have a nice night.”
He stared at Selina for a few seconds before he continued his way down the street.
Kate watched him go for a moment before turning back to Selina. “One night,” she said. “I’ll stay with you for one night. That’s it.”
Selina’s heart soared. She quickly wiped the smile off her face. “I should think so. I’m not a hotel,” she mock-complained.
Kate chuckled. “You’re an enormous pain in the arse, you know that, right?”
“I’ve been told,” Selina admitted. “Get the rest of your things. I don’t have all night.”
Kate gave her an exasperated look before turning around and fetching her belongings from the doorway.
Selina smiled as soon as her back was turned. Kate would be safe that evening. And maybe Selina could figure out a way of convincing her to stay a little longer.
The Penthouse
Kate looked around Selina’s apartment in awe. Penthouse apartment, she corrected herself. Because, of course, Selina would live in the most luxurious apartment in the whole town.
Parbrook wasn’t much, just another commuter town on the outskirts of London, but even the smaller locations outside of London commanded enormous salaries for people to reside in them. Location was everything, and Selina had one of the best addresses in town. Just outside of the main areas, in an exclusive residential neighbourhood. There was a doorman and a concierge who greeted them upon arrival. The elevator displayed a lower level for a gym and a pool area.