Thankfully the telephone box was much more pleasant than the first one had been in Lancaster. She found Kate’s number, put plenty of change in the slot and held her breath as the call connected.
‘Kate, it’s me. Are you all right?’
‘Thank God, Charlotte, I wondered if I was going to hear from you. Did you get the papers?’
‘Yes, I had to hand one over, but three are safe. There was a number scribbled down on the envelope; is it important?’
‘Yes, yes, it’s vitally important. Please keep everything safe. Once you’ve got everything collected together, I want you to pick me up and we’ll go to the police station together. I’ll also tip off the press beforehand to make sure nobody gets to me. It’s the only way to manage this now.’
Charlotte thought of Nigel. If the newspaper received an exclusive tip-off, it would be amazing. She hoped Nigel had been serious when he’d promised to be on standby; he would have some fast typing to do if they ever got this situation under control.
The sound Charlotte had noticed on the previous call was in the background again. She still couldn’t place it.
‘Where are you, Kate? What’s that sound I can hear?’
‘You know I can’t tell you yet, Charlotte. I need you to do one last thing for me, then we’ll be clear. The number on the envelope, it’s for a storage unit on Heysham Business Park. I need you to go there and look for a navy blue cardboard folder. It’s wrapped in a plastic bag to keep it dry. Once you’ve got hold of it, we have everything we need—’
‘Who owns the storage unit, Kate? Is it yours? Will I run into any trouble?’
‘You might have to do a bit of explaining. It’s my brother’s storage unit. His stuff has been there for twenty years—’
‘Twenty years? And they didn’t throw it all out?’
‘That’s just it, Charlotte. Somebody has been paying the rental on the unit for two decades. The direct debit was changed shortly after Brett disappeared. I only discovered this recently and then... look, I don’t want to tell you more than absolutely necessary, just in case they get to you. The less you know, the less you can tell them.’
‘They’ve got Will, Kate—’
‘What do you mean?’
‘They’re holding him somewhere. They know I picked up something important at your house and they want it. They’re threatening us.’
‘Oh no, Charlotte, I’m so sorry you got dragged into this. Have they hurt him? Is he okay?’
‘I don’t suppose they’ll hurt him as long as they know I have what they want. I’m still figuring that bit out.’
Charlotte heard Kate’s hand moving over the mouthpiece of her phone, and through it she heard Kate screaming out in frustration. She knew the feeling. Sometimes it felt like they were completely out of options.
‘You must put Will’s safety over mine,’ Kate said, ‘You’ll have to risk it with the police—’
‘I spoke to them, Kate. I had to.’
‘Who did you speak to?’
‘Toni Lawson, the press lady. I figured she’s not an officer as such, so I was hoping she might advise me.’
‘I don’t know her well enough,’ Kate sighed. ‘She may be safe, she may not; I’m not sure. If you want to call in my colleagues to help Will, don’t hesitate to do it, Charlotte. I’ll have to figure out the rest, but do not put his life at risk.’
They’d already passed that stage as far as Charlotte was concerned, but she kept the thought to herself.
‘Are you safe, Kate? Have you got food?’
‘It’s not the best accommodation I’ve had, let’s put it that way, but there’s no way my police colleagues or anybody else will find me here. And if they do, I’ll see them coming in plenty of time.’
‘Okay. Look, I’ll get to the storage unit as soon as I can. But I need to sort out a couple of other things first. Can you hang on that long?’
Charlotte explained what had been happening with the Irwin children. Kate was as astonished by the developments as she had been.
‘We’re so close now, Charlotte, I can almost touch it with my fingers. Everybody is coming out of the woodwork at once. We must get the timing right; we can’t allow Fabian Armstrong to strike ahead of us. If he does, every scrap of evidence will disappear, and we’ll never put this case to bed. Hang on in there if you can, Charlotte, but promise me you won’t put Will or yourself at risk.’
Charlotte laughed; she heard Kate do the same on the other end of the line.
‘Now, you know as well as I do that’s probably not going to happen. I won’t do anything crazy, I promise, but you know how this all plays out.’
‘I do, Charlotte, unfortunately I do. Let’s meet up for lunch when all this is over, and we can have a good catch up. We’ve got a lot to talk about.’
‘Believe me, I haven’t told you the half of it,’ Charlotte said with a laugh. It felt good to be having a regular conversation with someone who understood, without some bully boy waving his gun at her.
‘We might need a weekend away, rather than a lunch. There are a few things I haven’t told you yet.’
The distinctive noise in the background was still there; she wished she could work out what was causing it. She said goodbye to Kate, after promising to check in more regularly.
Callie was waiting back in the car, anxious to get going again.
‘There’s something I want you to do,’ Charlotte said as she buckled up in her seat and started the engine. ‘Hollie isn’t going to be happy to see me, so I need you to prepare the way for me. But we will need to clear the air. Hollie has to see me as a friend, not an enemy, and you can help.’
‘What do you want me to do?’ Callie asked.
‘You’re not going to like it, but I want you to have an open phone line to my mobile phone while you’re chatting to her. I want to listen in—’
‘That’s a bit much, Charlotte. Is it even legal?’
‘Probably not, but I can’t risk her flaring up when she sees me again. And I need to hear from her own lips what was going on with my husband. Hollie might be your sister by birth, but neither of us knows that yet, not without some DNA evidence. It might just be some clever ploy to bring everybody out into the open.’
‘You’re so suspicious, Charlotte. How else would she have remembered the time in the woods?’
‘I’m guessing your birth mother will have mentioned the occasion to somebody. You only need a few choice snippets of personal information and you can convince people of most things. For your sake and mine, Callie, please do this. I’d never forgive myself if she was deceiving you and I’d just delivered you into the hands of somebody who might do you some harm.’
‘Of course I’ll help, Charlotte. You’ve already done more than the police ever have. But I still think you’re overreacting.’
‘I know I sound like some conspiracy theorist at times,’ Charlotte replied, ‘but I wouldn’t put anything past the people we’re dealing with.’
Chapter Fifteen
From her table at the far end of the tearoom, Charlotte watched the first meeting of the two women. She felt mildly ridiculous, having taken Callie’s hat as a disguise and borrowed her ear buds to listen into the conversation. If the stakes hadn’t been so high, she’d have burst out laughing at her ridiculous take on a police surveillance operation. It was poorly conceived and cheaply delivered, but it was all she’d got.
A wave of nostalgia washed over her as she recalled the times she and Will had spent at The Old Bell as students in the eighties, new lovers forging the framework of a relationship that would endure for years. Her desire to see him was urgent. She pictured them both as students, sharing a toasted tea cake to make their grants go further and squeezing the last drops out of a pot of tea, but caring very little about anything except being together and enjoying each other’s company. It was good that the tearoom had still survived after all those years when so much around it had changed.
Callie and Hollie’s first
meeting was awkward; they weren’t sure whether to shake hands or give each other a stand-offish embrace. What happened was a combination of both, but it broke the ice, and the sound of their uncomfortable laughter came over loud and clear in Charlotte’s ear.
‘Are you ready to order?’ the waitress asked.
Charlotte placed a simple order for a cold, soft drink and tuned back into the conversation.
‘I’m trying to work out if you even look like me,’ Callie said.
‘Me too,’ Hollie replied. ‘It’s mad, isn’t it?’
‘I love your piercing,’ Callie ventured, sounding awkward in her attempts to get the conversation going.
Charlotte had every sympathy. What do you say to the woman who you discover is probably your sister after twenty years of not knowing she even exists?
Hollie smiled. ‘Thanks. My mum and dad... God, it sounds so weird saying that now. What does this make them, my adoptive mum and dad?’
Charlotte wanted to shout out across the room; They’re still your mum and dad, Hollie, and they always will be.
‘They didn’t want me to get it done, because they thought it might stop me getting jobs when I left uni. I just told them I’ll take it out if it’s a problem. They told me they don’t understand where I get my stubborn streak from; well, now we know.’
‘Did you ever feel like you didn’t belong?’ Callie asked. ‘I honestly had no idea I might be adopted. The lack of baby pictures gave it away, now I think about it. They used to make some excuse about not owning a camera back then. But you’d still have baby pictures, however hard-up you were, wouldn’t you?’
Callie’s voice was louder than Hollie’s, the mobile phone being closer to her on the table. However, despite the hubbub of chatter in the tearoom, Charlotte could hear both of them clearly.
‘I’m younger than you, aren’t I? I do have baby pictures, but only a handful. My mum and dad said people didn’t photograph every moment of their waking life back in those days. It was probably a dig about how much I use my phone.’
Charlotte willed Callie to bring her into the conversation. This was the ideal opportunity.
‘You said you lost your phone. What happened? I’ve been trying to reach you.’
Charlotte almost jumped up and cheered. The sooner Callie cleared the way for her to join the conversation, the better.
‘Oh, I got caught up in something I regret now. I thought I was helping, but it’s turned into a bit of a nightmare. Some crazy woman ended up stealing my phone because she reckoned I was jumping into bed with her husband.’
Charlotte felt her face reddening, desperate to leap to her own defence.
‘Were you?’ Callie asked.
‘No, of course not, if you knew the age of the guy—’
The sooner Charlotte represented herself in this conversation, the better. She’d never realised how awkward it was listening in to people speaking about her.
Hollie leaned in towards Callie. ‘I’ll be honest with you; I was relieved when you finally contacted me. I thought I’d been caught in some massive con trick. After this person contacted me to tell me I had a sibling, they asked me to reach out to this guy and get to know him. They told me he was key to finding you and the rest of my family. He also said this chap’s wife was involved, so I contacted her at a local run too.’
Charlotte recalled the parkrun where Hollie had tagged along with her and Daisy for a few minutes, making small talk. It was fascinating to hear the other side of the story.
‘Turns out she’s a psycho. She stole my phone and did the whole bunny boiler thing on me.’
‘Why did she think you were sleeping with her husband?’
Charlotte was grateful to Callie for attempting some form of fair hearing for her. Her cold drink arrived, and she thanked the waitress.
‘Well, that’s where it all gets nasty. Somebody’s spooked this guy, I don’t know how. He challenged me about some photograph of me he found in his pocket. I didn’t put it there; I reckon it was his crazy wife.’
Charlotte had the upper hand and Callie needed to move this on. If Hollie didn’t slip that photograph into Will’s pocket, and she didn’t, it must have been somebody else. So, who was it?
‘Are you aware the police want to speak to me?’ Callie changed the subject. ‘I met our mum this morning too—’
‘You know who she is? You’ve seen her? So, they weren’t lying?’
‘No, I’ve had the DNA tests to confirm I am Callie Irwin by birth. It feels so weird that I’m supposed to be a different person. How does that even happen?’
‘I need to get a DNA test done,’ Hollie said. ‘How does it work? I’ve seen cheap kits in the chemist; you can do it yourself these days, can’t you?’
‘I don’t know much about it,’ Callie admitted. ‘Mine was taken in the hospital. But we do need to get you tested. It’s the only way you can be sure.’
‘What if it’s some elaborate hoax?’ Hollie continued. ‘I don’t know how I’d cope if it was a set-up. It would be so cruel; why would anybody want to do that?’
‘I need to visit the rest rooms,’ Callie said. ‘I’ve got something else I want to share with you when I come back.’
Charlotte attempted to make herself less conspicuous. This was their cue; they’d agreed to exchange notes in the ladies’ toilets. She continued to face away from their table and moved as discreetly as possible. Callie joined her in the toilets.
‘It’s not a good idea to introduce yourself; she thinks you’re crazy,’ Callie told her.
‘I need to. She has to realise I’m not the enemy. If she wants to get her birth mother out of the care home – and we have to assume she is Jane Irwin until she gets her DNA tested – she has to work with me, not against me. We must bite the bullet, Callie. Please.’
Callie nodded and the two women returned to their places in the tearoom.
‘I need you to trust me,’ Callie began, as Charlotte replaced the ear bud to monitor the conversation. ‘The woman who you said is crazy... well, I know her.’
‘You know the crazy woman? How? Is she the one who’s been screwing about with my life?’
‘No, steady, let me explain. This woman’s name is Charlotte—’
‘I know that already.’
Charlotte sensed Hollie’s prickly reaction even over the phone line.
‘She’s the one who helped me meet my – our – birth mother, Tiffany. Mum recognised me as soon as I walked into her room. She’s being kept in a mental health facility. Charlotte works for the local newspaper and has been investigating our disappearance. She believes there’s some sort of malicious activity going on and Tiffany is the victim.’
‘Like I said, she’s a crazy woman—’
‘Hollie, please, just listen.’
Charlotte smiled. The DNA would need to confirm it, but it sounded like Callie was the elder sister alright.
‘I want you to meet Charlotte.’
‘I’d rather punch her in the face.’
‘Hollie! If you want to find out the truth about the past, who do you trust most? Some anonymous source who won’t make themselves known to you, or the woman who’s in this tearoom at this very moment and desperately wants to speak to you?’
Charlotte gulped. This was it. They were either about to have a stand-up row in a cosy tearoom or Hollie would take a chance and trust her.
‘She’s here now?’ Hollie said, standing up. ‘Where? Where is that crazy bitch?’
It was time to come face to face with Hollie. Charlotte stood up, removed her hat, picked up her drink and walked over to the table. She understood why Hollie was angry with her, and she wasn’t intending to defend her actions, but they needed to speak.
‘Hello, Hollie, I’m Charlotte. I’m sorry we got off to a bad start. But please, just give me ten minutes to explain everything. If you don’t want to believe me, that’s fine. I’ll give you my home address and you can report me to the police. I promise. I want to help you
, Hollie. I want to help you both.’
Callie had her hand on Hollie’s arm as if she half expected her to leap up and attack Charlotte. By the look on Hollie’s face, even she hadn’t fully decided what was going to happen next. Charlotte pressed on.
‘I know you’re angry with me, Hollie, and I don’t blame you. I did take your phone, but I thought you were the one causing trouble for me. I see it clearly now. Whoever contacted you and Callie out of the blue, they’re the ones causing all this trouble. That’s who has been making us both go crazy. We’ve both been played, Hollie. And it’s time we seized back the initiative and started flushing out these damn cowards.’
Chapter Sixteen
December 1999
Tiffany always looked forward to the walk up to St Peter’s Church. She could imagine that part of the village as it might have looked when her mother and father were newly married. She liked to lay a seasonal wreath on their graves as soon as one was available in the shops. It only took one winter gale blowing in from the sea to scatter flowers at that time of year.
Walking up the narrow lane was an exercise in child management in itself. As soon as she sorted out one child, another demanded her attention. She released the catch on Rowan’s car seat and bent over to extract him from the car safely.
She was grateful for the combined pram and pushchair, which provided the protection of a pram for Rowan, a forward-facing pushchair for Jane, and – should it be required – a clip-on wheeled board, not unlike a skateboard, which allowed Callie to stand on it and hitch a ride. Callie’s reins were fastened to the handle, since she was at an age where it was best to be firmly tethered in case she made an impromptu dash for freedom.
Tiffany looked at the birth mark on Callie’s face. She’d often wished it was somewhere else less visible. She had seen the marks referred to as stork bites, and they were supposed to fade over time. But Callie’s showed no signs of fading, and she feared the inevitable teasing when her daughter entered primary school then graduated to the bear pit of secondary education. She ran her hands through Callie’s soft hair and wished she could take the blemish away for her.
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