The Lost Years
Page 26
Sam Clarke and Bianca Mavroudis, the two women who were in the middle of being exploited when this conspiracy was cracked wide open, have both given birth to healthy baby girls.
There will be more on this story on BBC News 24 and on our website. In other news…”
Anya’s concentration was broken by a sudden outburst.
“Mummy. Why is there a picture of my old daddy on the telly?”
Sophie stood there. Arms crossed. Developing her little madam pose with some aplomb.
“Come here Sophie. Sit with Mummy.”
Sophie jumped on the sofa and snuggled in, her face fixed on Anya, probing for an answer.
“Look sweetie, you remember when you came to live with me, I told you that your old daddy had done some bad things and may have to go away for a while?”
“Yes.”
“Well, a man called a judge has decided your old daddy won’t be around for quite a long time as he has to be punished for what he did.”
“O… K… so is he going over the sea to another place or staying in another house?”
“Yes, something like that and you won’t be able to see him so it will just be me looking after you.”
“Is my old mummy going away too?”
“No Sophie. Your old mummy didn’t do anything wrong and I know she would like to see you some time. Would you like that?”
“Yes, that would be nice.”
*
Clark had been watching the same news coverage. In fact, he had hardly been able to tear himself away from the constant coverage of the events since they had blown the conspiracy apart.
Every time he listened to the news he hoped for one thing. To hear that the police had finally arrested William Hardacre. But it never came. Clark agonised over it. He pored over the evidence file they had sent the police, watched and listened to the footage that Anya had got from the clinic over and over again, but there was nothing new. There just hadn’t been enough and neither Dr Normandy or Bradley had implicated him in anything they said during their big confession speeches. He had got away with it by selling out his own family, despite all the window dressing of the expensive lawyers and talk of appeals. Clark looked at the picture on his desk.
“Don’t worry Dad. I won’t give up. I will get him. Somewhere. Somehow.”
*
Rob cuddled up to Elisha, as they sat on the sofa watching TV. Rob knew he was now in the right place, with the right person. He thought he had found his soulmate when he met Anya, but their relationship had been built on lies and dishonesty. He knew it wasn’t all her fault. She had been through the most terrible trauma and he reconciled this with the part he had played in helping save her life and getting Sophie back. But, at the end, they both knew they had no future together. Anya only had one priority and it was not her relationship with Rob.
*
A week after James Hardacre’s trial verdict, William Hardacre sat on his yacht in St Helier harbour, enjoying one of the many tax havens he had squirrelled his fortune away in. He chinked champagne glasses with Dr Gerard Perdou from the Jersey Gladstone Private Clinic.
“I have some girls primed for you Doctor. I hope you are ready.”
Acknowledgements
There are many people I need to thank for their support and encouragement during my first writing experience. Firstly, massive thanks to my family for their unerring support and enthusiasm for my writing. Your positive comments and numerous read throughs helped enormously. Specific thanks go to the people I call my alpha book reviewers – Ray Wade, Jacky Wade, Hannah Wade, Karen Warner and Anthony Cooper.
Thanks also to Jericho Writers for their support and guidance, with specific thanks to Russel McLean who completed a full manuscript review on a distinctly average first draft and set me on the right track to produce a much better read.
Big thanks to Kevin Morgan, Alyson Duckmanton and Tony Flower who completed significant reviews of later versions of the book, to shape it into what it has become.
Thank you to all those agents who didn’t pay me the basic courtesy of even acknowledging my submissions. You helped me see that self-publishing was the way forward and thank you to the team at Troubador Publishing for an excellent service in getting my book designed, produced and marketed.
Finally, thanks must go to all those people who have listened to me bang on about my writing over the last year or so, for their good grace, encouragement and promises to buy a copy!