‘Mum.’ Sonny points. ‘Look, there’s a police car in our road.’
‘Do you think Sophie’s okay?’ Ryan asks, his face suddenly pale.
‘I’m sure she’s fine,’ I say, trying to keep my voice even. ‘If the police are here, then whatever’s happened, they’ll have it under control.’ I’m saying this as much to reassure myself as the children. ‘Can you two just wait here under this tree while I see what’s going on?’ I take hold of both boys’ arms and steer them to a leafy sycamore at the end of our road. They’re both too distracted to protest. ‘Ryan, stay here and look after your brother. Don’t move.’
Ryan nods and takes Sonny’s hand. This in itself is unheard of, but I don’t have time to marvel over my eldest child’s mood reversal.
I leave them beneath the tree and walk quickly towards the house, hoping that the emergency services are here for someone else and that this has nothing to do with Sophie. That we’ll be able to walk into our house, order pizza and have a nice relaxing evening. But I know that’s wishful thinking.
As I draw closer, I see that my front door is wide open. In fact, it’s falling off its hinges and looks like it’s been forced. There’s broken glass on the driveway. I look around but can’t see where it’s come from. My mind flits to the image of Sophie’s husband, Greg. Is he responsible for this? Has he been here and forced his way in? Has he hurt Sophie? I should never have left her alone. I should have insisted that we get her settled into a shelter. I’m so stupid. She must be in the ambulance, but I can’t tell from this angle as the back doors are facing away from me. Please, God, let her be okay. Thank goodness the kids weren’t here when it happened.
I quicken my pace and take in more of the scene. There’s a male police officer in the driver’s seat of the car talking to someone on his radio, and a female officer in the passenger seat. And then I see Ash come striding around the side of the ambulance. Good. He’ll be able to fill me in on what’s happening. He’s wearing his uniform so he must have just come on duty; I only saw him at the regatta an hour or so ago, and he was wearing his civvies back then.
I wave.
He gives me a strange look.
Oh no, what’s happened? ‘Ash, what’s going on?’ I’m going to have to explain about who Sophie is and what she’s doing in my house. He’ll think I’m stupid for welcoming her into my home, but I can’t worry about that. I hope he hasn’t arrested Sophie, thinking she’s some kind of trespasser. Ash still hasn’t answered my question, although he is coming towards me.
The male officer gets out of the car – I don’t recognise him, but he’s joining Ash. The female officer also exits the vehicle, but she stays by the car and watches me. I vaguely recognise her from school; I think she was in the year below me. I nod, but she doesn’t react, which is a little rude. Maybe she thinks that because she’s a policewoman now she doesn’t have to be polite.
‘Kelly,’ Ash says as I draw closer, ‘I’m sorry to have to do this, but I’m arresting you on suspicion of false imprisonment of another person.’
I think I must have misheard him. But now he’s doing that thing you hear on TV where they caution you and read you your rights, like I’ve done something wrong! ‘Ash, what’s going on? Is this a joke? It’s not funny, my kids are here.’
‘Ryan and Sonny?’ He frowns and glances around. ‘Where?’
‘I saw the ambulance and police car, so I told them to wait at the end of the road.’ I crane my neck to peer into the house to see if I can spot Sophie. ‘There’s a girl staying with me at the moment – Sophie. Is she okay?’
Ash gives me another strange look.
‘Tell me what’s going on, Ash. You can’t really be arresting me? You said something about false imprisonment. Was it Greg? Was he here? He’s the one you need to speak to.’ I’m not taking his threat of arrest seriously because there’s obviously been a mix-up. Some misunderstanding where Sophie’s husband has tried to pin something on me so he looks innocent.
‘Who’s Greg? Look, I’m sorry, Kelly, but I have to follow procedure. I have to take you in, and then you’ll get a chance to tell us your side.’
‘My side of what?’ I feel like I’ve stepped into an alternate universe. And I still can’t help thinking that this is some elaborate prank. Although who on earth would think this was funny?
Ash speaks into his radio and the female officer gets out of the car. He points down the road and she starts heading in that direction.
‘What’s she doing? Why is she walking towards my children? Ash, talk to me.’
‘I’m sorry, Kelly.’ He doesn’t look me in the eye.
‘You’re my friend! And anyway, I don’t even know what I’m supposed to have done.’
‘We’ll look after the kids while you come down to the station with us.’
‘What do you mean, you’ll look after them? You mean you personally?’
‘Uh, no. We’ll place them in temporary care.’
‘What! No you will not!’ Tia would be my natural go-to person to look after the kids, but being Ash’s sister, I’m reluctant to get her involved. ‘Let me call Fiona. She’ll have them for me while I sort this out.’
Ash shakes his head. ‘You can make a call when we get to the station.’
‘Please, Ash! They’re my kids. At least let them have some normality while this is being straightened out. I don’t want them going off with some stranger.’
He sighs and nods. ‘Okay, quickly.’
With trembling fingers, I take my phone from my bag and call Fiona’s number. She answers immediately, thank goodness. ‘Fi, it’s me.’
‘Kelly, are you okay?’
‘No. I need your help.’
‘My help? Of course, what do you need?’
‘Can you come over to mine right now and pick up the boys.’
‘Uh, sure, what’s happened?’
‘I’m being arrested.’
‘Ha! For a minute, I thought you said you were being arrested.’
‘I am. I did. Ash is here to take me into custody.’
‘What?!’ Fiona’s outrage is loud enough for Ash to hear. I give him a look that says, You see? He frowns and makes a winding-up motion with his finger.
‘Fi, can you take the boys back to yours while I try to straighten this out?’
‘Shit. Are you okay? Don’t worry, I’ll pick up the kids right now. Are they at yours?’
‘Yes.’ My voice breaks. Hearing Fiona’s concern is undoing me.
‘Kelly, don’t worry. We’ll sort this out, okay? And the boys can stay with me for as long as you need.’
‘Hopefully it won’t be for long.’
‘Don’t worry about that. Why were you arrested? Surely it’s a mistake. Shall I call someone? A lawyer?’
Ash is holding his hand out for my mobile.
‘Look, Fi, I have to go.’
He finally takes my phone from me and puts it back into my bag. ‘PC Shales will stay with the boys until Fiona gets here.’
‘Thanks.’ At least that’s something, I suppose. At least I don’t have to worry about my boys for now. ‘I can’t believe you’re doing this, Ash. After what happened with Michael last year. After what the kids went through. And now you’re putting us through whatever charade this is!’ I’m not normally an angry person. I’m calm, even-natured, gentle. But right now, I want to yell at Ash and pummel his chest in frustration. This is ridiculous. Whatever I’m supposed to have done, I bloody well didn’t do it.
At that moment someone steps out from the back of the ambulance. It’s Sophie. She’s red-faced, like she’s been crying.
‘Sophie! Are you okay? What happened? Was it Greg? Did he come looking for you?’ I turn to Ash. ‘Is she under arrest too? Did Greg report her to the police, is that it? Because you should know that Sophie’s hiding from him. She’s scared. He’s been abusive—’
‘Okay,’ Ash says firmly, ‘that’s enough now. Save it for when we’re at the station.’
‘That’s her,’ she says, her eyes sharp with fear. ‘That’s the woman who drugged me and locked me in her attic. I… I thought she was going to kill me.’ Her breathing is ragged, and she sounds like she’s about to have a panic attack.
I stare back at Sophie in mounting confusion and horror. ‘What are you talking about? Sophie, it’s me, Kelly.’
But she turns away and is led back into the ambulance by a paramedic.
I look at Ash. ‘What did she say to you? I don’t understand. I was helping her! You can ask my kids. They’ll tell you.’
Ash leads me to the police car and puts a protective hand over my head as I duck into the back seat. He’s now avoiding all eye contact with me. Can he really believe I’m guilty of what Sophie’s accused me of? Before he closes the door, I try to appeal to his paternal instincts. ‘Can I just go and tell Ryan and Sonny not to worry? Won’t you at least allow me that?’
‘You don’t want them seeing you upset like this, Kelly. It’s better if my colleague explains.’
‘But what will she say?’
‘She won’t make you look bad.’
‘Bit late for that.’
‘She’ll tell them you need to answer some questions.’ Ash closes the door and all I can do is look out the window. But I can’t even see my two from in here. I wish I could at least give them an encouraging smile, so they’ll know I’m not upset.
Embarrassingly, several of my neighbours are out in the street, and while they’re not overtly gawping, I can tell they’re fascinated by what’s happening, giving me sideways glances. No doubt they’ll all get together when I’ve gone to have a good speculative gossip. But I don’t care about any of that. I’m still totally bewildered by Sophie’s accusation, and I’m devastated that my children have had to witness their mother being arrested. We were on our way home to have a nice family evening. How did it turn into this?
It hits me now how stupid I’ve been, letting this stranger into my home. I was arrogant and self-righteous, thinking I was doing this good thing. Helping a girl in distress. Being kind. When all I’ve really done is put my family in jeopardy.
Twenty-Six
FIONA
By the time I turn into Kelly’s road there are blisters forming on my heel and toes, and I’m cursing my choice of footwear. The street itself is empty and quiet, but there are still sounds from the regatta floating around on the wind. Cries and laughter from the funfair, and the whine of jet skis bombing around the lake now that the sailing is over.
Aside from the shock of Kelly being arrested, I’m still shaken up by the texts I received earlier. I can’t bring myself to re-read them yet. The thought makes me feel physically sick. In fact, just knowing they’re sitting there in my inbox makes me want to throw the damn phone into the lake. I guess I could erase them. But that would mean looking at them again. I give myself a shake. I can’t think about that now. I have to pull myself together for the sake of my friend and her boys.
When I reach Kelly’s front door, I’m shocked to see that it’s been boarded up. What on earth has gone on here? Kelly forgot to mention that fact on the phone. Or maybe she doesn’t know. I ring the doorbell. If the boys don’t answer, I’ll go around the back.
Kelly said she’d been arrested, but she didn’t mention anything about her house being damaged. Maybe there was a break-in. But why on earth would they arrest Kelly if someone broke in? A female voice startles me.
‘Hello?’ A young uniformed police officer appears around the side of the house. I’m a little taken aback to see a police officer, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised – neither Kelly nor Ash would have wanted to leave the boys on their own.
‘Hello, my name’s Fiona Salinger. Kelly asked me to come and pick up Ryan and Sonny.’
‘Hi.’ She gives me a smile. ‘I’m PC Lynette Shales.’ She walks over and we shake hands.
‘What happened here?’ I point at the front door.
‘Afraid I can’t say.’
‘But you know, right?’
She gives me an apologetic, businesslike smile. ‘So, you’re here to pick up the Taylor boys?’
‘Yes.’
‘Do you have any ID on you?’
‘Uh, yes, hang on a minute.’ I root through my bag, pull out my wallet and show her my driving licence and some credit cards. I hope she can’t smell the champagne on my breath. I’m not driving, but still, it doesn’t look great to pick up someone else’s kids when you’ve been drinking.
‘Okay, that’s fine.’ She hands me back my ID. ‘Shall I bring the boys out to you?’
‘Actually, can I come in? I’m dying for the loo and a glass of water. And if they’re staying over, I’ll need to pack some spare clothes, toothbrushes and pjs, that sort of thing.
‘Okay. I’ll come back inside with you.’
‘There’s no need. I can lock up when I leave.’
‘That’s okay,’ she replies, letting me know that there’s no way she’s leaving me here on my own.
We go in via the back door. If PC Shales wasn’t here I’d have a snoop to see if I could spot any clues as to what’s gone on. But the policewoman is following me around, watching my every move, so I guess a nose around is off the cards. The boys aren’t in the kitchen, so I nip to the downstairs cloakroom, have a pee and splash my face. Noticing a shoe rack on the floor, I reach down and undo the straps on my sandals, kicking both of them off with a sigh of relief. I slip on a pair of Kelly’s trainers to walk home in, hoping PC Shales doesn’t notice or say anything. But there’s no way I could walk another step in those instruments of torture.
When I return to the kitchen, the boys are standing next to the policewoman like a couple of lost puppies. I want to hug both of them tightly but decide that now isn’t the time to get emotional. Instead, I clap my hands. ‘Hey, guys. Lucky me, I get to see you twice in one day.’ It sounds forced and patronising even to my ears.
‘What happened to Mum?’ Ryan grunts.
‘Tell you what, let’s get your stuff together, and we can talk about all that back at my place.’
‘Our stuff?’ Ryan frowns. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Where’s Mum?’ Sonny’s face is pale, and he looks like he’s about to cry. I notice that Ryan is holding his hand, and my heart melts. I take a breath.
‘Your mum called and asked if you could stay with me and Nathan, just until she gets home. So let’s go and pack an overnight bag, okay?’
For a moment, I think they’re going to protest and refuse, but after a couple of seconds’ hesitation, Ryan nods and I follow them both upstairs. PC Shales watches as they throw a few things into some bags. It doesn’t take too long and eventually we’re ready to go. The policewoman gives me a card with a number to call if there are any problems with the boys, and we leave her to lock up Kelly’s house.
The walk back to my place is quiet and a little sad. The boys must be utterly confused and more than a little scared, so I decide not to add to their anxieties with more questions. Despite Kelly being one of my best friends, I realise the boys haven’t visited my house much. She and Michael used to come around for dinner quite regularly, and Kelly pops over for coffee now and then, but it’s not really a kid-friendly house. It’s not warm and cosy – it’s sleek, with hard expensive surfaces in marble and glass, black and gold. When Kelly and I meet up, it’s usually me who goes to Kelly’s place. I guess it’s more relaxed there. More homely.
I hope I’m up to the job of looking after her boys. I’ve never had them to stay before. Does that make me a terrible person? I mean, Kelly lost her husband last year, she’s a single parent, and I’m supposed to be her best friend. I remember offering a few times, but never anything concrete. It was always vague statements where I would say, If
you need anything, just ask. But she’s never asked. I should have been more specific. I should have said, Hey, Kelly, how about I have the kids next weekend so you can relax? That’s what I should have said.
And Kelly’s had a tricky time with Ryan. He misses his dad. Both boys do. I glance at them as they walk by my side, subdued, tired, their clothes rumpled, their hair a little messed up. I resolve to really pamper them while they’re with me. Spoil them. Make the most of having them to stay. Maybe… maybe Nathan will see how lovely it could be to have kids around the place.
I texted him earlier to let him know what was happening. It was with some nervousness that I waited for his reply, but thankfully he messaged back to say he’d pick up dinner for the four of us. As we walk down the driveway, I see Nathan getting out of the car with several takeaway bags. Good; he didn’t forget. Although I don’t feel remotely hungry.
‘Hello, you two.’ Nathan nods at the boys. ‘I picked us up a Chinese takeaway, so I hope you’re hungry – there’s a lot of food here.’
‘Thanks,’ they mumble.
Nathan looks questioningly at me, over the top of their heads. And then he frowns. ‘What the hell are you wearing on your feet?’
‘Huh? Oh, they’re Kelly’s trainers. I got blisters so I had to take off my sandals.’
‘Well, they look awful.’
‘I know, sorry.’ I turn back to the boys. ‘Let’s go inside. I’ll show you to your rooms… unless you’d prefer to share?’
Ryan shrugs and Sonny doesn’t respond so I decide to take charge and put them together in one room in case they feel strange or homesick during the night.
Nathan opens the front door and disables the alarm. ‘I’ll get plates and put the food out while you settle them in, Fi.’
‘Okay, great. Come on boys, kick off your shoes and follow me.’ I lead them up the wood and glass staircase, deciding to give them the best guest suite, which has views over the lake.
‘Wow,’ Sonny says, his eyes drawn to the balcony.
One of Us Is Lying: A totally gripping psychological thriller with a brilliant twist Page 16