The camera followed the reporter inside the cottage, where Mrs Miller, an elderly woman wearing a bright flowery cardigan, was standing in the sunroom, in exactly the same place close to the side window where she had a clear view of the scene.
‘I assumed it was an accident or suicide. That’s the usual, I told the police when I called them. I thought the other person up on the cliff would report it too and give more detail about what happened.’
The reporter came in close to the camera. ‘But what seemed at first like a clear case of misadventure, or at worst suicide, has taken a more sinister turn.’ The reporter spoke as she trotted back outside to a tall woman wearing an anorak, with two springer spaniels jumping up and down. ‘Mrs Kent, can you tell us what you saw early yesterday morning that gave you cause for alarm?’
‘I was walking the dogs along here as usual when we crossed the path of a man who seemed to be in a dreadful hurry. I’d seen him from quite a distance back. He was up on the cliff with someone, standing near the edge. A few moments later, one was falling and the other was scrabbling down the cliff at such a rate, I thought he must be coming to call for help. But, to my astonishment, he didn’t rush to the aid of the person who had fallen at all, he ran off, straight past me. I called to ask if he was all right, but he just grunted and didn’t stop. Both dogs were barking at him like crazy.’
‘And is that when you saw Mrs Miller waving to you at the window?’
‘That’s right. We’re both early risers so we give each other a little wave every morning. The man ran that way, down the side of the café. Mrs Miller opened her window and shouted out to me that someone had fallen or jumped off the cliff. I told her I’d seen it too and to call the police and an ambulance immediately.’ The camera panned over to the foot of the cliff, where a white tent had been set up and cordoned off by the police.
‘Oh god. Poor, poor Brenda.’ I clasped my hands together.
The reporter turned to a police inspector. ‘How can the public help you with this case?’
‘We’re appealing for any information as to the whereabouts of the man seen running away from the scene, who we believe was posing as Paula Bennett’s husband.’
‘And what do you think his motive was for pretending to be married to her?’
‘We now know that he posed with several different women as childless couples, with the purpose of producing babies with unsuspecting surrogate mothers.’
Shivers ran up and down my body. I passed Alice to Sarah and stood nearer the TV, holding my tea.
‘What does he want these babies for?’ the reporter asked.
‘We’re not sure at this time.’
‘How many are we talking about? And where are they now?’ the reporter frowned.
‘We can’t give any more details. It’s an ongoing investigation. But, like I said, if any member of the public recognises this man, they should contact us as soon as possible. Do not approach him, he may be dangerous.’
An artist’s impression of the man seen by Mrs Kent filled the screen.
My cup of tea dropped from my fingers. I sank to my knees, hands gripping the soft rug.
‘It’s only fucking Malcolm,’ Steve shouted.
Chapter Fifty-Three
Sarah made me another cup of tea and stirred a heaped teaspoon of sugar into it. I couldn’t stop shaking. Paul draped a fleece blanket around my shoulders. I hugged Alice inside it with me, kissing her hair.
‘I’ve spoken to my close circle of friends and one of them knows a woman who works at the same supermarket as this Zoe Barton. I don’t think she knows her to talk to, but my friend Janet says she’s going to have a word with her, let her know you’re here hoping to speak to her.’
‘Thank you.’ I rocked Alice back and forth, her big blue eyes watching me as she chattered away to her doll.
‘Do you think she will?’ Steve asked, spinning his mobile in a circle on the table.
‘I would certainly hope so.’ Paul packed his pipe with tobacco and stood in the yard to smoke it, letting in a gust of cold air.
Steve reached over and laid his hand on my arm. ‘All we want is our babies back safe and sound.’
I smiled at him for saying that.
Paul gave a nod and bluey grey smoke streamed out of his mouth. He closed the door.
Sarah patted Steve’s shoulder.
‘Shall we go upstairs and find some toys?’ she said to Alice and offered her hand. Alice looked back at me.
‘It’s okay, darling. I’ll be right here when you come down.’ I guided her out of the blanket and Sarah took the tiny fingers gently in hers.
‘That’s it, give Mummy and Daddy a few minutes to themselves, shall we?’ Sarah grabbed her mobile off the table.
‘Thank you.’ I sifted my mind for more words to say, but I couldn’t catch hold of them.
Steve moved towards me and we tipped our heads together, foreheads touching. He kissed my trembling hands. I pictured the twins bound up in blankets, left out in the snow. I pushed the image away and tried to focus on a blank space of wall.
My phone rang. I stared at the screen. The reality that Brenda was dead kicked me in the chest all over again. I answered and put it on speaker.
‘Inspector Johnson here. I take it you’ve seen the photofit of Malcolm on the news?’ He paused, waiting for my reaction.
‘Yes, it’s a shock to see it’s him, even though we guessed it might be.’
‘I’ve been in touch with my colleagues in Orkney.’
‘Oh, thank you. What did you find out?’ I asked.
‘Neither Malcolm nor Brenda are on the local register under any of the names you gave us and the address supplied to the court has been confirmed as false.’ He paused. ‘This means the parental order is null and void. They must have got someone to forge the court stamp and authority signature. I suspect it’s the same for the other surrogates’ parental orders.’
Steve and I looked at each other. I tried to take in what the inspector was saying. If only my head would clear. ‘What does this mean for us?’
‘The twins are officially still yours. We’re now treating this as a child abduction case.’
I let out a whimper. My brain tried to process his words, but they floated away, out of reach.
‘Over a hundred officers are out there right now searching for all the babies and, of course, Malcolm. I’ll let you know of any further developments.’
I thanked him quietly and ended the call. I stared up at the clock. I expected it to have stopped, for the whole world to be holding its breath, but the second hand ticked relentlessly on, determined to take me further and further away from my babies.
My head thudded in pain as though I’d walked straight into a wall. Their faces swam in my mind’s eye, the pair of them dressed as china dolls with cherry flushed cheeks.
‘Our babies are missing, kidnapped.’ I whispered the words, daring not to say them too loudly, hanging on to the belief that this couldn’t be happening.
Chapter Fifty-Four
I wept, not caring that it was loud and messy. Steve passed me a handful of tissues and I wiped my eyes and nose. I wanted my babies back.
‘They could be anywhere, with anyone. How will we find them?’
‘I don’t know.’ Steve’s eyes were wide and staring. ‘We have to believe they’re safe.’
Sarah came back downstairs with Alice, who was holding Paddington Bear. ‘We had a great little hunt around, didn’t we?’
‘Show Mummy who you’ve got there,’ I put my arms out and Alice pushed the teddy towards me. ‘He’s almost as big as you.’
‘I couldn’t help hearing your call,’ Sarah said to us, ‘I’m so sorry. Knowing they’re still yours makes it even more imperative that you find this man and get your twins back.’
I nodded, searching through my mind for the right words to say.
‘Janet’s bringing Zoe over before she goes to Radio Sheffield for an interview. They should be here any minut
e.’
‘That’s brilliant, thank you.’ I put my free arm out and Sarah reached down and hugged me and Alice. ‘We can’t thank you enough for being so kind, both of you.’
* * *
Ten minutes later, there was a knock at the door. Two women stood on the doorstep. Janet still had her work tabard and name tag on. She introduced Zoe, then said a taxi was coming to pick her back up in twenty minutes. We thanked her and Zoe came in. She looked a bit younger than Brenda. She was dressed casually in jeans, jumper and a smart jacket. We all sat round the kitchen table, Alice in my lap. Paul brought over a pot of tea and a plate of biscuits. Sarah opened a cupboard and took out a toy teapot and cups and set them up on a food trolley. She offered her hand to Alice as she toddled over to join her.
‘Thanks, Sarah. Go on, sweetheart.’ I helped Alice slide to the ground and let Sarah take her. ‘Thanks so much for coming,’ I said, turning to Zoe. ‘As Sarah has probably told you, we’re keen to find out more about Paula Bennett. We knew her as Brenda. I am – was – her surrogate and we’re desperate to find our twins.’
‘Can’t imagine why she needed another baby with two strapping lads at home.’ Zoe examined her neon-coloured false nails.
I wanted to scream at her that my babies were missing and that every second she wasted was another moment when their lives might be in danger. I swallowed hard. ‘We believed… I mean they told us, they’d been trying for a baby for years.’
‘She kept very much to herself, that was the trouble with Paula,’ Zoe said, helping herself to a chocolate wafer. ‘A few years ago she’d be like posting personal, family stuff every day on Facebook. I haven’t seen her since the school reunion about eighteen months ago.’
‘How did she seem? Did she speak much about her marriage?’ I asked.
‘A bit down in the mouth, to be honest. She didn’t say, but I suspected there were problems at home. She hardly talked about Nathan. There were fewer mentions of him and the boys on Facebook by then too.’
‘Did she have any close friends in Sheffield or on Facebook, maybe on a school page?’ I took a plastic cup from Alice and pretended to drink from it.
‘Her closest friend died in a car crash up by the stadium three years ago.’
‘That’s awful.’
Alice took the cup from me.
‘Yeah, hit her really bad. She got quite deep into believing in angels and fate, things happening for a reason.’
‘Do you think it could have been a trigger for her hooking up with Malcolm?’
‘Could well have been. She had this saying on her Facebook page after her friend died about grasping opportunities when they present themselves and the power of Yes.’ She gave a sideways grin as if to say she would never be taken in by such crap.
‘Do you know where she lived in Sheffield?’ Steve asked, taking a cup from Alice. She giggled when Steve slurped loudly.
‘Yeah, quite near the station. Nathan and the boys are still there.’
‘You know him then?’
‘No, my dad does.’
‘Do you suppose Nathan would be willing to see us?’
‘Don’t know. I could find out.’
‘That would be great. We would like to pay our respects.’
Zoe nodded, then continued, ‘Paula’s last post was about a year and a half ago. She said she was moving to Peterborough for a little while. That’s in Cambridgeshire, isn’t it? She didn’t say “we”, so I did wonder then if they’d split up.’ She took another biscuit.
‘I don’t suppose you know an exact address in Peterborough, do you?’ Steve asked.
‘Sorry, she never said. Soon after that she deleted the post. In fact, quite a few of her posts and photos disappeared. Her account closed about a year ago.’
‘Is there anyone else who might know?’ I asked.
‘I shouldn’t think so. She didn’t keep in close touch with any of us. To be honest, I think she looked down at anyone who didn’t aspire to move away from here. I don’t like to speak ill of the dead, but she’d always acted like she was a cut above the rest of us. Full of airs and graces, my mam always said.’
A taxi hooted outside. It was a few minutes early, thank god.
Zoe plucked another biscuit between her nails. ‘Turns out she just vanished from home one afternoon with no warning. Nathan didn’t have a clue about it, poor bloke.’ She stood up.
What was this woman doing giving media interviews about someone she hardly knew? Was she trying to make herself sound important, benefit in some way from Brenda’s death? ‘Thank you. We’re so grateful to you for coming to speak to us.’ Steve stood up.
‘Up, up.’ Alice raised her hands to him.
Steve picked Alice up then, stepped forward and shook Zoe’s hand. ‘We’re very grateful.’
‘Do please let us know if Nathan is willing to see us.’
‘Yeah I will. I’ll get back to you later.’
Sarah showed her out.
‘What now?’ Steve bounced Alice up and down in his arms, making her giggle and say, again, again, except it sounded like, gen, gen.
‘Shall we ask the surrogate on the forum if her husband ever went looking for Malcolm in Peterborough?’
‘Good idea.’ He lowered Alice down and tapped his phone.
‘More tea anyone?’ Sarah filled the kettle.
‘A quick one, then we’d better get home, thanks.’ I sat Alice back on my lap and played Pat-a-Cake.
‘Why don’t you stay the night if you’re going to visit Nathan? Save you a trip back up here,’ Paul said.
‘Do you have a room available? What do you think, Steve? Don’t you need to be at work tomorrow?’
‘There’s no one staying here at the moment, it’s so close to Christmas. We’re not going to charge you.’ Sarah smiled, clearing away the plates.
‘Are you sure?’ I reached out and touched her arm. She nodded.
‘The guys won’t mind, it’s not exactly been busy at the garage.’
‘We will stay then, thank you so much.’
‘Shepherd’s pie all right for tea?’ Sarah cleared the cups onto the tray.
‘Ooh, yes please. That’s your favourite isn’t it, Alice?’
Alice grinned at us, showing her new teeth.
After we’d eaten, Zoe called to say Nathan had invited us to his house that night at 8 p.m.
Chapter Fifty-Five
We parked outside Nathan’s house under the glow of yellow light from the street lamp. The rumble of a dustbin being dragged out to the pavement splintered the silence. In the distance, two dogs barked in conversation. I stood by the car and tried to imagine Brenda walking up the path as Paula Bennett. What kind of person was she really? The last time she walked away from here had she known she was going to pretend to be childless? Did she know she’d never come back?
Steve carried a sleepy Alice and rang the doorbell. Sarah had offered to babysit but I wanted Alice to stay close to us. The man who answered was tall, well built. His hair a mix of brown and grey. He seemed on edge, unwilling to open the door fully at first, peering into the darkness beyond us, as if he thought we were being followed.
‘We’re Charlotte and Steve,’ I said.
He grunted something and looked right through us.
‘Zoe arranged for us to be here at eight?’
‘Yes, yes, you’d better come in.’ He ushered us past him, checking up and down the street before shutting the door and bolting it.
The house stank of boiled chicken; a greasy, cloying smell that hit the back of my throat.
‘Are you okay, mate?’ Steve asked.
‘They won’t leave me alone.’
‘Who?’ I said.
‘If I knew that, I could do something about it.’ He stalked off into the living room.
A boy’s face appeared in the darkness at the top of the stairs.
‘Hello.’ I held my hand up to the pale-faced boy. He blinked a few times and lowered his head. A stair creaked
as he crept back up.
‘So you’re this… this surrogate then?’ Nathan said, not looking at me. He didn’t offer us a seat, so we stood by the fireplace with its mock art nouveau tile surround. Display cabinets lined one long wall, full of various collections of animals and Disney characters. Pink velvet curtains framed the French windows, a matching scalloped pelmet across the top. Piles of clothes took up two chairs. Everything seemed so dated and nothing like the taste of the woman I’d known.
‘We knew Paula as Brenda. We believed her and Malcolm were a couple who couldn’t have children.’
Nathan shook his head. ‘What’s this bloke like then, rich is he?’
‘He seemed quite well off.’
‘I didn’t like him.’ Steve moved Alice onto his other shoulder. ‘Thought he was right about everything, didn’t he?’
I nodded.
Nathan perched on the arm of the sofa. ‘If only Paula had talked to me first, I’m sure we’d have worked things out.’
‘Did she tell you anything?’ I wanted to add: about being unhappy, thinking about leaving.
‘She left so suddenly. I thought we were fine – you know, we quarrelled like any couple does.’ He paused. A half-assembled Christmas tree stood in the corner, a twist of tinsel around its branches. ‘And then, a few weeks later, the messages started coming.’
‘Who from?’
‘Paula to start with, saying she needed to be away from us, that she was happier in her new life and to leave her alone.’
‘So you’d been texting her then?’
‘I wanted to know where she was, when she was coming back. She didn’t take much with her, so it took a while before I realised she’d actually left me. Left us. How was I supposed to explain it to the boys? I could just about forgive her for leaving me, but not contacting them? Walking out on their lives without a word? That’s unforgivable.’
‘What happened then?’
‘I couldn’t stop myself messaging her. I was desperate to see her, for her to explain to me face-to-face what was going on. Then I started getting anonymous texts from someone, threatening me if I didn’t back off, saying all sorts about how Paula’s life was better without me dragging her down. I guessed she’d left me for another bloke.’
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