by Linda Huber
Another key slid into the lock on Sharon’s door, and Jeff eased it round, his heart beating in his throat. This was the part that mustn’t go wrong. One turn had no effect and his heart rate increased. It would be so much easier if he could get in and out without speaking to Sharon. He was doing the right thing, for Sharon and Craig as well as for him and Caro and Jael, but a silly fuss at the start of their new family life was best avoided. Another turn of the key and – yes, that was it. Jeff cracked the door open and listened for a moment. Nothing. Was she even at home? The possibility of finding an empty flat hadn’t occurred to him, and he hesitated for a moment, then crept inside. Still nothing. He was busy wondering what kind of wicked mother took a days-old baby out when it should be having a proper lunchtime nap, when a slight sound came from one of the rooms. Jeff tiptoed up the hallway and into a small bedroom – and there she was, his little angel, lying there blinking up at him and waggling those wonderful baby fingers. He lifted her, hardly daring to breathe in case she started crying, but she snuggled into his arms as if she knew she belonged there. Tears ran down his cheeks. His little girl. Everything would be all right now – he had a baby for Caro.
Taking care to be gentler than he’d ever been before, he placed the baby in the sports bag and zipped it right up. She wouldn’t suffocate in two minutes, would she? He would undo it in the car.
Quick, quick, away from here. He fled the flat on silent feet, the handle of the bag sliding on damp fingers. This was the dangerous part, getting the baby back to the car. Down in the lift… good, no one was about. Outside, round to the car… Jeff opened the passenger seat door and placed the bag on the floor where it couldn’t fall down. Now to get home, as quickly as they could. How surprised Caro was going to be.
Julie
‘Home-time,’ said Dee firmly. ‘Leave that computer, Julie, you must have megabytes coming out your ears by now. Let’s go and have coffee in the park. We’ve scarcely had a minute to talk all day.’
Julie stretched thankfully. It was always nice, stopping work in time to enjoy some of the afternoon. Mind you, she’d spent quite a lot of work-time today day-dreaming about Max. It would be good to get her friend’s input on Saturday’s date.
They strolled towards the pond, sipping lattes-to-go. When they reached the benches, Julie sat down and patted the seat beside her.
‘Guess what. I was out with Max again on Saturday – just me and Amy this time.’
Dee sat down, her face alive with questions. ‘Good! Or – not good?’
‘Oh, good. I think. Sam was at a party, so Max and I could talk.’ She sighed. ‘It’s so complicated when you’ve got kids, Dee.’
‘I can imagine. Julie, I know Sam and Amy come first, but… don’t forego the chance of happiness with Max. I’ll babysit for you as much as I can.’
Julie dropped her coffee beaker in to the bin at her side. ‘You think I should stop being a wimp and grab a great guy while I have the chance, don’t you?’
‘You said it,’ said Dee.
Julie nodded slowly. ‘I thought I’d ask him to mine for dinner one night.’
Dee gave her a little push. ‘Get on your phone and arrange a date soon, then. I’ll see you tomorrow at work.’ She walked off towards the hill.
Julie watched her for a moment, then reached for her phone. ‘Soon’ sounded good to her.
Sharon
A bang from outside woke her, and Sharon blinked the sleep from her eyes. The familiar sound of the bin lorry emptying the rubbish containers came in through the open window, and she relaxed. Well, that had been a good nap; she felt much better. A cup of de-caff and a digestive sounded good now. What time was it, anyway? She glanced at the alarm clock by the bed and froze. Four o’clock. Four o’clock. Craig would be home again soon. She had slept for over three hours – no wonder she felt rested. And how amazing that Jael wasn’t yelling for attention. Or – oh heck – had her baby been crying, and she’d been too dead to the world to hear her? How awful. Or – no, no…
The ugly spectre of cot death reared up in Sharon’s head, and she flung the duvet aside and ran through silence in the flat. Jael – Jael, sweetie, you’re all right, aren’t you? The nursery door was open, and Sharon skidded in, clutching the door frame for support. A scream in a voice she didn’t recognise rang in her ears when she saw the empty cot.
Jeff
Humming, he pulled up in the driveway. Ah, this was better. Home was going to be so much more homelike with the baby here too. Careful with the bag, now, slowly does it. Key in the front door… There. He had carried his daughter into her new home.
‘Here we are, sweetheart,’ he murmured, lifting the baby from the sports bag and laying her on the sofa while he went for the rest of his shopping. When he returned, she was crying, her legs stiff and her face screwed up. Jeff lifted her – how natural it felt. The little head tucked under his chin, the warm little body leaning on his chest – oh yes, she belonged here. Was she hungry? Well, he knew what to do about that, thanks to the friendly shop assistant.
He took the baby into the kitchen and put her in the bouncy seat. She seemed to like it, so he lifted it onto the table and she lay looking upwards and giving occasional little bleats. Jeff poured boiling water over one of the new bottles to sterilise it, then made up a feed. Now it had to cool down before she could drink it. He put ice cubes into a jug and swirled the bottle around until the temperature seemed right – this baby stuff was complicated, boiling water and ice and powdered milk – but the feed was ready now. He lifted the baby, scraping the seat rather hard on the table top in the process, and carried her into the living room.
He had never fed a baby before, but of course he’d seen it done many times. It hadn’t looked difficult. Jeff settled himself into a corner of the sofa, and offered the bottle to the baby.
To his delight, she sucked immediately and hungrily. Obviously, this was better food than she’d been getting. Sharon’s milk was probably half sour. You couldn’t nourish a baby you didn’t want.
‘Not too fast now, not too fast,’ he murmured when the bottle was half empty. Weren’t babies supposed to burp now and again? He held her upright, clean tea towel at the ready in case of dribbles, and rubbed her back gently. It was so amazing, sitting here with her baby solidness on his lap –and the band of tension in his head had disappeared at last. Yes, he was doing extremely well. Caro would be proud of him.
Jeff glanced over to the television table, where the framed selfie of the two of them at Louise’s wedding stood. Big smiles and Caro’s enormous hat. A good photo. But – where was the smaller one of Caro and Rosie that usually stood beside it? He gazed round the room, unease growing.
Several things were missing. The tiny wooden elephant Caro’d brought home from Thailand a couple of years ago. The chunk of quartz she’d bought in Austria. Two little enamel pictures of Brighton, and – the silver box Caro’s grandma had left her! It was gone from its place on the book shelf. What had happened? Had they been burgled? Oh no – his computer stuff…
He left the baby on the sofa and charged upstairs. The spare room was the same as always, but one look in the bedroom told Jeff what had happened. Caro had gone. She’d taken a whole load of her things – both cases were missing from under the bed – no, no, where was she? He had to find her and bring her back home. They had a baby to think of now.
Back downstairs, he grabbed his phone and tried Caro’s mobile, but it was switched off. Shit. But she’d be at work… He connected to the car salesroom.
‘Hi, Jeff. No, she’s taken the afternoon off. No, I don’t know where she is. Sorry.’
He rang off immediately. That stupid cow Louise. Who else could he ask? Think, Jeff.
He didn’t have many of her friends’ numbers in his mobile, but he called those he did have. The answer was always the same.
‘Sorry, Jeff, can’t help you.’
It was all he could do to end the conversations politely. No one must guess what had happ
ened, and of course nothing had happened, really, because Caro wouldn’t, couldn’t have left him. A sob rose in Jeff’s throat as he stared at the baby on the sofa. She had fallen asleep, one little arm stretched towards him. He sat down beside her to think.
Caro must have gone somewhere. Probably Rosie’s; that was the most logical place. He sat staring at Rosie’s number in his phone. Even if Caro was there, Rosie might tell him she wasn’t. He would go there later and make Caro come home. He would make her.
Sharon
The empty cot… No, no, her baby, her baby… Had Craig come home early and taken her out? But he would never do that; he was afraid to do more than touch her with one finger… Sharon stumbled into the living area and leaned on the back of the sofa. Her head was spinning, and waves of sickness were washing through her gut. The flat was absolutely still. The only sound was her own ragged breathing, and her heartbeat thumping, thumping in her ears. Where was Jael?
Sharon forced herself upright and stared wildly around, stumbling through the flat. Everything seemed so normal. The buggy was there by the door where she’d left it that morning. There was no sign of Craig, and no briefcase in the hallway, nothing in the spare room. He must still be at the shop.
Sobbing now, she hurried out to the terrace. No Craig, no Jael. Back to the bedroom – her phone, where was her phone? Christ, where the – there it was, on the chest of drawers. She had switched it off before she went to sleep. Sharon sank down on the bed, her fingers shaking and sliding on the screen as she turned her phone back on. Come on, come on – stupid device, why was it taking so long to boot up?
‘Have you got her?’ she screamed, hearing Craig’s voice change from dull because he didn’t want to speak to her, to sheer panic that matched her own. He hadn’t seen Jael since quarter past one when he’d left them both asleep in the flat.
‘Call the police!’ he shouted. ‘I’m on my way!’
He broke the connection and Sharon fell to her knees on the hard, wooden floor, her fingers trembling so much she could hardly punch out nine-nine-nine.
Jeff
A movement on the garden path outside made Jeff look up. Caro? Hope changed to horror when he saw the police car, and his heart crashed into top gear. Were they looking for the baby already? But they mustn’t find her until Sharon realised that here was the best place for Jael to be. Swiftly, he lifted both baby and bottle, disappearing into the kitchen as the doorbell rang.
The baby chair was on the table; they would see that if they came snooping round the back. He thrust it into a cupboard, pushed the milk powder and all the bottle stuff into the sports bag, then wedged himself and the baby into the cupboard under the stairs. The police wouldn’t see them here even if they did walk round peering in all the windows. Now if only the baby stayed asleep.
Fortunately, she did, and after a few shouts of ‘Police!’ and a walk round the back of the house, the officers departed. Jeff listened as their car reversed away from the house and drove off. He relaxed against the cupboard wall, wiping his face with one hand. That had been way too close for comfort. He couldn’t stay here now, that much was clear. He lurched to his feet and pushed the door open, colliding with the shelf beside him. Something fell to the floor – goodness, his old pellet gun. He chucked it back on the shelf and carried the baby back to the living room. Where could he go with a baby and no Caro yet to help him? A hotel? B&B?
Suddenly he remembered the little square off the High Street where he’d parked that morning. There was a sign in one of the windows there, ‘Rooms to let’. That would do very nicely, a furnished room if possible, where he and the baby could hide until Sharon came to her senses. This was all more complicated and messier than he’d intended, but the important thing was to keep his daughter with him. Caro would come back as soon as she realised he had a baby for her.
‘Come on, little one. Into your lovely bag, and we’ll go find somewhere to stay,’ he said, collecting the baby’s bits and pieces. It was time for them both to disappear.
16
Tuesday, 7th June
Caro
Caro awoke early on Tuesday morning and for a second she couldn’t think where she was. Then the events of the previous day slid back into mind and she sat up, pulling a face at her reflection in the dressing table mirror. This was Rosie’s home; she had started new life without Jeff. And talk about bittersweet – the feeling of relief was intense; she literally felt lighter, and yet… it was the end of a dream. For her and for Jeff.
Rosie had been marvellous. She’d hugged Caro tightly and told her there was a bed here for as long as she needed it. They had three bedrooms and the third wouldn’t be needed until one of the kids was old enough to want a room of his own. Caro eyed her sister’s swollen tummy enviously. Well, now she’d be able to have one too. She was still young; there was plenty of time for babies.
A bird started to sing outside and Caro scrambled to the bottom of the bed where her cases were. She should get up now and be in and out of the bathroom before the others were wanting in. It wouldn’t do to make a nuisance of herself.
A quick shower was invigorating and she stood in her room drying her hair. It felt strange, her things arranged in Rosie’s tiny spare room. She’d forgotten her mousse, but she could go back today and fetch more of her stuff, and who knows, maybe Jeff would be ready to listen now. They’d have to talk properly sometime.
Rosie was in her dressing gown making toast when Caro went down. ‘Going in to work today, are you?’ She poured tea into a mug and pushed it towards Caro.
Caro nodded. ‘I can’t stay off again. But I’ll go back ho– back to the house at lunchtime, get some more things and talk to Jeff, if he’s there. We have to organise money and stuff, and then I can see about finding a place of my own.’
Rosie passed her a piece of toast. ‘Jeff’s place’ll be a hard act to follow.’
Caro blinked back tears. This was true, but what else could she do? It was Jeff – or a baby someday. It wasn’t a choice.
The news started on the radio and Caro listened idly as she ate. The usual boring political stuff came first, an attack on a head of state in the east somewhere, but the second item made her sit up, an uneasy churning starting in her middle.
‘There is still no sign of the nine-day-old baby girl taken from her home in Bridgehead yesterday afternoon. Police are looking for an approximately thirty-five-year-old man to help with their inquiries. Anyone with information about this abduction, or who saw anything suspicious in the region of Riverside Gardens between one-fifteen and four o’clock yesterday afternoon, is asked to contact the police…’
‘Sickening, isn’t it,’ said Rosie, reaching for the milk. ‘Who would do a thing like that?’
She was distracted by the sound of her two-year-old upstairs, and Caro was glad of the time to think. She sat still, cold dread clutching at her heart.
It couldn’t be – surely Jeff wouldn’t – but he’d been so strange recently, so unlike himself. He’d changed – or had he gone crazy? But he wouldn’t have taken a baby… would he? Caro pressed cold fingers to her lips. Jeff had definitely been a bit – erratic. What was it he had said about babies the other day, exactly? Something odd, anyway, but she couldn’t remember; she’d been thinking about the no-baby.
Then there was that carrier bag from the baby shop. But surely…
Caro stirred more sugar into her mug, thinking hard. She would phone Davie in Cybersonics. Theoretically, Jeff would have been there all yesterday afternoon. Oh, please let Jeff have been safely at work yesterday afternoon.
She tried her best to appear normal until she left the house, and Rosie didn’t seem to notice anything wrong with her sister’s behaviour. Of course, she had just left her husband, thought Caro dismally, people wouldn’t expect her to behave normally. As soon as she was out the garden gate she called Davie, forcing herself to sound upbeat.
‘Hi, Davie. Um, this might sound odd, but I need to know if Jeff was in yesterday af
ternoon?’
‘No, he called in sick in the morning,’ said Davie, and Caro could tell there was more to come. Davie had never sounded so strained. ‘Actually, Caro, he’s been away a lot recently, and he’s been a bit off too, if you know what I mean. I’m struggling to keep things going here. Is there anything wrong?’
Misery welled up inside Caro. ‘I’m not living at home now, I’m at my sister’s. And you’re right, Jeff’s been – different, lately. I’m worried, Davie. Is he coming in today?’
‘He should be here right now, but he isn’t,’ said Davie. ‘Hey, I’m sorry you’re having problems. I’ll get him to call you if he turns up, shall I?’
Caro ended the call and trailed across the road to the bus stop. The bus arrived and she sat downstairs, gazing blindly out of the window. Should she go to the police and say she was worried her husband might have taken the baby? But what if he hadn’t? That would be an awful thing to do to Jeff, and it was going to be difficult enough to get things organised between them. No, she had to find out for sure first. She pulled out her mobile again and tried his number, but he didn’t pick up. Caro scowled at her phone. Thinking logically, if Jeff had taken a baby home she would notice, even if he was out when she got there. So, she would go home and look, and she would do it right now. The next stop was just around the corner from the house.
On the way along the cul-de-sac she phoned the salesroom. ‘I’m sorry, Lou, I’ll be about half an hour late. I’ve got a bit of a crisis on. I’ve left Jeff.’
She heard Louise’s swift intake of breath, and listened to the excited reassurances that she would cover for Caro as long as necessary. Lou would expect all the gossip later. Oh well, what did it matter?
The house was silent when Caro opened the front door. The car wasn’t in the driveway, so hopefully Jeff was on his way to work. She went in slowly, looking around.