Hiding in Plain Sight

by Susan Lewis

  Second in line would be Rowzee, Graeme’s older sister, who had sweetness, vitality, mischief and miracles all over her. She and her merry little dance with terminal cancer were a source of endless fascination for the medical profession, and sparked up so many emotions for those who loved her that the easiest refuge was in denial. It wasn’t happening, Rowzee wasn’t going to die, so now let’s get on with life.

  How blessed Graeme was in his sisters, whose far greater age had made them more like mothers while he was growing up; now they were getting to be like troublesome teenagers.

  As though reading her mind, Maureen said, ‘Do you know when Rowzee and Pamela are due home?’

  ‘Not for a while yet,’ Andee answered, checking her mobile as a text came through. It was Graeme wanting to know if she’d landed safely.

  After messaging him back, Andee said, ‘Have you told anyone about this since we spoke yesterday?’

  Maureen shook her head. ‘I know this is going to sound odd, but it’s like I’m afraid to.’

  Andee sort of understood.

  ‘I’m afraid no one will believe me,’ Maureen expanded. ‘They’ll think I’m getting delusional in my old age. I’ve even wondered it myself.’

  Andee smiled.

  ‘What does Graeme say?’

  ‘He’s as shocked and mystified by it as we are. He asked me to tell you that if you’re worried about anything and you feel I’m not listening or responding appropriately, you’re to call him any time of the day or night.’

  Maureen’s eyes lightened with humour. ‘Did he really say that?’

  ‘His exact words; give or take.’

  ‘Then he knows you well.’

  Andee regarded her sardonically. ‘Because I’m given to responding inappropriately?’

  ‘If we’re putting it politely,’ her mother countered.

  Laughing, Andee checked her mobile again and seeing it was her daughter Alayna on the line, she quickly clicked on.

  ‘Hey Mum!’ Alayna cried in her sing-songy, I’m-a-supercool-student way. ‘I just saw that a couple of the Strictly dancers are appearing at the Hippodrome, here in Bristol, at Christmas so I thought I’d get some tickets for Grandma’s birthday treat. I’m checking with you first though to make sure you haven’t already done it.’

  ‘I haven’t,’ Andee confirmed.

  ‘OK, so you’ll come too, and drive her? We know she’s not keen on driving at night. I can check out some Airbnb places for you, if you like. It’d be great if you stayed over so we can go for dinner and breakfast and do other stuff, like shopping so I can spend all your money.’

  Wryly, Andee said, ‘I’m fine thanks my darling. I hope you are too.’

  ‘Yeah, dead cool, and you’re very funny. How’s Provence?’

  ‘Actually, I’m in England.’

  ‘I thought it wasn’t a French ringtone. So why are you back already? Weren’t you supposed to be going for two months? Oh my God, don’t tell me you’ve broken up with Graeme. I’ve only just got used to you being with him. Are you very upset?’

  Rolling her eyes, Andee said, ‘Graeme and I are still together, but there’s some business I have to attend to back here, so Grandma just came to pick me up from the airport.’

  ‘Are you saying you guys were in Bristol and you didn’t come to see me? How am I supposed to get over that?’

  ‘We assumed you’d be busy.’

  ‘You should have rung, just in case. Anyway, don’t mention the tickets if Grandma’s there because I want it to be a surprise.’

  ‘It’s a lovely idea, and yes to everything.’

  ‘You are so totally amazing, did I ever tell you that?’

  ‘Not often enough.’

  With a splutter of laughter, Alayna said, ‘So what business have you got back here? Please don’t tell me someone else has gone missing. You’re supposed to have left the police because you didn’t want to get involved in those searches any more, but everyone still keeps coming to you.’

  Having already decided that now wasn’t the time to tell Alayna what had really brought her back, Andee made up something about a client of Graeme’s needing some special attention. She could always be truthful later, when she had a clearer idea of how things were going to progress with Penny. Michelle.

  ‘OK, well if anyone’s good at special attention it’s Grandma, so you should take her with you. Have you spoken to Luke, our man in Africa, lately?’

  ‘Not since last weekend. Have you?’

  ‘No, but he messaged me yesterday to say they had a run-in with poachers the night before last. Pretty scary stuff, if you ask me, but you know what he’s like, I bet he loved it.’

  Knowing for sure that her son was enjoying every minute of his time on a South African game reserve, Andee said, ‘Did he say if the baby rhino’s been born yet?’

  ‘No, which means it hasn’t or he’d have sent pictures. Dad’s planning to go out there, did he tell you? We could go too if you felt like it?’

  ‘I thought you were working all summer to earn some money.’

  ‘Yep, I am totally doing that. Anyway, have to run, I’m already late for my next lecture. Only two weeks to go and summer officially starts. Yay! Love to Grandma, and to you. Kisses,’ and she was gone.

  ‘She makes me feel exhausted just to hear her jabbering,’ Maureen commented, as they joined the M5. ‘Is she all right?’

  ‘I think we can rest easy.’

  ‘And Luke? Has she heard from him?’

  Deciding not to mention the poachers, Andee said, ‘Apparently Martin’s planning to go out there.’

  ‘He’s in Spain with his mother.’

  ‘For now, but he was always intending to fly out and see Luke, so why don’t you go and join Carol when he’s gone?’

  Maureen glanced at her. ‘Are you trying to get rid of me?’ she challenged.

  ‘No, but I know you. You really wanted to go, but ended up deciding to stay behind in case one of the children changed their plans, so someone would be at home for them. They’re twenty-one and nineteen, Mum. You don’t have to arrange your life around them.’

  ‘I know you’re right, but it feels wrong for none of us to be in Kesterly. Anyway, given what’s happening, it’s a good job I did stay at home.’

  Thinking again of Penny and how easy it would be for her to take over their mother’s life from here on, maybe even Andee’s too, Andee attempted to put herself in Maureen’s shoes. It was one thing losing a sister, and God knew it had been bad, but losing a daughter … How would she feel if Alayna vanished without a trace and suddenly turned up so many years later? It would make her feel sick with shock and apprehension, riven with curiosity of course, and no doubt insanely relieved and excited; it might also cripple her with guilt. She’d feel ashamed of having moved on without her, and afraid of somehow letting her down again; or of not being good enough; of doing and saying the wrong things; of being unable to make things up to her.

  Andee felt all these things herself, was becoming more stressed by them as time ticked on, so she could only guess at how much worse it was for her mother.

  ‘I was wondering,’ Andee said, when finally they approached Kesterly seafront where early summer visitors were braving a feisty downpour, ‘if I ought to have a chat with Gould about things.’

  As Maureen slowed behind the tourist train Andee sensed her tension. ‘You mean your old boss, Detective Inspector Gould?’ Maureen said evenly. ‘I’m not sure either of us is ready for that yet, are we?’

  ‘It would be off the record,’ Andee assured her.

  Maureen’s gaze drifted across The Promenade to where spirited waves were flinging themselves against the bay’s flanking rocks. Andee suspected she was thinking about all the press attention that was likely to erupt once the news was out. Her mother had lived through it all those years ago, and it had come close to giving her a breakdown. She wouldn’t want to go through it again. ‘He doesn’t know anything about the case,’ Maureen said.
‘It wasn’t handled here, besides he’s far too young. He wouldn’t even have been in the force at the time she disappeared.’

  ‘I realise that, but he’s a friend, someone who can advise us if we need it. Maybe advise Penny too.’

  Maureen’s face was growing paler. ‘I think we should wait and find out from Penny what she wants to happen,’ she replied.

  Deciding not to press it, since she wasn’t sure herself of the best course to take, Andee said no more as her mother drove them up on to the northerly headland and along the steep, winding roads towards home.

  The random sprawl of quaint grey stone cottages brightened by flower baskets and rose-covered porches, along with the handful of newer red-brick bungalows that made up the residences of Bourne Hollow, were gleaming wetly in a sudden burst of sunshine as Maureen and Andee drove into the hamlet. At its heart was a neatly mowed patch of green shaped vaguely like a kite with a children’s play area and sandpit at one end, several carefully tended (by Maureen) flower beds at the other, and half a dozen or more memorial benches parked invitingly around the edges. The Smugglers’ Arms, a centuries-old whitewashed inn, was on the north side of the hamlet with a garden full of picnic tables and parasols spilling out on to the street, while the Bourne Hollow convenience store-cum-café and newly opened gift shop nestled together on the western tip. The old smugglers’ tunnels that laced through the heart of the headland had mostly been filled in by now, but two were still offering guided tours for those bold enough to make the descent – and confront the ghosts.

  The Lawrence family home, Briar Lodge, rambled sedately along the eastern end of the green with tall brick chimneys at each end, several slate roofs at different levels and a low stone wall to mark the garden boundary. It had started life back in the eighteen hundreds as a hunting retreat for a wealthy merchant from Bristol, but these days, with its Victorian-style extensions and large sash windows, it was a much lighter, more homely version of its original incarnation.

  After pulling up behind Andee’s car in the drive at the side of the house Maureen continued to sit at the wheel, holding on to it as though unwilling to let go.

  ‘Are you OK?’ Andee asked gently.

  Maureen nodded stiffly. ‘I think so … I just …’

  ‘Take a moment,’ Andee advised. ‘We don’t have to rush anywhere.’

  Maureen inhaled deeply and slowly let the breath go. ‘It’s going to be all right,’ she whispered to herself.

  Andee stroked the back of her mother’s neck. ‘Of course it is,’ she assured her.

  Maureen started to nod without seeming to realise she was doing it. She gave a slight twitch and put a hand to her head. ‘I wish Daddy was here,’ she said.

  Andee did too, but he wasn’t. Trying to be upbeat, she said, ‘We have each other, and think what it’s going to be like for Penny seeing us after all these years.’

  Maureen’s face was bleak and colourless as she turned to Andee. ‘You’re right,’ she replied. ‘It’s going to be much harder for her.’

  Though Andee had conflicting thoughts about that, all she said was, ‘Let’s go and make some tea.’

  Maureen led the way through a side door into the large kitchen-cum-sitting room that never failed to exude the irresistible cosiness that made everyone, family and visitors alike, reluctant to leave.

  To Andee the place seemed hauntingly empty as they went about putting on the kettle and taking out mugs. It was as though, she thought, something indefinable had shifted. The house no longer seemed entirely theirs, as if it was preparing for new chapters in its existence, and she supposed it was.

  ‘I should feel ecstatic,’ Maureen suddenly declared. ‘I think I do. Somewhere inside me I’m sure I do, but I’m so nervous, Andee. Why did she want us to think she was dead? The note she sent … We all thought …’

  ‘We all thought the same,’ Andee comforted her, ‘but in our hearts, with there never being a body …’

  ‘We never gave up hope of this day. But now it’s here … Do you think someone forced her to write the note?’

  ‘It’s possible. Even likely, now that we know she’s alive.’

  ‘What if she hates us for not being able to find her? What am I …?’

  ‘Mum, stop,’ Andee interrupted gently. ‘She’s not going to hate us …’

  ‘But where has she been all this time? What’s been happening to her? How did she find us? Tell me, how did she look?’

  ‘She looked like a normal woman in her early forties. There was nothing to set her apart.’ Andee tried to sound reassuring.

  Maureen clearly needed more.

  ‘She was quite stylish, well groomed,’ Andee expanded. ‘Her hair is blonde now, but her features are just the same, only older.’

  ‘And her eyes?’

  ‘The same colour as mine.’

  ‘Does she still have freckles?’

  ‘I don’t think so.’

  ‘What sort of car was she in?’

  ‘A silver Mercedes which was being driven by somebody else. I’ve no idea who because I didn’t see them.’

  ‘I don’t understand why she just drove off.’

  Andee shook her head. ‘Nor do I, but I expect she’ll explain when we see her.’ Though she didn’t feel exactly confident of that, she wasn’t going to say so to her mother. The last thing Maureen needed now was to try and cope with her elder daughter’s misgivings.

  ‘The truth is,’ Andee said to Graeme later on the phone while her mother was having a lie-down, ‘I’ve got no idea how I feel about seeing her again, because it changes by the minute.’

  ‘It would when you’ve no way of knowing what to expect,’ he replied.

  ‘It’s more than thirty years since your father died,’ she ran on, ‘so imagine how you’d feel if you suddenly found out he was still alive and wanted to see you.’

  ‘I’ve tried putting myself in that very place,’ Graeme admitted, ‘and I know I’d be as thrown and as anxious as you are, excited too, of course, because he was a great guy. But pretending to be dead, deliberately removing himself from our lives, which is what it would mean in his case … I don’t know if I could forgive that. But if we’re looking at it that way, we’re suggesting your sister was instrumental in her own disappearance. Do you think that could be the case?’

  ‘No, no, of course not. She was only fourteen and she was depressed at the time, something we should have paid more attention to. But that doesn’t explain why she’s waited all these years to come back to us now.’

  ‘Teenagers and depression can be a lethal combination, that’s for sure. Have you thought any more about contacting the police?’

  ‘My mother thinks we should wait to find out what Penny wants to do. Incidentally, she calls herself Michelle now. Michelle Cross.’

  ‘And you’ve already Googled the name?’

  ‘Mainly because I thought I recognised it, but no one came up to jog my memory, nor was there anyone who could conceivably be her. I might try again later, or I might just wait until she comes.’

  ‘The day after tomorrow?’

  ‘It’s going to feel like an eternity, and heaven only knows what I’ll do with my mother for all that time. We’ve no way of contacting her to ask if it can be sooner, so looks like we have to do it her way, and you can probably imagine how I feel about having someone else pulling my strings.’

  Drily, he said, ‘I can, but you have to consider that this probably isn’t easy for her either.’

  Hearing a repeat of her own words, Andee found herself relaxing for a moment, but was soon bristling again. ‘It was easy enough for her to approach me in L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue and ask if I remembered her,’ she reminded him.

  ‘OK, point taken. So how are you going to fill the time between now and when she comes?’

  Hearing her mother on the stairs, Andee said, ‘I’m sure we’ll think of something. Tell me now, how are things going your end?’

  Taking his cue, he said, ‘Not bad. I’v
e managed to pin the builder down at last. He’s meeting me at Nadia’s place on Friday at ten. I’ll be there for most of tomorrow and Thursday with the cornice restorers and roofers. When you have a minute can you text or email me the details of the mirror chap you found on Avenue des Quatre Otages?’

  ‘Actually, I left his card in a tray by the front door so you should have it.’

  ‘Andee,’ Maureen said quietly.

  Andee turned to find her mother staring down at her mobile. ‘I have to go,’ she told Graeme. ‘I’ll call you later,’ and taking her mother’s phone she read the text that had clearly shaken Maureen quite badly.

  Hi Mum, hope you’re well. Really looking forward to seeing you. Do you remember Smoky, the kitten? He was so sweet, wasn’t he? I wonder what happened to him? So many memories, lots to talk about, can’t wait to hear all your news. Andee’s too. Love Michelle.

  Andee looked at her mother. ‘When did it arrive?’ she asked.

  ‘A few moments ago. The jingle woke me.’

  Andee went through to the sender’s number, stored it and returned to the message. ‘Smoky the kitten?’ she asked her mother.

  ‘I’d forgotten all about him,’ Maureen replied. ‘We gave him to Penny for her birthday one year, do you remember? She must have been eight or nine. He disappeared a few weeks later …’ Her voice trailed off as her eyes stared glassily into the past.

  ‘Mum?’ Andee prompted gently.

  Maureen looked at her.

  ‘Are you all right?’ Andee asked.

  ‘We searched and searched,’ Maureen told her. ‘In the end we decided someone must have taken him.’

  Andee kind of remembered, and frowned as she looked at the message again. Why bring it up now? ‘She hasn’t mentioned wanting to hear Daddy’s news,’ she observed.

  ‘So maybe she knows he’s gone.’

  Experiencing a sudden surge of frustration, Andee went to the fridge and took out a bottle of wine.

  ‘A large one for me,’ Maureen said, sinking down at the table.

  ‘How did she get your mobile number?’ Andee demanded. ‘You say she called the house phone before.’