by Susan Lewis
‘I’m talking more about the legal situation than where they’ll live, but you’re right, that needs to be sorted too. What we don’t want is for the baby to be made a ward of the court and taken into care.’
Horrified, Maureen said, ‘Is that possible?’
‘It could be. I need to seek some advice.’ Her eyes followed her mother’s along the hall as someone knocked on the front door.
‘Who on earth can it be at this time of night?’ Maureen murmured, turning back to Andee.
Since it was only just after nine it wasn’t that late; nevertheless their neighbours usually came round to the back door.
‘I’ll go,’ Andee said, getting to her feet. ‘You wait there. If I don’t come straight back call 999.’
‘You’re not funny,’ her mother scolded.
Still smiling past the unease that had flared with the knock, Andee went to see who it was.
‘You wanted to talk,’ Penny stated as Andee opened the door.
Andee stared at her hard, then standing aside she gestured for her to come in.
Maureen rose to her feet as Penny entered the kitchen. Her eyes were sharp and wary. She uttered no words of welcome, didn’t even try to muster a smile.
Apparently mindful of being ordered out the last time she was there, Penny said, ‘If you have any objections I can leave.’ Though her tone wasn’t hostile, it conveyed no contrition or sense of caring one way or another what the decision might be.
Maureen’s eyes went to Andee.
Andee went to press a hand on her mother’s arm, a gesture of reassurance and instruction to sit down again. After waving Penny to a chair at the other side of the table she decided against offering her a drink, and sat down too.
‘So, have you seen him?’ Penny asked bluntly.
‘You mean Sven?’ Andee countered.
‘You know who I mean.’
‘Yes, I’ve seen him.’
Penny’s eyes flicked to her mother and back again. ‘I suppose I’d be wasting my breath if I asked you to tell me where he is.’
‘You would,’ Andee confirmed.
Sitting back in her chair, Penny rearranged the gloved ends of her sleeves. ‘I hope you understand,’ she said, ‘that obstructing me on this will serve no one, least of all them.’
Andee’s eyebrows rose. ‘Actually, I don’t understand that. Maybe you could explain it.’
Impatiently Penny took out her phone as it rang and turned it off. ‘I told you, when you went to see Sven, not to believe everything he said. The same goes for Jonathan.’
‘So what should I believe?’ Andee challenged.
Penny’s eyes went to her mother again. It was impossible to know what she was thinking, or feeling, completely masked as she was by the steeliness of her expression. ‘Tell me something,’ she said to Andee while still looking at Maureen, ‘have you given any consideration at all to the other people involved in this? The couple who entered the agreement in good faith? The couple who are beside themselves with fear and grief that their dream might not be about to come true?’
Andee had to admit, if only privately, that she hadn’t allowed herself to dwell too much on that.
‘Jonathan and Juliette knew what they were doing when they signed the contract,’ Penny continued. ‘They did it freely, willingly, knowing very well that they were giving the couple concerned a world of hope where before there had only been disappointment and heartbreak. They understood that these people trusted them and believed that, thanks to them, they would soon be parents.’
Her eyes remained harsh, but her tone was reasonable and calm. ‘They have corresponded throughout the pregnancy,’ she continued. ‘Juliette has sent copies of her scans and all her medical reports. They Skyped regularly so Juliette could give them accounts of how she was feeling and show them how her bump was growing. The couple have been as involved as it was possible to be, given there is half a continent and an entire ocean between them. They have been expecting Juliette to return to the States for the birth, because that was what was agreed. They have rented two apartments next door to each other in Houston so they can be sure of Juliette’s comfort in the final stages, and as close to her as possible until the baby comes. Can you imagine how they are feeling right now?’ The challenge burned in her eyes.
In truth Andee couldn’t imagine it, but she was more than ready to concede that it had to be terrible.
‘The law in Texas,’ Penny continued, ‘states that the intended parents, not the birth mother, are the legal parents of that child.’
‘But they’re not in Texas,’ Andee pointed out. ‘They’re here and they want to keep the child. I think British law will support their case …’
‘I don’t give a damn about British law. Juliette was paid a great deal of money to carry this baby, and there is more to come when she hands it over.’
‘I don’t think she’s interested in the money …’
‘She’s already taken it.’
‘Then she must be persuaded to give it back.’
Penny’s scaly hands hit the table. ‘They don’t want it back; they want their baby and I am going to make sure they get it.’
Andee’s eyebrows shot up. ‘And exactly how are you going to do that?’ she enquired.
Penny got to her feet. ‘Don’t cross me on this, Andee,’ she warned.
‘Maybe it’s you who shouldn’t cross me,’ Andee countered darkly.
Penny regarded her with an icy contempt. ‘You have my number,’ she said. ‘I want to know where they are by midday tomorrow.’
‘It’s not going to happen,’ Andee assured her.
Penny walked to the door. As she opened it, Andee said, ‘Doesn’t it mean anything at all to you that this baby is your grandson?’
Penny turned back. ‘You’re a fool,’ she said quietly. ‘You have no idea what you’re doing,’ and continuing down the hall she let herself out to her waiting Mercedes.
‘So where is she now?’ Gould asked the following morning when he, Leo and Andee met in his office.
‘I’ve no idea,’ Andee replied, helping herself to more coffee.
‘Why midday?’ Leo wanted to know.
Andee simply shrugged.
‘It’s a bluff,’ Gould stated. ‘I mean, what the hell can she do? She doesn’t know where they are. If she did she’d have … Where are they, by the way?’
Andee glanced at the time. ‘Blake should be collecting them round about now to take them to Rowzee Cayne’s place on the edge of the moor.’
Gould sat back in his chair, scraping a hand across his stubbled chin. ‘You’re right about needing to protect the young mother,’ he said. ‘We can’t have anyone trying to force her into giving up her child, either before or after she’s had it.’
‘But what if …’ Leo began.
Gould’s hand went up. ‘I don’t care about any contract,’ he declared harshly. ‘We’ll put the hospital on a high security alert, and I’ll have someone keep an eye on Rowzee’s place while the kids are there. Meantime, it’s what happens to these surrogates after the births that’s bothering me. Do you think it’s real?’ he asked Andee.
‘I don’t know about real,’ she replied, ‘but it’s possible, given the contacts Penny’s supposed to have.’
‘In which case we need to contact the National Crime Agency, because if she’s in any way involved in trafficking it’s one for them, not us.’
As conflicted as Andee felt about that she didn’t disagree. ‘The problem is,’ she said, ‘we have no evidence of it. All we have is what Alayna found on Facebook, which is pretty inconclusive as it stands, and what I’ve been told by Sven and Jonathan. Right now wouldn’t be a good time to ask Jonathan to provide us with a detailed description of what he knows. After the baby comes, hopefully he’ll be ready to cooperate.’ She couldn’t admit either to herself or to Gould just how hard she was finding it, in spite of everything, to think of investigating and exposing her sister’s activities. Given the choice, she’d
find a way to force Penny to stop what she was doing and with any luck avoid all the harrowing publicity of an arrest and the revelation of who she actually was. However, it wasn’t going to be in her hands, and in truth she was glad of it, for simply thinking about any young girl having to spend even one day in the kind of hellholes they were kept in made her sick to her soul.
Why wasn’t it the same for Penny who’d actually experienced those hellholes?
Gould was saying, ‘We found two brothels – and believe me that’s talking them up – on the Temple Fields estate only last week, thanks to a neighbour coming forward. The girls are being taken care of in a rehab centre in Bristol now, and the toerags holding them are in custody here, but we didn’t get them all.’
Puzzled, Andee said, ‘Do you think they had anything to do with my sister?’
‘I’ve no idea, but if she’s been pushing the kids on to anyone who’ll take them … We know how much they get moved around, so it could be worth asking the girls if they know her, or have heard of her.’
‘I’ll get on to it,’ Leo said, making a note.
Andee checked the time again. It was a quarter to twelve; fifteen minutes to the deadline Penny had set. Of course it was a bluff, but she couldn’t help feeling uneasy.
Glancing at her phone as it rang, she saw it was Blake and clicked on. ‘Is everything OK?’ she asked worriedly.
‘Yes and no. Her waters have broken.’
‘Oh hell,’ Andee groaned. ‘Where are you?’
‘On the moor, with about forty-five minutes to go before we get to Kesterly.’
Thinking fast, she relayed the information to Gould, and said to Blake, ‘You need to keep coming in this direction …’ She let the phone go as Gould reached for it.
‘Stay on the main arterial road and we’ll get the paramedics to meet you. Have you ever delivered a baby?’
‘You’re kidding me, right?’
‘OK, if need be we’ll have someone call to talk you through it until help gets there. Is she all right at the moment?’
‘Calm. Being brave.’
Grabbing the phone back, Andee said, ‘Can you put Jonathan on?’
Sounding hectic, Jonathan said, ‘It’s not supposed to happen yet.’
‘It’ll be all right,’ Andee assured him. ‘Help is on the way and we’ll have briefed the hospital by the time you get there. The important thing is not to panic. Births can take a long time, so the baby’s not likely to come for a while yet.’
‘Will you be there, at the hospital?’ Jonathan asked. ‘We want you to be there.’
‘Yes, of course,’ Andee promised. ‘My mother will want to come too. Is that OK?’
‘Yes, we’d like that. Can you call Juliette’s family?’
‘Of course. Text me the number and I’ll do it right away. Do they speak English?’
‘No.’
‘Don’t worry. I’ll find someone who speaks Italian.’
Alayna was sitting outside Carluccio’s on the Cabot Circus plaza, trying to distract herself by working out her finances on her iPhone while waiting for Jay and his mother to join her for lunch. She was buzzing with excitement and nerves, and so eager to make a good impression that she felt sure she’d more likely end up making a prize fool of herself.
‘Don’t worry, she’s cool,’ Jay had promised when they’d FaceTimed that morning. ‘Five minutes together and you guys will be best mates. She’s like that. She’s known for putting people at their ease – and you’re like it too. So chill. You’ve definitely got the afternoon off?’
‘Deff. I finish at twelve, so I’ll get there early to grab a table outside.’
Given the time of day there were a gazillion people milling around, mostly shoppers and local workers, but loads of tourists too. Alayna was in love with Bristol; it was a really happening city, especially for the young. She’d love to come back after her gap year, but that would depend on finding a job, and there wasn’t enough film and theatre work here to make that a realistic possibility.
She was just wondering if there was time to call her mum to share some of her nerves when a shadow fell over her, and she quickly looked up. With the sun streaming straight into her eyes it wasn’t possible to see who it was, though it was clearly a woman, so had to be Jay’s mother.
‘Alayna?’ The woman stood to one side, using her shadow to help Alayna to see her.
Alayna sprang to her feet. ‘Yes, it’s me,’ she gushed, grabbing the woman’s hand. ‘It’s lovely to meet you. Jay should be here any minute.’
The woman’s smile was so friendly as she pulled out a chair to sit down that Alayna’s spirits soared to a whole new high. ‘I guess you recognised me from all the pictures Jay posts on Instagram,’ she laughed. ‘He takes so many.’
‘He certainly does. But lovely as you are in them, they really don’t do you justice.’ She laughed softly as Alayna blushed. ‘How long did you say he was going to be?’ she asked, glancing at her watch.
‘Oh, probably not long now.’
‘Well, let’s hope he takes his time so we can use it getting to know one another.’
It was just after four in the afternoon.
Andee and Maureen were at a corner table in the Starbucks coffee shop on the busy ground floor of Kesterly Infirmary. Upstairs in the maternity ward Juliette was resting through a lull in proceedings, with Jonathan at her side and a security guard at the ward entrance.
For several minutes, after bringing two lattes to the table, Andee had quietly watched her mother, knowing she was agonising over something and not sure she could guess what it was. ‘So, does it feel strange to think you’re about to become a great-grandmother?’ she prompted gently.
Maureen continued to stare at her coffee, almost as though she hadn’t heard. After a while she said, ‘Everything about this feels strange.’ She looked up. Her eyes were bright, almost harsh, yet Andee could sense how anguished she was. ‘I don’t feel like that woman’s mother,’ she stated bluntly. ‘That woman. This is how I’m describing my own daughter. But she’s nothing like the child I lost, or the person I imagined her growing into … The daughter I lost … I failed her in ways I’ve never had the courage to confront.’
‘Mum …’
‘I didn’t love her enough,’ Maureen pressed on determinedly. ‘I tried, I truly did, and it wasn’t that I didn’t love her at all because I did, very much, it just wasn’t the same as the way I felt about you.’
‘Mum, you have to …’
‘She must have sensed it. In fact I knew she did, but I didn’t know how to change how I felt. I kept trying, but …’
‘Mum, you don’t have to do this to yourself. You’re not to blame.’
‘Oh but I am. I’m her mother every bit as much as I’m yours, and look how different she is …’
‘Not because of you …’
‘Losing her felt like the punishment I deserved for not trying to understand her better.’
‘But you did try.’
‘Of course, but I was always so busy. I’d tell myself she didn’t want to be fussed, and she didn’t, she hated it. Her school reports were always erratic; I could never be entirely sure how well she was doing. Her teachers never seemed to know how interested she was; sometimes she’d try, other times she didn’t engage at all. She could never keep a friend; it was as though they were all afraid of her, or just couldn’t connect with her.’ Her eyes returned to Andee’s. ‘After she’d gone I used to try and make a pact with God, bring her back and I swear I’ll be a better mother. I’d give up work, focus entirely on her, build a relationship with her that was as special and easy as the one I had with you. But she never came back, and in my heart I think I always knew that she wouldn’t. Of course, I thought she was dead, but if she wasn’t … like you I always hoped she wasn’t …’ She shook her head impatiently. ‘I’m losing what I’m trying to say, but what I mean is that if it weren’t for the baby being born upstairs we’d probably never have seen her agai
n.’
Unable to dispute that, Andee covered her mother’s hand with her own and squeezed.
‘I didn’t have a breakdown after she’d gone,’ Maureen ran on. ‘I didn’t lose my way or become an alcoholic or keep going through her things day after day after day … That’s what happens to some mothers. Well, you know that, you’ve dealt with enough of them. I’ve always despised myself for being able to cope. I mean, it wasn’t easy. I was terrified. I dreamt about her all the time, I never stopped thinking about her, longing for her, jumping every time the phone rang, certain it was her, or news of her, but in the end I didn’t fall apart. I coped. Daddy couldn’t, but we know why now.’ She fell silent for a moment, then sounding suddenly angry she said, ‘Will she be able to take the baby away? I mean legally, through the courts.’
‘I don’t know,’ Andee answered honestly. ‘I’m still waiting to hear from Helen Hall.’
‘The lawyer? Will she know?’
‘If she doesn’t she’ll find out.’
After a while Maureen said, ‘From what you’ve told me about him Jonathan seems very kind and caring. We don’t really know him, of course, but he doesn’t strike me as being at all like his mother.’
‘I think, in his heart, he still considers Ana to be that,’ Andee told her.
‘And the other little boy. I wonder what he’d have been like if he’d lived. Do you know if he looked like Jonathan?’
Andee shook her head. ‘Sven didn’t talk about him much.’
‘Twins,’ Maureen murmured, almost to herself. ‘I don’t think we’ve ever had them in our family, so it must be from Sven’s side.’ She pressed her palms to her cheeks then pushed her hands back through her hair, leaving her skin looking taut and drained. ‘Cathy Ames – or Kate Trask – had twins,’ she stated, looking at Andee.
‘But they both lived,’ Andee reminded her.
Maureen nodded. ‘One was like his mother, the other kind and gentle like his father. Is Jonathan like Sven?’
‘I think he is, in so far as we know either of them.’
Seeming satisfied with that, Maureen said, ‘I don’t recall how the book ends, and I have to admit I’m almost afraid to find out.’