by Susan Lewis
Most people in Kesterly did, since he’d been mayor for a while, and had long served on the town council. By trade he was a builder with a company that was as well known and respected as he was. He’d even, at his own expense, restored the local cinema ten years back and to everyone’s surprise and delight it had recently started to turn a profit.
‘Will you come over to Grandma Carol’s with us?’ Alayna asked, keeping her arms round her mother.
‘Of course,’ Andee replied. She’d always had a close relationship with Martin’s parents so she definitely wanted to be there for Carol now. ‘I should go upstairs and shower first. Mum, why don’t you take the children, and I’ll follow as soon as I’m ready?’
‘What about your tea?’ Maureen protested.
Feeling in need of something stronger, Andee said, ‘I’ll be fine.’
‘Shall I wait for you?’ Alayna asked, tilting her lovely face up to Andee’s.
Cupping it in her hands, Andee gazed into her eyes. How she adored her children who’d never, for a moment, doubted they were loved, not even by their father. Perhaps especially not their father. When he was around he saw them every day, and when he wasn’t he called or texted regularly, sent them emails, snapchatted, FaceTimed, or instant messaged, whichever was the easiest, or perhaps whatever took his fancy, that day. He’d known what it had done to Penny, feeling her father didn’t care about her as much as he should, and in spite of not loving their mother any more Martin wasn’t prepared to let either of his children doubt their father’s love.
Andee’s head was starting to spin.
Dougie was dead.
Martin was on his way home.
A fourteen-year-old girl was missing.
It was as though the world was tilting off its axis, forcing the past to collide with the present in a way that was making her feel oddly nauseous and distanced from herself.
‘Mum?’ Alayna prompted.
Remembering the question, Andee said, ‘No, it’s OK. Grandma Carol will be wanting to see you, and I have a couple of calls I need to make before I leave.’
After they’d gone, she poured herself a vodka and downed it in one. Then picking up her phone she carried it outside. Not surprisingly, since he was in transit, she found herself going through to Martin’s voicemail, but she couldn’t let these moments pass without at least leaving him a message. ‘Hi, it’s me,’ she said, quietly. ‘I’ve just heard about your dad and I wanted to say how sorry I am. The children are on their way over to your mum’s now. They’re looking forward to seeing you.’
As she ended the call she stood staring along the length of the garden with its neatly clipped roses on one side, all kinds of vegetables on the other and washing line down the middle. There was no sea view from here, it was facing inland, though the salty-scented air and screeching gulls left no doubt it was close.
She could feel Martin’s grief almost as though it was a part of her own, though his would be deeper, more consuming. He’d loved his father, there was no doubt about that, and he would feel the loss in more ways than he would yet be aware of, though what would matter to him most right now was that he was there for his mother, and the children.
Who would be there for him?
Deciding not to dwell on that now, she pushed it out of her mind. A girl was missing, that was what really mattered, and Dougie would have been the first to say so. Actually, so would Martin.
Going to her bag she took out the four-strip shots of Sophie and stared at them closely, as though trying to see past all the make-up and attitude to who the girl really was inside. She was out there somewhere, she had to be, and for all anyone knew she was crying behind her mask, feeling afraid, lost in a world that had become too much for her.
Thanks for making me want to kill myself.
Andee couldn’t allow herself to believe she’d meant it, not when she’d taken her computer, phone and some clothes. It didn’t make any sense.
So had someone helped her to run away?
It seemed most likely.
So where had they taken her?
Where was she now?
Why wasn’t she using her phone or computer?
Was someone hurting her?
Was anyone listening as she cried?
Who really cared about Sophie? How often had she slipped down her parents’ list of priorities? How desperately did she still long for her mother? Andee had no answers to those questions, but what she did know was that she wasn’t going to allow a shortage of police resources to stand in the way of finding her. Sophie Monroe needed someone to care, to listen and to put her first. She was already first for Andee, and it was where she was going to stay until the day she was found.
And please God, please, please, let that day come soon.
Chapter Three
SUZI PERKINS WAS so grateful to have her job at Blue Ocean Park that she spent ten minutes each morning uttering a chant of thanks to the universe, in the hope that it would be transmitted to those who’d helped her get it. Top of that list was Jackie Poynter, one of the campsite’s owners, whom Suzi had met for the first time at the interview two years ago. As soon as Jackie had heard why Suzi wanted to leave Essex and start a new life she’d hired her on the spot and had even named the tanning salon she was to run in her honour.
It wasn’t usual for Suzi to tell anyone her story; the only people on the site she’d confided in were Jackie, because she’d had to, and Heidi, the manager, who was probably Suzi’s closest mate these days. Whether they’d ever told anyone else Suzi had no idea, certainly no one had ever brought it up if they had, but there again, it wasn’t something anyone would feel comfortable mentioning. After all, what did you say to someone who’d lost her husband and three beautiful kids in a fire started by her husband’s psycho girlfriend while their mother, Suzi, was out clubbing with her mates? Suzi hadn’t even known the girlfriend existed until the police had told her the blaze was arson and that they had the probable culprit in custody.
How could she have deserved such a punishment for a night out with her friends, especially when it was something she’d hardly ever done?
Though the tragedy had taken place three years ago, Suzi’s heartbreak remained almost as raw as the day it had happened. Losing all three of her precious girls had been like losing all the vital parts of herself. It wasn’t right that she was no longer a mum; it never would be, because her hormones still made her that person, her instincts kept reaching out for them and her memory was never going to let go. Her angels should still be with her, and they would be if their father hadn’t screwed around with a nutjob.
He’d deserved to die, everyone had said so except Suzi who thought he should have been made to stick around suffering, longing, forever grieving for his kids and knowing they’d be alive if it weren’t for him.
She didn’t like being bitter, it didn’t help anyone, least of all her, but all the same she hoped he was rotting in hell.
It was her mother who’d found the vacancy at Blue Ocean Park. She’d been scouring websites and newspapers for months, wanting to help her daughter get started again, and then this job had come up. With Suzi’s background in beauty therapies it would be perfect, her mother had declared, and perhaps being far from everything and everyone who reminded her of what she’d lost would be a good way to go.
Suzi hadn’t argued. She had to do something, so why not this?
Her brother, Gary, had driven her down for the interview. He’d been going through his own set of troubles at the time, stuff she should have been more supportive over, but she just hadn’t been in the right frame of mind. He’d come through in the end, but not unscathed, which was why she was trying to help him now. No one had to know about his past, he was only here for the summer, so it wasn’t like he was setting down roots or anything, the way she was. He’d be gone when the season was over, back to his usual haunts in London, or most likely to their mother who still had her house in Harold Wood, where Suzi and Gary had grown up.
‘Blimey, they’re all over the place,’ Gary was grumbling as he peered through the blinds of Suzi’s Suntan Salon, watching a handful of uniformed cops swarming around the nearby caravans.
Receiving no response, he glanced over his shoulder to where Suzi, a large blonde bronzed woman in her mid-forties, was creating a buy one, get one free poster to hang outside. This was the trouble when the weather was good, she found, business was always slow, and it wasn’t forecast to rain again until the weekend so she had to try something to get the punters in.
‘Shit, they’re coming this way,’ Gary muttered, standing back.
Without looking up she said, ‘Then you’d better make yourself scarce, hadn’t you?’
‘They’ll see me leave.’
‘So? For all they know you’ve been having a treatment. Anyway, you’re one of the lifeguards for God’s sake, they’re going to want to talk to you at some point . . . Unless they find her first, of course.’ Her eyes narrowed questioningly as they met his.
‘I don’t know where the fuck she is,’ he cried, throwing out his hands.
‘Then you’ve got nothing to worry about, have you?’ she said tartly.
His handsome face flushed with hurt. ‘That’s just great,’ he grunted, ‘even my own sister suspects me . . .’
‘I don’t suspect you of anything,’ she cut in hastily. ‘I’m just saying if you start acting suspicious they’re bound to think you’ve got something to hide.’
His colour deepened, reminding her that of course, he did, which was why it was probably a good idea if they didn’t interview him yet about Sophie.
‘Go in the back,’ she told him, ‘I mean right in the back, not where the beds are, and stay there till I come and get you.’
‘What if they want to search the place?’
She blinked in amazement. He might be hunkier than the Hoff, but he was definitely a few miles short of the beach at times. ‘Why would they want to search it?’ she demanded. ‘No one’s going to think she’s hiding here. They’ll just want to talk about the last time I saw her, and if I might know anything that can help find her.’
‘So what are you going to say?’
Getting up from her desk, she replied, ‘If you want to hang around you’ll find out.’
He didn’t. The cops were some of his least favourite people, so scooting swiftly across the reception he disappeared through the beaded curtain, while Suzi grabbed a watering can and went outside to soak the geraniums. If it turned out her brother knew anything about Sophie Monroe, where she was, how she’d got there, why she hadn’t come back yet, then Suzi didn’t want the cops finding out before she did. Damage control was what she was calling this little exercise, a way of trying to safeguard everything she had here before her brother could bring it down round her ears, because it would just about destroy her to have to leave it now.
‘Hi, mind if we have a word?’
She turned round with a friendly smile and saw, to her surprise, that neither of the officers was in uniform – all those she’d spotted about the site up to now had been. These two, a bloke and a woman, were in plain clothes, which had to make them detectives, and if detectives were asking questions they must be taking this case more seriously than she’d thought. ‘Sure,’ she answered cheerily to cover a clench of anxiety. ‘What can I do for you? To be honest,’ she ran on, before the ginger one could speak, ‘I wouldn’t advise any treatments for someone with your sort of skin.’
‘That’s not why we’re here,’ he replied, holding up his badge. ‘DC Johnson. This is DS Lawrence.’
So definitely detectives. Another horrible thud on her heart. ‘Oh, you’ll be wanting to ask me about Sophie Monroe,’ she responded helpfully.
‘Could we go inside?’ Leo Johnson suggested.
Leading the way, she gestured towards the leatherette sofas that formed the salon’s waiting area. ‘Would you like a drink?’ she offered, going to help herself from the cooler.
Leo held up a hand. ‘We’re fine, thanks,’ he replied with a smile. ‘We’d just like to know what you can tell us about the last time you saw Sophie Monroe.’
Her eyes flicked to the woman cop, who hadn’t yet sat down. She was busy reading all the notices on the board and posters on the walls. She had a nice figure, Suzi couldn’t help noticing, and great hair too, if she bothered to do something with it. Some women just didn’t know how to make the most of themselves. ‘Well,’ she began, turning back to Leo and wishing she didn’t feel so nervous when she had nothing to be nervous about, ‘it’s hard to be sure when I last saw her. I mean, she’s always around the site, especially with it being the school holidays, you know, in and out of the Entertainment Centre, working at the arcade, or mucking about in one of the warden’s golf carts.’ She chuckled fondly. ‘Bit of a prankster she is at times, but there’s no harm in having some fun is what I always say.’
‘Indeed,’ Leo agreed. ‘So do you remember when you last saw her?’
‘Let me think. You know, I’m sure it was on the beach last Saturday, with a group of other kids. That was probably the last time.’
‘So you didn’t see her on Sunday?’
She shook her head slowly. ‘Not that I can remember.’
‘Did you know any of the kids she was with?’
She was still shaking her head. ‘All I can tell you is they looked quite a bit older, maybe in their twenties, and I think they were staying in one of the yellow zone caravans, that’s the economy end of the park, but I couldn’t swear to that, and I definitely don’t know them.’
‘Boys and girls?’
‘Mostly boys, I think. Her mate, Estelle, was there. I definitely remember that, because I saw her running up to one of the vans to get an ice cream. Frankly, you couldn’t miss her, the way she was bursting out of her bikini.’
‘And you don’t remember seeing Sophie again after that?’
As she shook her head she glanced at the woman detective again – DS Lawrence, had they said? She was leaning against the wall now, hands in her pockets, ankles crossed as she listened. Why didn’t she say something? It was creeping Suzi out the way she was just standing there like some sort of mind-reader who could get to all the things not being said. ‘No, I don’t think I saw her after that,’ she replied, turning back to Leo. ‘But I did hear . . .’ She stopped, deciding it wasn’t her place to tell them about the row Sophie had had with Heidi on Saturday night. Anyway, Heidi had probably already told them herself, and since Sophie hadn’t gone off until late Sunday night it was hardly important, especially when those two were forever at each other’s throats. She might say God spare her the stress of teenage girls, but he had and actually she’d give anything in the world to have a humdinger with one of hers, anything rather than nothing.
Leo’s eyebrows were raised, apparently waiting for her to go on.
Realising she had to say something or she was going to give the impression she was holding stuff back, she said, ‘Well, I heard that she was helping out in the Carvery on Sunday, and that something went on with one of the waiters. She tripped him up for a laugh, or something, and he didn’t find it very funny.’ That had happened, just not last Sunday, but at least it had given her something to say.
‘Do you know which waiter it was?’
‘No, I’m afraid not.’
‘Do you happen to know if she had a regular boyfriend?’
Suzi shrugged. ‘This place is holiday-romance central, and with the way kids go in for friends with benefits these days . . . I mean, she’s a bit young for that, obviously,’ she added hastily, ‘and I’m not saying she was into it, but it’s kind of what they do, from what I hear.’ She was conscious of her brother out back. Was he listening to any of this, or had he climbed out of a window to go and bury his head in the sand?
Taking another direction, Leo said, ‘How well do you know Sophie’s parents, Heidi and Gavin?’
Suzi smiled. ‘I’m quite good friends with Heidi.’
&
nbsp; ‘Does she talk to you much about Sophie?’
Realising it would sound bizarre if she said no, Suzi rolled her eyes as she answered. ‘Show me a mother – or stepmother – who doesn’t talk about their kids – and I have to be honest, it sounds, from what Heidi says, that Sophie can be quite a handful at times. But being Heidi she’s always finding excuses for her, saying she’s going through a phase, or she’s feeling left out because of the baby, or it’s her time of the month.’
‘And her father?’ Leo prompted. ‘Does she seem to have a good relationship with him?’
‘As far as I know she thinks the sun shines out of him, and he thinks the same about her.’ She was aware of DS Lawrence’s eyes on her, so penetrating they could be going right through her skull to thoughts even she didn’t know she had. ‘I know what you’re thinking,’ she suddenly blurted, ‘everyone always blames the parents when kids go off the rails, or do something daft, but they’re good people, Heidi and Gavin, two of the best.’
There was something about the way the detectives looked at each other that turned Suzi hot inside. She’d said too much, or they’d read something into her words that she hadn’t meant to be there. ‘I’m just saying,’ she ran on, ‘if Sophie’s taken it into her head to leave home, well obviously she has, I don’t think you should be looking to blame the parents.’
Leo smiled and got to his feet. ‘Thanks, we’ll bear that in mind,’ he told her.
Pushing herself away from the wall, Andee said, ‘Is there a back door to this place?’
Suzi’s heart skipped a beat. ‘Yes, but I always keep it locked.’
Andee nodded. ‘So the person I saw standing at the window just now is still here somewhere? Listening?’
The colour drained from Suzi’s face. ‘I – I don’t think . . . He’s probably on one of the beds by now. He’s my only customer so far today.’
‘And would he be someone who’s visiting the site, or who works here?’
‘He – um, well, he’s working here for the summer, as a lifeguard at the open-air pool. Actually,’ she went on awkwardly, ‘he’s my brother.’ She might as well tell them now, or it would only look odd if they found out later and she’d failed to mention it. Please God don’t let him have been with Sophie Monroe on Sunday night.