by Sue Fortin
Neve rose to her feet.
It couldn’t be. Not after all this time.
The figure came into focus.
This time she whispered a different name from her past.
‘Megan?’
Chapter 32
‘Good morning,’ said Kit to Veronica.
‘Hello, Kit. So nice to see you back. How are things?’ she asked, looking up from the computer screen.
‘Taking our time, but all OK,’ said Kit. ‘Poppy has gone into school today. Fortunately, it’s a no-go area for the media, so I’m hoping it will all go smoothly.’
‘I thought they would lose interest by now,’ said Veronica.
‘Most have, but one or two seemed determined to make a story out of everything. It didn’t help that the police interviewed Neve.’
“Yes, I heard that. How awful. I hope she’s OK.’
‘Thanks.’ He smiled at his receptionist. ‘I suppose you heard about the attack on Jake Rees too?’
Veronica pulled a sympathetic face. ‘Awful, isn’t it? The papers haven’t exactly said it’s connected but they’ve been hinting at it.’
‘They’re just trying to sell copies, I suppose,’ said Kit, with a sigh. ‘I do wish they’d leave us all alone now.’
‘Oi! Oi! Is that the man himself I can hear?’ Sean’s voice boomed from his office. The man’s six foot muscular frame filled the doorway. It was no wonder he had been a prop in his rugby playing days. The size of the man never failed to impress Kit.
‘Hiya, buddy,’ said Kit, going over and shaking his partner’s hand.
‘Wasn’t expecting you back today,’ said Sean, giving Kit a pat on the back, his huge hand covering Kit’s shoulder blade.
‘Always expect the unexpected,’ said Kit. ‘Thought I’d better come in and make sure you were coping.’ He gave Veronica a wink, who grinned at her bosses.
‘Didn’t even know you weren’t here, to be honest,’ retorted Sean. ‘We’ve been fine haven’t we, Veronica?’
‘I really couldn’t comment,’ she said diplomatically.
‘Want a coffee in my office?’ asked Sean.
‘I’ll pop in later,’ said Kit. ‘I need to check my emails to make sure I haven’t missed anything important.’ He had made a conscious decision not to access his emails while he’d been at home. In truth, he’d felt no inclination to do so. His priorities had changed. Once work would have come first, but the nightmare he had just endured had served to show him that his family was, by far, the most important thing in his life. Everything else could wait in line.
‘I did have a look myself the other day,’ admitted Sean. ‘I wasn’t sure when you’d be back. The only urgent thing was that guy, err, George Hanks, wanted to come in and take the new Sunseeker out.’
Kit gave a small groan. ‘He’s such a time waster.’
‘Yeah, found that out a bit too late,’ said Sean. ‘I took him out Friday. He brought some young woman with him, said it was his business partner, but I think he was just wanting to show off to her. I reckon she’s tagged to be more than his business partner.’
‘He’s a dick. Glad I missed him,’ said Kit and then added, ‘Sorry.’
‘Yeah, right,’ said Sean, with a grin. ‘I’ll catch up with you later. We could wander round to the cafe for a bit of lunch if you’re free.’
‘Sounds good to me.’
Kit crossed the reception area into his office and closed the door behind him. He took a moment to survey the room. It all looked how he had left it. Placing his case on the desk, he flicked on the coffee machine, sat down and opened his diary. It was of course empty for today. He opened the drawer to find a pen and as he did, spotted a yellow sticky note.
He smiled as he read Neve’s message. Surprise indeed.
She must have come into the office at some point without telling him. The notion sat uncomfortably alongside the happier thought that she had left him a note. It was the sort of thing she used to do when they were first married. It warmed his heart, she was making just as much an effort as he was.
It was then he noticed the photo. He had been expecting to see the image of himself, Neve and Poppy on holiday a couple of years ago in Spain, but instead it was the selfie Poppy had taken the other day. He reached forwards and picked up the frame. The three of them looked so happy to be together. He hoped it would stay that way.
Never in his life had he felt so helpless, so emasculated, so insignificant as when Poppy was missing. The despair had taken him to dark places in his mind and it had frightened him. He had coped with losing Poppy’s mum only by having Poppy to focus on. That week, without her, life had seemed pointless. Even Neve couldn’t give him anything to live for. He knew in his heart of hearts that if Poppy hadn’t been found safe and well, he wouldn’t be here either. As it was, both he and Poppy were here and he was so much more than grateful that Neve had been there with him every step of the way.
Now he hoped that Neve would have what she had always wanted and their little family of three could become four. Hopefully it was enough to keep Neve from ever thinking about leaving him or looking for love elsewhere. He had been so careless. He would climb mountains, swim oceans and walk barefoot over hot coals to stop that happening again.
Leaving the photo frame on the desk, he pushed himself up and went into the shower room, locking the door behind him. He crouched down and opened the doors to the vanity unit.
Another note from Neve.
Shit.
She’d been in here? He dipped his head to look in the back of the cabinet but couldn’t see anything. He reached in and fumbled around in the emptiness. The carrier bag with his blood-stained overshirt was gone.
He stood up and drummed his fingers on the side of the sink. Had Neve taken the shirt? Surely it was the only explanation, but why hadn’t she said anything? Maybe she was going to wash it and return it. He didn’t think Veronica would have done anything with it, she had no reason to come into the shower room. And even if she had, she would have told him.
But what if Neve had other ideas about the shirt? What if she suspected he was responsible for the attack on Jake? He rested his forehead against the cool glass mirror. Neve might be playing him – she might be pretending everything was fine between them, that she wanted to make a go of their marriage, so she could lure him into a false sense of security. Behind his back, she might go to the police with the shirt.
He stood up straight and shook his head. That wouldn’t make sense. If she went to the police and he was arrested, their marriage would be over and Neve wouldn’t be able to have the baby she was so desperate for. It wasn’t like she could run off with Jake now.
Returning to his desk, he buzzed through to his receptionist.
‘Veronica, has anyone been in here while I’ve been away?’
‘Err, no. Just me and Sean. Oh, and Neve. She popped in to bring some post the other day and I believe put a new photograph on your desk. I think it was supposed to be a surprise. It’s a lovely photo but I can always change it if you don’t like it.’
‘No, no. I do like it. I just can’t find a file, that’s all. So, no one else,’ he tried to make his tone casual. ‘I don’t suppose the police have been here, have they?’
‘No, they haven’t. I can come and search for the file if you want me to, just give me the name …’
‘No. I’ll have another look. What with everything that’s gone on, I’m not really sure what I’ve done with a few things.’
He replaced the receiver and steepling his fingers together, rested back in his leather chair. The more he thought about what Neve would do with the shirt, the more he was certain she wouldn’t go to the police. However, there was still an element of doubt, one he didn’t like. He needed to shorten the odds in his favour.
The sound of wheels crunching on the gravel outside, drew Kit’s attention to the window.
‘For fuck’s sake,’ he muttered. ‘Speak of the devil and he shall appear.’ He watched t
hrough the tinted two-way glass, which afforded him the luxury of being able to monitor who was arriving without them seeing him.
DCI Pearson and Sally, their FLO, got out of the car and headed into the building.
Kit poured himself a coffee, opening a document on his laptop and waited for Veronica to buzz his phone.
‘Send them in,’ said Kit, not waiting for them to be announced.
He rose and shook the DCI’s hand and nodded a hello to Sally. ‘Wasn’t expecting to see you two so soon. Any news?’
Pearson motioned to the seat and sat down, Sally taking the opposite chair. ‘No. We’re still following up leads,’ said the DCI. ‘We’ve been doing some background checks, routine stuff, to make sure we haven’t missed anything when we came across something about your wife.’
‘Neve?’ Kit took a sip of his coffee. ‘This sounds serious.’
‘It’s a bit delicate,’ said Pearson.
‘More delicate than telling me you’ve arrested my wife for kidnapping my daughter? And then not actually having any evidence,’ said Kit, fixing Pearson with a look. He still hadn’t quite forgiven the detective for that one.
Pearson, shuffled in his seat and had the grace to look slightly embarrassed, which pleased Kit. ‘I know Neve said she was estranged from her family. Has she ever told you why?’
Kit looked from the DCI to the FLO. He had the distinct feeling they had the upper hand here. They clearly knew what it was Neve was hiding. He felt a mix of excitement that he would finally know what Neve had been keeping from him, and concern that he was being told by a police officer and not Neve herself. He wondered if Neve knew they were about to spill the beans. ‘Does my wife know you’re here?’
‘No. We thought we would speak to you first. We’ve tried to call her but she’s not answering her phone.’
‘Really?’ Kit checked the time on his watch. ‘She has a dental appointment today. She’s had toothache all weekend, maybe she’s in bed.’
Pearson nodded and Sally made a note in her pocketbook.
‘When Neve was married to her first husband, were you aware that she had a stillbirth?’ asked Pearson.
Kit tried to hide his surprise at the terminology. Neve had told him she’d had a miscarriage, not a stillbirth. There was a difference. ‘She has spoken to me about it,’ he opted as a response.
‘The baby was delivered at eight months,’ put in Sally, which earned a glance from the DCI.
‘What has this got to do with anything?’ asked Kit, baulking inside. Eight months? Eight months!
‘I’m getting to that. Just bear with me,’ said Pearson. ‘Did Neve ever speak about how this affected her?’
‘Look, I really don’t want to discuss my wife’s emotions about a stillbirth,’ said Kit. ‘It’s something very personal and private.’
He didn’t add that it was so private, she’d never bloody told him. How on earth had she carried that secret on her own? No wonder she’d never wanted to speak about it. What a horrendous thing for her to endure.
‘Did Neve say that she had mental health problems as a result?’ asked Pearson, seemingly ignoring Kit’s request.
‘Well, that’s hardly surprising, is it?’ snapped Kit.
‘Quite severe mental health issues,’ added Sally.
Kit gave an exasperated shrug to convey his what do you expect answer.
‘Neve said she doesn’t speak to her brother or father anymore,’ said Pearson. ‘That they are estranged.’
‘That’s right. And her mother passed away a few years ago.’
‘And her sister.’ Pearson looked at Kit.
‘Her sister? What sister?’
‘Megan Howells. She drowned in a swimming accident. She was twenty-one at the time. Neve was eighteen.’
‘What? I … I had no idea.’ Kit slumped back in his seat. Neve had a sister who died? Jesus Christ, she’d never told him. ‘I’m sorry, I’m finding this hard to take in. Neve has never mentioned a sister to me. Not least one who died.’
‘Apparently, Neve had gone down to the beach with her sister and the tide was high. The girls went swimming, despite it being a blustery day and the warning flags were out on the beach. Neve went in too deep and got caught in a riptide. Megan went in after her. Neve was somehow pushed out of the current and managed to swim to the safety of some rocks, but Megan wasn’t so lucky.’
‘Jesus Christ,’ muttered Kit. He remembered the photos he’d found in the loft, of Neve and her friends on the beach. On the reverse it said Megan’s 20th, so Megan wasn’t Neve’s friend as Kit had assumed, Megan was her sister. Another revelation to knock him sideways. First the stillbirth and now a dead sister and Neve had never been able to tell him. He couldn’t help feeling angry that she had kept this from him but, putting his own feelings aside, he could only imagine how awful Neve felt. His heart went out to her.
‘Her sister’s body was found three days later, washed up further along the coast,’ put in Sally. ‘The post-mortem and toxicology reports found cocaine in her bloodstream.’
Kit snapped his attention back to what Sally was saying. ‘Cocaine?’
‘That’s right,’ said Sally. ‘Neve always maintained she didn’t know her sister had taken drugs. Claimed she hadn’t taken any herself and she had no idea where or how Megan had come by the stuff.’
‘The local police in Devon have confirmed they always suspected someone else to be there at the time,’ said Pearson. ‘Neve consistently denied this.’
Kit was perplexed, he looked at both police officers sitting in front of him. ‘And you’re telling me this because …?’
‘Because, Devon police believed the supplier to be one Ashley Farnham. Or, as he is known around here, Lee Farnham.’
‘It seems Lee Farnham has quite a history for being involved with the drug scene, although unfortunately, a lot of it can’t be proven,’ said Sally. She looked at her pocketbook and flicked through a couple of pages before reading out loud. ‘Supplying cocaine at a youth group – complaint from a parent but never proven. Tampering with a girl’s drink, possibly a date rape drug. Questioned after the girl reported to the police but, again no evidence as it was several days after the event – complaint dropped. He did actually serve six months of a nine-month sentence for setting up his own mini hydroponics farm in the loft of the house he was renting.’ She flipped her notebook shut.
Kit was aware he was staring at Pearson as he tried to process the information. It didn’t surprise him in the least that Farnham was involved with drugs, but the fact that Neve knew Farnham and she never said? A wave of anger surged again. Surely, she must have put two and two together with the names. He didn’t think she’d met him, or at least not that he was aware of, but then again, what exactly did he know about his wife?
Somewhere at the back of his mind, Kit was aware of a connection being made. A small piece of the puzzle was falling into place. He couldn’t quite reach that thought just yet, but it was there.
‘I take it she never said that she knew Farnham?’ said Sally.
Kit gave a shrug, hoping to seem indifferent.
‘And the stillbirth. It’s a pretty momentous event,’ said Pearson. He paused, weighing Kit up with an observant eye, ‘I’m guessing from your expression she never told you about that either. Why do you think that was?’
Kit clearly wasn’t fooling the DCI. He cast his gaze around the room, as if he was going to find some magical answer somewhere. ‘I’ve no idea. Perhaps she found it too difficult to talk about.’ He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, before opening them again. ‘Look, this is all heavy stuff for me to take in right now. I need time to think and speak to my wife.’
Right now, Kit had conflicting feelings about Neve. On the one hand, he wanted to demand some sort of explanation about why she never let on about her connection with Farnham, and on the other, all he wanted to do was to go home and wrap Neve in his arms, cradle her and let her pour her soul out to him about the death of her
sister and the loss of the baby. No wonder she had always had this burden behind her eyes, always something that she had kept from him. Perhaps she thought he couldn’t deal with knowing about the stillbirth after what he had been through himself. That would be it. She wouldn’t have wanted to bring up his past, it was all too close to home. Too much pain for them both. She must have been protecting him by sacrificing her own needs to talk and share her horrific experience.
Kit stood up. ‘I need to be at home with my wife,’ he said.
Pearson waved his hand in a downward motion. ‘Please, Kit, sit down. There’s more.’
Chapter 33
Neve was aware of a pair of hands scooping her up from under her armpits. She was lifted to her feet and then drawn into her brother who had an arm around her shoulder and the other hand holding her arm.
‘Come on, Neve,’ he said. ‘Come inside.’
Neve’s feet responded, and she allowed herself to be taken indoors as she sobbed quietly into Gareth’s chest.
He sat her down on the sofa and pulled a throw from the armchair to put around her shoulders. He uttered comforting words that Neve couldn’t make out, but his tone was soft, if a little nervous.
‘Pitiful,’ came a voice from the doorway. It was Lisa. ‘You’re a pitiful sight, Neve Howells or whatever your name is now.’
Neve could feel the weight of her sister-in-law’s stare, but she remained looking down at her hands. They were shaking so much, it was sending shockwaves up her arms.
‘There’s no need for that now,’ said Gareth to his wife. ‘I’ll make her a cup of tea.’
Neve could hear their voices in the kitchen.
‘I don’t want her in the house,’ said Lisa.
‘I can’t leave her outside. Not in the state she’s in,’ replied her brother. ‘Didn’t you see her? Hear her? She thinks she saw Megan out there.’
‘What?’
‘She’s hallucinating or something. I don’t know. Maybe she’s having another breakdown.’