‘Yes, and it’s all my fault,’ I say, kicking myself for my stupidity. ‘I named Millie’s father on her birth certificate, and now it’s come back to bite me. I got in touch a few weeks ago because I want Ash to adopt Millie. He doesn’t know – it’s supposed to be a surprise – but it will be much easier if I can get Steve’s agreement in advance.’
Becky interrupts. ‘And now he wants to see her?’
I nod furiously. ‘Yes! Don’t you see? It has to be him. He came to the house this week. He followed me when I picked her up from school, like a stalker. But I don’t think it was the first time. I’ve felt eyes on me before. And he told me he won’t wait for ever. Please, you have to find him.’
Tom and Becky have left me alone with my thoughts, saying they need to pass the information on to the team. I’ve told them everything I know, everything that’s happened. Although I’ve deleted his texts, Steve’s number is in my phone, and it is all I can do not to call him myself. But Tom says they need to deal with it, and they will get on to it straight away.
Why, oh why, did I ever get in touch with him?
Until six weeks ago, Steve knew nothing about Millie – he didn’t even know if my baby was a boy or a girl – but if I wanted to move things forward with the adoption, I had to contact him. When I finally tracked him down, it was clear he had moved up in the world and thought his new-found wealth was my reason for calling.
‘Steve, it’s Jo Palmer,’ I said when I’d finally persuaded some toffee-nosed PA to put me through.
He was quiet for a moment. ‘Jo?’ And then it dawned on him. ‘Mary Magdalene, Jo?’
That was me.
‘Hah! I never thought I’d hear from you again. I think I made my position quite clear at the time, but you’ve probably heard I’m doing quite well now, so I guess it’s money you’re after. For the child? I presume you had it?’
I held my breath and counted to five. Once a knob, always a knob. ‘I’ve never asked you for a penny, Steve, and I’m not about to start now. But you are named on Millie’s birth certificate as her father, and—’
‘What?’
‘—and I want her dad – the man who’s brought her up – to adopt her. I need to be sure that you won’t contest the adoption.’
He was quiet for a few minutes, and I let him think about what I was asking.
‘What’s she like, my daughter?’
‘What do you want me to say? I’m her mum and I love her more than anything in the world.’
‘Will you send me some pictures?’
‘Will you agree to the adoption?’
And that’s how it all began – this tug, backwards and forwards between us. He suddenly wanted to know everything about her, and now he wants to meet her. God only knows the reason for this sudden interest, given his first response to my call. This isn’t how I’d planned for things to go, and I didn’t tell Ash, because I don’t want to tell him if he’s only going to be disappointed.
Steve decided that not only did he want to know about Millie, he wanted to know everything about Ash.
‘He’s called Ashraf Rajavi, and—’
‘Where’s he from?’ Steve had rudely interrupted.
‘He’s Iranian, but he was brought up in Abu Dhabi. What’s that got to do with anything?’
‘Is he an Arab? A Muslim?’
‘Oh my God! I can see prejudice is alive and kicking in Bermondsey! I’ll tell you exactly what he is. He’s an amazing dad and a brilliant paediatric surgeon. Is that good enough?’
Steve went quiet for a moment. ‘Does he do all that praying five times a day facing Mecca?’
At that I’d exploded. ‘No, but what would it matter if he did? He’s a bloody great guy and a fantastic parent! I don’t care if he comes from Jupiter and thinks Winnie the Pooh is the God of all humankind as long as he loves my daughter.’
Bigoted bastard.
More than anything I decided then that I didn’t want Steve anywhere near Millie, who has never heard a word of prejudice in her short life, and never will, if I can help it.
But it was too late. I’d sown the seeds, and I have been struggling ever since to work out how to tell Millie why her birth father is suddenly so interested in her, especially if he decides to introduce himself with or without my blessing.
Is it Steve? Has he suddenly decided he wants Millie for himself, and for some reason wants to punish Ash?
The police will have to question him, but if I’m wrong and he has nothing to do with it, I have a horrible feeling it’s going to make him even more antagonistic towards Ash, and even less likely to agree to the adoption.
Why am I even thinking about the adoption? What if I never get Ash and Millie back?
14
Tom and Becky hurried to the incident room – now fully operational.
‘I’ll get someone checking out Steven Allman straight away, Tom. Sounds like a promising lead.’
Tom said nothing for a moment as he punched in the code to open the door.
‘It definitely needs following up, but it’s a bit extreme. He’s known about the child for weeks but didn’t turn up until a few days ago. He followed them home from school, which he told Jo he was going to do – presumably because he wanted to see what his child looks like. Then he asked if he could meet her. It’s a hell of a stretch to assume he would go to the lengths of arranging this elaborate kidnap – abduction – whatever it is, a few days later, when he could just apply to the court for access.’
‘She did say he wasn’t keen on Rajavi as his daughter’s dad.’
‘True. I agree we need to track him down and see what he has to say for himself, but all other lines of inquiry have to continue. Don’t let anyone get hung up on this guy.’
Becky nodded, and Tom felt a little guilty for bursting her bubble. He hoped he was wrong, and that they would find Millie safe and well with her biological father, but in the meantime there were other things to follow up.
He put a call through to Keith Sims, a detective sergeant who had recently been made an acting DI due to the long-term absence of another member of Tom’s team. He should really have been looking for a permanent job as an inspector but claimed he would rather be a sergeant in Tom’s team than an inspector elsewhere, and Tom couldn’t argue with that.
There was no time for pleasantries. ‘Keith, how are things going?’
‘We’ve started gathering intel on the victim and hostages, sir, checking telephone data, financial records, and we’re trying to put together a CCTV strategy, but I’m afraid we don’t have much to go on.’
‘No, and the victim – Joanna Palmer – isn’t able to help much.’ Tom gave Keith the details, such as they were, of the car Millie was in. ‘It’s not clear if the cars were travelling in convoy or independently. There were three men – one of Arab origin, the other two white males – in the first car. The second, the silver one, had a white male driver and a woman in the back with the child. It will be a bugger to try to make that out, though, given the deluge of rain.’