I can’t bear thinking of Millie’s pain and I wonder what kind of woman would take a child from her mother. How could Ash, even for a second, have been drawn to a woman like that?
Suddenly I feel the urgent need to speak to someone. I can’t bear just sitting here for another moment. I’m sure Tessa isn’t involved, and hers is the first name that comes to me.
‘Tess?’ I say hesitantly when she answers the phone. ‘I’m sorry I was so horrible earlier.’
‘Oh, Jo! Don’t even think of apologising. You must be having the most dreadful time – I can’t begin to imagine. And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Sami. We didn’t think you’d approve. Or at least Sami thought Ash would have a fit. He doesn’t really get me, does he?’
At any other time that would have made me laugh.
‘Where are you?’ she asks.
I can’t tell her, because I know my calls are being monitored. I’m sure Zoe thinks I’m upstairs, sobbing my eyes out because Ash has gone, and I don’t want the police to be alerted to the fact that I’ve sneaked out.
‘I’m at home, but I don’t want you to come over. Just talk to me and don’t ask any questions. Okay?’
‘Of course. But let me warn you not to answer your phone if Faye calls. She’s been a nightmare, phoning all the time asking me for updates. I know it’s uncharitable of me, but I sometimes think she likes to wallow in everyone else’s misery, so ignore her.’
‘Warning accepted. Talk to me about something else.’
‘I’ll tell you about me and Sami then. I know it’s a bit unconventional, but I do love him. I don’t think he’s quite grown up, but I can live with that, and it will be so much easier if we don’t have to leave the country.’
‘Is that what you were planning?’
‘We didn’t know what else to do. I’ve been trying to sell the agency – and I have a buyer. It’s not worth a fortune, but it has a good reputation so someone new could build it up. Maybe I won’t sell now. If we can overcome Ash’s disapproval, we could stay.’
‘Tessa, trust me – Ash has no right to disapprove of anyone. Don’t you worry about him.’ I can hear a trace of bitterness in my voice.
‘What do you mean?’
‘No questions. Sorry.’
‘Okay, well I do hope we can stay and make it work. I’d hate to lose you. Maybe I could try to rejuvenate the business myself. Perhaps take on a partner. Anyway, I’m glad we’re good now, and I’m sorry I lied about Sami being in my house on that dreadful night.’
I’m about to tell her it’s okay when I see headlights coming along the lane towards me.
‘Got to go,’ I hiss, and as I disconnect I slither down in my seat so my head is below the dashboard.
Two minutes later there’s a banging on the car door. Shit! They must have seen me.
‘Open the door, Jo. For fuck’s sake, let me in!’
Relief pours through me as I recognise Steve’s voice and flick the central locking switch.
He jumps in and starts the car, driving away from the lane.
‘Where are we going? They went the other way.’
‘We don’t need to go after Ash. You can check where he is on your phone app. We need to follow her – the woman. Her car wasn’t in the lane, but there’s a car park behind the pub ahead. Hang on, someone’s coming out.’
A long, low car passes under the bright light at the entrance to the car park, and although we can’t see a face, blonde hair is briefly illuminated.
‘It’s her,’ Steve says.
I want to say something about the amount of vodka he must have drunk, but if I do he might stop the car and refuse to go any further, so I keep my thoughts to myself and fasten my seat belt.
82
‘Rob, have you got a minute?’ Becky asked.
‘Of course. What can I do for you, ma’am?’
‘We’re still trying to sort out the last of the fingerprints. I understand Shona Brown called Jo yesterday, but from a different number. Could you see if you can trace it from the call logs and contact her?’
Becky knew it was something of a pointless task, given they now knew who they were looking for, but she couldn’t trust Rob – or anyone else in the team – with anything relating to Ruth Vickery, and she had to give him something to do.
‘I’ll get a printout now and track her down.’
His generous mouth formed a lovely bright smile, and she hoped he wasn’t their mole. But if it wasn’t him, who was it?
Keith had his head down, looking at his monitor, and she guessed he was studying the financials, so she pulled up a chair next to him and spoke quietly. ‘Anything?’
‘Nothing stands out, but I’d like to discuss this with you somewhere else. I think we might need some input from DCI Douglas.’
‘Okay, let’s do it.’
They stood up and made their way to Tom’s office, where Keith rapped sharply on the closed door.
‘Come.’ The voice wasn’t Tom’s but Detective Superintendent Stanley’s. Tom was on the phone, but finished the call as they walked in.
‘What have you got for us?’ Philippa asked Keith.
Tom raised his eyebrows at Becky. Philippa was taking over, but he seemed amused by her high-handedness.
‘There’s no one home at Ruth Vickery’s official address,’ Keith said, ‘and her financials aren’t proving that helpful, except in one regard. Vickery does a lot of online shopping, and I wondered if there was a chance that she might have slipped up and ordered something to be delivered to her other address – the one she told Rajavi was untraceable.’
‘Good thinking,’ Tom said before Philippa could butt in. ‘Which companies? We may need to apply for a production order if we want them to supply customer details, and that’s not easy at this time of night.’
‘Based on her credit card statement, the most likely companies for deliveries are Amazon, Tesco – possibly, although that could have been an in-store purchase – or John Lewis. There’s one independent store here in Manchester that might prove easier to talk to. Lister and Black. They’re a furniture company, and it seems she placed quite a hefty order with them. She’s unlikely to have had furniture delivered somewhere else if it was destined for her other property.’
‘Good point,’ Tom said. ‘I’ve used Lister and Black myself. They stay open late most nights, so we might be able to speak to someone.’ There was a trace of excitement in his voice, and Becky thought that maybe they were starting to get somewhere.
Philippa leaned over Tom’s desk to pick up his internal phone and pressed a button. ‘Joanne,’ she said, clearly speaking to her PA, ‘get on to Lister and Black in Manchester. Tell whoever answers that I need to speak to a senior director. We’re going to need delivery details on one of their recent orders. Stress the urgency. I’ll be back in my office by the time you’re through to someone.’
She put the phone down and turned back to the room.
‘Right, I’ll deal with that,’ Philippa said. ‘And I’ll try to get some joy out of John Lewis and Amazon as a backup plan. Let me know when you’ve got any other intel that might pinpoint where she’s keeping this child.’