The Nursery

by Asia Mackay

  Peppa walked in with Bella. Her blonde hair swung in a high ponytail. She was wearing jeans and a striped shirt. It was the first time I’d seen her in person. Although having learned so much about her from her online correspondence and internet history, I felt we were old friends. There was so much I could say to her. ‘That guy on Match.com with the nice blue eyes who “works in the Midlands half the week” is clearly married.’ ‘No, you’re not stupid, I didn’t understand the ending of Lost either.’ And, ‘Ignore that cow you were at school with; choosing not to have Botox and to still eat carbs is not a sign you’ve given up on life.’

  ‘Hello, Bella,’ shouted Gigi as she tore off back to the soft play, with Bella following.

  ‘Hi, Suzannah, I’m Alexis. Lovely to meet you.’

  ‘Call me Suze.’ She shook my hand.

  Camilla arrived with Florence. ‘Hello, Alexis. Hello.’ She nodded at Suze just as her phone rang. She looked at the screen. ‘Sorry, I need to . . .’ She peeled off, motioning for Florence to go join Gigi and Bella, who were now jumping into the ball pit.

  ‘I’ll just check they’re OK,’ said Peppa, nodding towards the girls.

  Naomi walked in with Kate’s twins. ‘Hi, Alexis. Kate sends her apologies. She’s having a bit of a family emergency. She might make it, she might not.’

  ‘Of course. Totally understand.’

  Naomi busied herself undoing the twins’ coats and hats. It was nice that their bonding over Naomi’s bastard husband had clearly cemented their friendship. I watched Peppa standing by the ball pit. She wasn’t making any sign of looking at anyone other than her daughter, who was gingerly navigating a plastic beam.

  I looked over at the man in the cap. He and Peppa had yet to acknowledge each other. A waitress arrived at his table with a heavily laden plate of fried breakfast. He took his sunglasses off, displaying bloodshot, bleary eyes.

  Just then a wailing little girl in a tutu came running up to him.

  ‘Dadaaaaaaa, Algie hit me with a ball.’

  The cap man winced.

  ‘Christ, Mia, do you have to cry so high-pitched?’ He handed her a piece of fried bread. ‘Now take this and be quiet. Daddy has a headache.’

  He went back to cramming a ketchup-laden sausage in his mouth.

  So much for enemy threat – he was simply a hungover dad.

  I cursed myself for not factoring this into my analysis.

  Who else here could Peppa be meeting with? I looked over at her again. Bella was now navigating her way down a slide. Peppa gave her a wave as she headed back to our table with not so much as a glance at any of the caffeine-inhaling adults around her.

  Naomi came back to the table with a tray of unpainted teapots and teacups for the children and a large pot of coffee for us. She sat down and laid them all out, calling over to the twins.

  All the children came charging back to the table. We fussed over them, encasing them in overalls, and let them loose on the array of paints and brushes laid out on the tables.

  Naomi looked over at Peppa. ‘Hello, I’m Naomi. You work with my husband Ronald, don’t you?’

  ‘Yes, I do. Our paths haven’t crossed much but he seems well liked by everyone.’

  ‘Oh, that’s so nice to hear. Are you the one he’s f-u-c-k-i-n-g?’ Naomi reached across the table and filled Peppa’s cup up with coffee.

  Peppa glanced round at the children painting teapots.

  Camilla actually let in a fast intake of air.

  ‘I . . . I . . . No, Naomi, I’m not,’ Peppa finally said.

  We all stared down at the table. I felt the need to break the now painfully loaded tension.

  ‘Naomi has just found out he’s having s-e-x with someone at work. It’s a difficult time.’

  ‘I’m leaving him.’ Naomi, took a bite of biscuit. ‘I told him last night.’

  On the way over I had scanned the transcript of their conversation. It had been horrible. Daddy Pig stated that he intended to withhold child maintenance and swore to make life as difficult as possible for his ‘ungrateful bitch’ of a wife. He’d been so cold as Naomi sobbed, I had wished he was the Snake so we could pop him and she could be free of him, without the costly lawyer bills that ‘a dumb cow who hadn’t worked in over ten years couldn’t afford’.

  She was going through hell but she’d got up this morning, given her children breakfast, fussed over their homework, searched round the house for missing ballet kit and told Daddy Pig he would be spending the day looking after the girls as it was clearly ‘so bloody easy’. Now here she was helping out her friend Kate who was going through her own family trauma. I watched Naomi humming to herself as she helped one of the twins with their paintbrush.

  Peppa cleared her throat. ‘If you want any tips on being a single mum you can come to me.’

  ‘What are they?’

  ‘First of all, get used to people asking if you’re having s-e-x with their husbands.’

  The two women eyeballed each other and then laughed.

  ‘That’s lovely, darling. Really lovely.’ Camilla adjusted Florence’s large bow hairclip as she admired the painted teapot on the table.

  Gigi turned to me. ‘Mama – see?’ She pointed to the teapot in front of her.

  ‘Yes, Gigi, yours is really lovely too.’

  Squiggles of green and blue and orange and red all mingled together to make an undesirable sludge brown. In fairness, what did anyone expect with undeveloped pincer grips and cheap paints? At least it meant I had a Christmas present sorted for Gillian, the world’s most doting grandmother. Gigi’s last finger painting, which Will and I both agreed looked like a wanking giraffe, had brought tears of joy to her eyes.

  I looked down at Gigi. She was staring at her teapot again and smiling. I kissed the top of her head.

  ‘You are amazing.’ No lie here. She was perfection and I marvelled at her every single day.

  I looked over at Bella. ‘So what are you doing today, Bella?’

  ‘Claudia! Sleepover!’ shouted Bella.

  Peppa laughed. ‘We’re staying with some friends tonight. Their daughter is Bella’s age.’

  ‘Sorry I’m late.’ Kate appeared at the table. Her eyes were bloodshot and for the first time since I’d met her she wasn’t wearing make-up.

  ‘Hello, Mama!’ Her twins waved at her with paint-covered hands.

  ‘Hello, boys.’ She dropped down in between them and gave them each a kiss. ‘Thanks so much, Naomi, for taking them.’

  ‘Anytime.’ Naomi beamed. ‘Nice to have them, and nice to hand them back.’

  ‘Hi, Kate, we’ve met before. I’m Suze.’

  Kate looked over at her and nodded. ‘Nice to see you.’

  ‘You OK, Kate?’ I asked.

  ‘I just . . . I’ve had some bad news. My mother is not doing so well.’

  Looking at her there was no doubting that she was genuine. Having seen some of her work I knew she wasn’t a good enough actress to fake that kind of raw emotion. She looked terrible.

  She fingered her sleeve. ‘I just thought we’d have more time. I mean, we’ve never got on that well. But she’s my mum, you know?’

  She was interrupted by her mobile going. She answered it and spoke a few monotonous yes and nos, and then, ‘OK, got it. And don’t forget. It was a special surprise to find four puppies there.’

  I looked up at her. That was the sentence contained in the last suspicious email to George.

  ‘Wow, you’re getting four puppies?’

  ‘It’s a stupid dictation for my eldest son’s spelling test. Utter pain in the arse. I leave it to my husband to drill him on them.’

  I didn’t know how I was going to break it to Geraint and Pixie that their efforts to crack the email code were wasted as it was simply a bloody spelling test.

  I looked at Kate as she spoke quietly to her twins and dabbed the side of their teapots. George Pig was fully in the clear. I was glad. The last thing she needed adding to her trauma wa
s us popping her husband.

  With George and Daddy Pig ruled out, there was only Peppa left. It had to be her. She was the only one who had the intel on all the missions the Snake had ruined. She was the only one with a potential inside link to the Chinese delegation. We needed confirmation. Time was running out and we still had no idea how or when the Coyote would strike.

  Naomi and Peppa were now speaking softly about lawyers and what lay ahead. Camilla and Kate were talking about her mother.

  I looked over at Bella. Her dolly was on her lap as she continued to slop paint on her teapot. I just needed to get it away from her so I could make the swap.

  Great. This was my life now. Trying to work out how to steal a three-year-old’s doll.

  I went up to the café counter and ordered a selection of chocolate cupcakes. I placed them at the other end of the table to Peppa and Bella.

  ‘Kids, who wants a cupcake?’

  Gigi and the twins leaned over and made a grab for them. Bella shot up from her chair, her doll falling to the floor under the table.

  I walked back to my seat, leaning down to put my wallet back into my handbag on the floor. I scooped up Bella’s doll and switched it with Hoxton dolly from my bag.

  Well done me. Maybe my next assignment could be taking candy from a baby.

  Bella came skipping back to her chair, the chocolate cupcake she was holding already half-eaten.

  She sat back down, chocolate smeared across her face.

  ‘I think this is yours?’ I looked at her, smiling as I waved Hoxton dolly at her.

  Peppa looked up. ‘Ahh, yes, that’s hers. Thank you.’ Peppa reached across the table and took Hoxton dolly out my hand. ‘Bella, you mustn’t forget Dodo, you’d be so upset.’

  The girl grabbed it from her and tucked it under her arm. She smelled its hood. She held it back and stared at it.

  Here we were, the moment of reckoning.

  ‘Not Dodo.’

  ‘What? Don’t be silly,’ laughed Peppa. ‘That’s your Dodo. You just dropped her on the floor.’ I watched Bella feel for the worn patch and give it a little rub. She stared again at the doll.

  ‘Want more cake.’

  We were OK.

  Hoxton dolly had been accepted.

  *

  As mornings went it had been productive. Kate had confirmed our belief that all George was hiding was a wish for her to reconcile with her dying mother, I’d switched a girl’s beloved dolly with a fake, reinforced my deep loathing of soft play, and Gigi had created a teapot masterpiece for her doting grandmother.

  With a flurry of goodbyes Kate and the twins were the first to leave. I looked up and saw George Pig was waiting for them outside with their eldest son. She went straight into George’s arms and he kissed the top of her head. They walked down the street together holding hands, the boys running circles round them. She might be going through hell but she had him, he was there to hold her up and do what he could to make things better. It was what having a partner was for. No matter what life threw at you, you had someone alongside you, fighting through it with you.

  That’s when what you were fighting wasn’t each other.

  I checked my watch. I needed to drop Gigi with my mother-in-law and get to the Platform. I said my own goodbyes and dragged a reluctant Gigi out of the café.

  As I left I saw Cameron outside, map in hand, doing her best American tourist abroad look. I couldn’t be sure but it looked as though her nose wrinkled slightly at the sight of Gigi. She must’ve been assigned Peppa duty.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  I CAME OUT OF THE TUBE with Gigi. Straight in front of us were a group of mothers from nursery. I was planning on slipping by with my head down when Gigi stopped and said, ‘HELLO!’

  The mothers all turned to look at us. ‘Oh, hello, Gigi, hello, Alexis.’

  ‘Hi, how are you all?’ I knew one was called Louise, one was Mimi’s mum and the third was Weather Mum. I wondered if she had recovered since losing the fairy-tale coup.

  ‘Great! We were just talking about the mums’ night out. It’s going to be such fun,’ said Weather Mum.

  ‘Louise is going to hire the back room of that new Italian place – lots of prosecco and prosciutto and high jinks,’ giggled Mimi’s mum. She gave me a nudge. ‘Rather handsome waiters there, if you must know.’

  ‘And as it’s a private room we can really let our hair down,’ beamed Weather Mum.

  ‘It’s going to be a riot,’ said Louise.

  ‘Oh yes. The mums’ night out. I’m so gutted to miss it. Such a shame.’

  Louise stared at me. ‘I haven’t sent the date out yet.’

  The three of them looked at me, unsmiling.

  Fuck.

  ‘I . . . I . . . Can you believe that Miss Jenna is not Montessori-trained?’

  ‘What?’ said Mimi’s mum.

  ‘That can’t be right,’ frowned Weather Mum.

  ‘But she’s Sienna’s key worker.’ Louise looked aghast.

  ‘Felix’s mum called the Montessori board. She’s not been registered. I mean, really, what we are paying this premium for if we aren’t getting an actual Montessori-trained teacher?’

  ‘That is ridiculous. I’m going to have to talk to the head,’ said Louise.

  I dragged Gigi away as they started chattering among themselves, my mums’ night out faux-pas momentarily forgotten.

  *

  Geraint was crying. So was Pixie. They were sat in the meeting room holding hands on the table, tears rolling down their cheeks.

  ‘Come on, you two. Lovers’ tiff?’ I was trying to be upbeat.

  But I could feel it in the air.

  Something bad.

  Jake was pacing alongside the table on his phone.

  ‘I understand. I get it.’ He hung up and looked at me. ‘It’s Robin.’

  I looked again at Pixie and Geraint, and at Jake staring at me. ‘No . . .’ I gripped the back of the plastic chair in front of me.

  ‘They took him.’

  ‘I . . . Are we sure?’

  ‘He didn’t come in this morning and he wasn’t answering his phone. I went round to his place. His bed was unslept in. G used CCTV to track his route home from here. Four Ghosts grabbed him ten minutes down the road and bundled him into a van.’ Jake threw his phone down on the table. ‘He didn’t have a chance.’

  ‘Do we know if . . .’ I couldn’t finish. My head was spinning. This couldn’t be right.

  Jake walked up to me and put his hand on my shoulders. ‘We have to be realistic. They got him. And they have no reason to keep him alive. We need to presume he’s gone.’

  I stared down at the floor. I knew whatever I was feeling now, Jake would be too. We’d worked with Robin for three years. We’d trained him together.

  Just not well enough.

  We should’ve seen this coming.

  Why didn’t we see this coming?

  Tenebris’s raid on Eight had failed. They couldn’t get our hardware so they got one of us. They must’ve sent more Ghosts to watch the Platform’s exits. Robin was the only one who always left out the street-level door. He lived within walking distance from the Platform. It was harder to spot who we were when we merged with the many weary commuters all heading home on the underground.

  Tenebris didn’t need our laptops and our hard drives if they got to someone who knew what was on them.

  And made them talk.

  I shuddered.

  ‘Pixie and G have been doing a search for the van’s number plate. We got two hits on the CCTV. One at a garage in Vauxhall last night and one by the M3 in the early hours.’

  ‘I’m coming with you.’

  ‘No, Lex. The mission comes first. It’s a long shot that we can track this van down.’ He leaned towards me and spoke softly. ‘They’ve had him for sixteen hours. You know the drill.’

  I did.

  They’d taken him to find out what we knew. And when they got it, or even if they did
n’t, they would dispose of him. They couldn’t have loose trails. They had no reason to keep him alive. I bit my lip.

  ‘This is no rescue mission,’ said Jake. ‘I just want to find the people who did this.’

  I looked down and his fists were clenched so tightly his arms were shaking. He was struggling to hold it together. To contain the rage he was feeling. Those Ghosts, Tenebris, the Snake, the Coyote – Jake would wreak terror on them all. The caged animal inside him, the one he worked so hard to keep contained, was coming out, and he wouldn’t be able to stop it.

  Hattie walked in, his mouth set in a thin line. ‘I’ve spoken to the police. Nothing yet.’

  We were all silent as we took this in. No body had yet been found. It didn’t mean anything. Certainly not hope. It was only a matter of time. I thought of Thatcher. And of Y. Tenebris had yet to show mercy to anyone who was a threat to their business.

  Pixie let out a sob. ‘We . . . we shoulda laughed at his jokes more. Would’ve made him happy. Thinking he was funny. The silly sod.’ Geraint put an arm round her and she cried more into his chest.

  This all felt like a shitty bad dream. Robin would walk in and make a crack about why all the long faces, it’s not like someone died. And we would tell him he was an idiot and then we’d all laugh and everything would feel right again.

  We’d lost colleagues before. More than I could count. Their names were engraved underneath the wooden dining table in this room. But this was the first time we’d ever lost someone in our unit. One of the family.

  ‘I know we’re all devastated.’ Hattie looked round at us all. ‘But if we let this derail us, they’ve won. We can’t forget what’s at stake here. We keep Peng alive. We find the Snake. We end Tenebris. That is how we avenge Robin.’

  Pixie wiped her tears and disentangled herself from Geraint. We were all silent. I was never more grateful for Hattie’s strong, quiet leadership. We needed his calm. His soft tones. I couldn’t think right now. I just wanted to be told what to do. I just wanted to be told how we were going to try and make this better.