The Forgotten Child

by D. E. White

  Holly nodded, sniffing. Cath always loved everything to be in order. Her own calendar was ruthlessly organised, which was really the only way for her to be as a single mum juggling work and five kids.

  ***

  The woods were dank and dripping after the recent downpour.

  Holly banged the gate shut behind them, ‘Whoever took him came out here and walked to the footpath.’ Her fists were clenched, and she was shivering. It had been a cold night and Milo had only been in his pyjamas. She concentrated fiercely on the muddy path.

  Cath wiped raindrops from her face and pulled her hood closer around her hair, ‘Okay, so suspects. First is Tom. A total fucker, and now we hear a bit of an addict too. But would he take Milo? Granted you say he’s been hassling for custody and he sends you texts when he’s high, but would he actually take him?’

  ‘He was in a meeting last night. The police checked. He was the first person I thought of when I found Milo gone. He probably still has his keys, Milo would go with him without crying out if he made up some story, and he knows my routine in the evening when I have days off.’ Holly led the way along the path and paused at the main track. ‘Straight on or turning right?’

  ‘I reckon straight on. It’s quicker and you can leave a car right by the road without being too obvious. The other path comes out right on a bend. Whoever took him wouldn’t have wanted to be walking along the road with a kidnapped child, would they?’ She paused and swallowed hard, ‘Back to Tom. He has an alibi. At the moment. Next one, Niko, another fucker. I don’t think Niko would take a kid, though, even with money involved.’

  ‘Really? He threatened us down on the beach, and he even said something about Milo.’ Holly was surprised. ‘The police said if it was to do with owing money then the kidnapper would be in touch with a ransom demand.’ She tried to speak slowly, carefully, but her words kept getting choked up, and tears escaped again.

  ‘But nobody has been in touch, right? When Kian was born, he was four weeks early, wasn’t he?’

  Holly nodded, remembering the panic.

  ‘So Niko was totally different then. He was how he used to be when we were kids, you know funny, a bit cheeky, and he looked after me and the baby so well. For a while.’

  They were nearly at the road now, and Holly could hear the swish of tyres on wet tarmac, the monotonous hum of engines that permeated the quietness of the wood. She indicated the row of houses behind them. ‘The police searched all those. Karen said they wanted to check if Milo’d been hidden or something.’

  ‘That would be weird. Even weirder is you on first-name terms with a copper.’ Cath gave her a sideways glance through her wet lashes.

  ‘Whatever. I reckon Joey or Gareth have got Milo.’ Just saying it out loud seemed to make it real, and the icy fist inside wrenched at her guts. ‘Bailey was a warning, and maybe a bit of fast revenge for Rohan. They’re showing us how hard they play to get what they want.’

  Cathryn sighed, fiddling with the rings on fingers. ‘Bastards. And they really want that slice of business, don’t they?’

  They reached the road and stood staring at the traffic as exhaustion began to kick in again. ‘So that leaves Jayden then,’ Holly said softly. ‘My brother comes back, and swaps his kid for mine?’ The pain inside was getting worse. Every second her boy was missing, every time the clock hands crept round to indicate another hour had gone past, meant he was getting further and further away from her. She clung to the thought he had been taken for ransom. There was no point in hurting a human bargaining chip, was there?

  Cathryn shivered. ‘Let’s go back. Is Jayden’s kid in foster care now?’

  ‘Yeah.’ Holly took the lead and picked her way through the mud. Her eyes darted from one side of the path to the other, peering deep into the trees, even though she knew the search team with the dogs had already covered every inch of this area.

  ***

  The press conference was in the local scout hall, and Holly, clinging to Cath’s hand, stood up to make a plea for her son. By this time anger was taking over, consuming her. Anger that someone was messing with her life, had taken her child. She was behind a table, flanked by DC Karen Marriot and DC Steph Harlow. Cath squeezed her hand.

  Devril had texted her to say he’d be there, but she couldn’t spot him in the crowd. Outside there were TV broadcasting vans, and so many people gathering. Lots of locals were holding up banners and #FindMilo was trending on social media. It was good, it was all good, Holly told herself. And the least she could do was to speak out and say her piece without crying.

  She got unsteadily to her feet, taking up her position next to the microphone. ‘I just want Milo home safe. Whoever has taken him, for whatever reason, he’s just a little boy. My little boy. If anyone has heard or seen anything please, please tell the police. Thank you.’

  ‘Do you think your brother is alive, Holly?’

  ‘Is this about Larissa Arnolds?’

  ‘Holly, did you know your ex-husband was taking drugs?’

  Holly bit her lip. ‘My son is everything to me, and I just want him home safe.’ She could feel Karen frowning up at her, but there was sympathy in her eyes. The content of the little speech wasn’t quite what they’d discussed. ‘The police and the whole community are looking for my boy, and I want to thank them for their support. We won’t rest until he’s found.’

  The clicking of cameras and the shouted questions from a sea of eager faces were making her dizzy. This couldn’t be her. It felt like a dream, and any minute she would wake up and be watching TV with Milo. The journalists were quizzing the police now, and the sombre answers from the officers present were almost lost in the general buzz of speculation.

  DI Harper appeared briefly, not meeting Holly’s eyes, but adding a certain gravitas to the conference. He also appealed to the local community. Holly watched him through narrowed eyes from her seat. He certainly put on a good show for the press, telling them that all they were concerned about was finding Milo safe and well.

  The questions kept coming and the flash of cameras, the sweaty heat of the hall, was making Holly feel faint. She put out a hand to steady herself on the rickety table. ‘Thank you,’ she whispered again, eyes hot, throat aching.

  ‘Ignore them now, it’s okay.’ Karen helped her sit down again. ‘You did really well. Let us handle the rest.’

  Cath hugged her and they sat together on the hard plastic chairs. Holly let out a long breath. Surely when Milo’s picture appeared in all the papers, whoever had him would realise they needed to give him up. Even Joey and Gareth wouldn’t be able to keep him. Or … or it might mean they needed to kill him. The blackness and nausea overtook her and she slid from her seat into a crumpled heap on the floor.

  ***

  By the evening, Cathryn was back sitting on her sofa, full of nervous energy. She took out a bag and spilled her manicure kit onto the coffee table, whilst she talked, thin fingers picking through the candy-coloured bottles of polish. ‘Why would Jay take Milo though?’

  ‘I honestly don’t know.’ Holly picked up her mug and put it down again without taking a sip. ‘Actually I have one idea. I should have told you before but …’

  ‘Go on.’

  ‘The night Larissa was killed, when Jayden asked me for money, I was so mad at him for asking again, for stealing from Lydia and bringing all this shit back on us that I rang Niko and gave him Jayden’s address.’

  ‘You did what?’ Cathryn was looking at her, mouth open, scarlet lips a perfect ‘O’ of shock.

  ‘But Dev picked up his phone. They were round at Dev’s place and Niko was on his other phone doing some deal, so I gave Dev the address and told him to pass it on to Niko.’

  ‘Fuck me. And you never told the police?’

  ‘Of course not. Well, not until now. For years I thought it was my fault Larissa died, but when I caught up with Dev again he told me he never passed on the message. He’s got no idea who tipped Niko off. It was probably one of his dealer mat
es or someone trying to crawl to the Balintas. But I was thinking, what if Jayden somehow found out I called Dev?’

  Cathryn was breathing fast, her face white and pinched. ‘He wouldn’t take it out on a kid, would he? Not when he’s lost one of his?’

  ‘Maybe that’s why?’

  ‘No way. Even if he thought that you … He wouldn’t and I really don’t think Niko’s involved. My money would be on the Nicholls … Say something, babes, you look like you’ve been struck by lightning.’ Cathryn moved closer, putting an arm around her shoulders. ‘I’m not trying to upset you. You know what I’m like, with my gob and if you think I’m wrong tell me to shut up, okay?’

  ‘No, I don’t think you’re wrong, that’s the problem. The police have been all over Seaview, and taken Joey and Gareth apart asking questions, and they got nothing. If it is them they’ve got other plans for me and Milo.’ Holly jumped up, restless now, and she started collecting mugs and dirty plates for the dishwasher.

  ‘So we go and see them, when the police are done. We can do a deal over the land they want if that’s the problem. Donnie’s not going to mess around with his grandkid if that’s what this is all about, is he?’ Cathryn pulled a bin bag out of the cupboard and started sweeping tissues and bits of paper into it.

  ‘You make it sound really easy. I don’t know, Cath, I really don’t, but yeah, let’s go visiting. Maybe I’ll go and see Niko too.’ Holly ran hot water into the sink and squirted washing-up liquid. The boiling water hurt her hands and she was glad. Milo’s latest drawings from school were pinned up on a corkboard above the sink, and she focused on them, determinedly. She couldn’t go to pieces – Milo needed her. The clean mugs dripped soapy bubbles from the wire rack to the floor. She blinked hard, pushing back tears yet again.

  Holly’s mobile rang and she wiped wet hands on her jeans, and grabbed it, listening intently to the voice at the other end.

  Karen was straight to the point. ‘Holly, sorry no news on Milo, but I wanted to let you know that Jayden’s son has disappeared from his foster care.’

  ‘What?’ Holly couldn’t process this at all.

  ‘He seems to have gone early this morning and taken a coat and a few things he was given, so we are assuming he went of his own free will.’ Karen’s cool, clipped voice relayed the information with as much emotion as if she’d been letting Holly know her Tesco delivery was arriving on time. ‘Obviously we’ve got a team out looking for him, but to reassure you, it looks like maybe he went off to find his dad, in which case we should pick him up fairly quickly.’

  Holly’s shoulders sagged and she shook her head at Cath. She wedged the phone between shoulder and chin and picked up a drying up cloth. ‘Unless he has found Jayden, in which case they’ll probably both just piss off back to where they came from.’ Bitterness was breaking through, but there was still a protective flash of worry for the silent boy. How was Jayden with his son? Was he happy?

  ‘Did you get any information from the press conference?’ Holly finished drying the glass she was holding and put it back down on the draining board with exaggerated care. Her tired brain refused to process anything at all.

  ‘No. Sorry, we are sifting through all new information and believe me, we are doing everything we possibly can.’

  ‘What about Joey and Gareth?’

  ‘They didn’t give us any new information, and they both have alibis. We are questioning everyone concerned with the business and the family.’

  ‘And Bailey?’

  ‘As you’ve probably seen from the official statement, his neck was broken before he was hanged, but I can’t comment further on that case, sorry.’

  Holly finished the call, frowning. If Jayden had now taken his own child back, would he let hers go? Or was there someone else? In her mind she could see Gareth and Joey still stalking in the shadows, working towards their own end game. Gareth would think nothing of hurting children. Too late, she caught herself, but the pain washed over her as the promise from earlier echoed through her head: ‘I’ll kill Gareth, if I need to …’

  Chapter 30

  Dear Mum,

  I saw you last night in my dream. You were so close, I could smell your hair and you were smiling, telling me everything would be okay. I wonder if it was a memory? I hope so. It would make me happy to think I have memories of you, something that I have and Dad doesn’t. He talks about you all the time, but I feel like I need a part of you for myself.

  Especially now. I got out of hospital, had to go with that woman who just pissed me off, asking how I was feeling and trying to get me to talk. You would have been proud of me, because I never said a word.

  You said once that before you met Dad bad things happened to you, and you never said a word, because then they could take so much, but not everything.

  Now I’m back in the van. Dad’s friend says we’re nearly done here and by the end of next week we’ll be on the move again. Back in the big white van, jolting along the motorways.

  Today he’s taking me to see Dad, and he says he has a surprise for me. I don’t know this area, and I lost my phone in the car crash, but I can tell we’re driving towards the sea. I can taste salt on my lips, see the greyness stretching into the horizon, and we’re leaving the houses of Westbourne far behind.

  I don’t know what’s going to happen next, and if I’m honest, Mum, I’m a bit scared. But I can’t ever be scared, so I scowled at Dad’s friend when he asked if I wanted a burger and said nothing when he ordered me a cheeseburger and extra large fries at the drive thru.

  I don’t know if the plan worked, if there is still more to do. My head hurts and there are guns in the van.

  I love you, Mum xx

  Chapter 31

  Her first thought was of Milo as she rolled out of bed. Her next, stifling tears, was that she was unable to hold him, to smell his hair, put her lips to his soft forehead for a morning kiss.

  The house felt empty and cold, as she took her coffee to the window. Every child walking down the road made her heart jerk. Milo was everywhere; the boy with blonde hair just turning the corner by the footpath, the children with red and blue coats skipping along beside a tall woman. Even a baby being wheeled past in a buggy reminded her of her son.

  She called Dev and arranged to meet at his rented flat. Although she felt pretty much everyone was under suspicion at the moment, Dev hadn’t given her any cause to doubt his story. The niggling doubts remained but she needed to do something, to be proactive, and she felt Dev would help.

  There was a voicemail from Cathryn saying her family were taking a search party from the estate out towards Panfield and then back towards the coast. She had hundreds of messages on her social media accounts from well-wishers, which warmed her heart for a second, and then made her cry again. Holly made another drink and flicked on the TV, her whole body aching and her face still wet, as Milo’s face appeared on the screen.

  Although it was early there were a load of reporters gathering outside her house, as she banged the front door. She pushed through, feeling their eyes boring into her, trying to smile when she felt like running away.

  Successfully leaving the crowd behind, she wandered along the road towards Dev’s new flat in a daze of pain. Just walking the streets, taking the long way around, ignoring a few stares of recognition, her eyes searching back roads and alleys between shops; constantly searching eased the emptiness slightly. But instead of going on into Seaview, she turned left, walked over the bridge, her feet echoing on the metal walkway, too loud, too slow. It seemed to take a long time to lift each foot up and put it back down, but she couldn’t stop, like some mechanical doll.

  They sat in Devril’s tiny flat, which overlooked the river. ‘See, I made the leap.’ Nothing in his manner, his words, betrayed him, but she found herself watching his face, going over each inflection of his voice, each reaction to her news. She couldn’t afford to trust anyone.

  ‘No news?’ he asked.

  ‘Nothing. The police are c
overing all the obvious places around our house, and the woods towards Panfield. Cathryn said a load from the estate are going out and heading towards the coast. Niko’s still being questioned, and I have no idea what Tom is doing, but like I said, he has an alibi. So if Niko does have Milo, he’s left him on his own.’

  ‘Unless he has an accomplice?’ suggested Devril, his light grey eyes showing nothing but interest and concern.

  Holly shook her head. ‘If it is Niko, he’s done it because he’s pissed off with me about the money, and if it’s Jayden, well, I’ve been thinking that it’s one of two things. First, I was late with the money the night Larissa and the baby were killed.’

  ‘Come on, Holly, I don’t think Jayden could blame you for that.’

  ‘The second thing …’ She took a deep breath and ploughed on. ‘The second thing is that he might still think it was my fault Niko knew where to find Jayden in the first place. I know you never passed on the message but even the police kept asking me at the time if I told Niko where he was. Lots of people must have assumed that it was me. But I still think it’s Joey and Gareth who must have taken him, Dev, and that’s tearing me up. They killed Bailey, what will they do to Milo?’

  ‘You don’t know it’s them, and don’t go paying any visits either.’

  ‘But that’s exactly what I’m going to do, if I don’t have any news this morning. I’m going back down the yard to talk to them. And if I don’t get any joy there, I’m going to find Niko. Somebody knows where my boy is, and if they won’t talk to the police they might talk to me.’ Holly’s mouth was set in a stubborn line, her jaw clamping shut after she spoke, fighting tears again.

  Devril sat back, glancing out at the greyness beyond the windows. ‘Look, Holly, there’s something else. I wasn’t going to bother telling you this, because like you say it’s all in the past, but now Milo is missing and Bailey’s fucking dead, poor bastard … Well, anything that might help, you know?’