The Forgotten Child

by D. E. White

  Dev was busy on his laptop and phone. ‘And she’s cleaned the whole house. She’s like some crazy insect, and she’s always been like that, even when she was a little kid.’

  ‘What are you still doing here?’ Holly slumped against the cooker, confused. The shock of the phone call was still there, making her heart batter against her ribs. She moistened her lips. ‘What about Milo’s clothes?’

  Steph waited until Dev had made coffee and pushed a mug towards Holly. ‘We need you to identify them as his, Holly. Remember, before you start imagining all kinds of horrific things that we are focusing on the positives.’

  ‘So they buy him new clothes because …’ In a flash Holly got it. ‘Because they are taking him around somewhere where people could see him!’ Hope returned, but the lingering feeling that there was also the other side, the one she couldn’t think about was still there, hiding in the shadows of her mind.

  ‘Tom has been charged and bailed for the vandalism to your house and car. We don’t think, at this stage, that he has anything to do with Milo’s disappearance, but we are keeping an open mind. He has admitted the criminal damage,’ Steph told her. ‘When you’re ready, I’ve got the clothes here, to save you coming down the station and fighting through the press. I just need you to identify them as a formality.’

  Holly stared out of the kitchen window, thinking that only a week or two ago all she had to worry about was an impending divorce and how the hell she was going to pay her mortgage. Now she couldn’t care less.

  Karen rang the doorbell just as Holly was mentally preparing herself for the sight of Milo’s pathetic blue pyjamas. ‘Holly, I’m sorry we have to ask you to do this, but as I’m sure Steph has explained, finding these clothes doesn’t mean bad news.’ Karen’s expression was serious, her perfectly made-up face drawn and dark shadows visible under the foundation. ‘Devril.’

  ‘Nice to see you again, DC Marriot,’ Dev said, but he was watching Holly.

  Holly nodded. ‘Let’s just do it.’

  Steph slid the plastic packet across the table towards her. The blue pyjamas with stars on them. She stroked them with a fingertip, as gently as if they had been her son himself. Just pyjamas, nothing else. She looked up, unable to speak, tearing running down her cheeks.

  ‘Thanks, Holly, we’ll get these down to the lab just in case we can get anything from them,’ Karen said.

  ***

  ‘You can go home if you want, Dev,’ Holly said suddenly. ‘I can manage.’

  ‘If you’re okay I was thinking that I should go and see Gareth.’

  ‘I should go too.’ She’d almost forgotten. The purpose that had driven her through the last couple of days had snapped, her energy drained. She looked dully at her ex-boyfriend. ‘I should be there,’ she said stubbornly.

  His eyes were almost green in the light from the window, pale against his dark skin, and he was silent for a moment. Then he smiled. ‘Okay but don’t beat the shit out of him. We need to play by his rules, just for a bit, and see where it takes us. After that, I reckon we should drop in on my cousin Niko. Haven’t seen his ugly face in a while and I’m sure he’d like to give us a cuppa.’

  That almost made her smile, but her mouth felt too stiff, and she was so tired, and so cold. ‘It’s getting longer and longer since he was taken, Dev, and we’ve all heard that the longer a child is missing …’ She couldn’t finish, turning away, but he moved round gently pulling her into his arms. For a long moment she hugged him back, fiercely, holding on to his strength, his protection, and when she pulled back the fire had returned. But she wasn’t sure she could keep her promise about not hitting Gareth. If he gave the slightest hint he knew where Milo was …

  Holly’s phone rang and she dived on it, listening intently. Dev was holding up two crossed fingers but Holly shook her head, her shoulders dropping in disappointment. ‘Okay, thanks for letting me know, Steph.’

  ‘Any news?’

  ‘Not really. Tom’s been released on bail, which they already told me, but after news got out that he was arrested one of his colleagues told the police that although Tom was at the meeting that night on campus, they broke for an hour to grab sandwiches and coffee. Apparently, they split off into little groups, networking in different rooms. Tom said in his original statement that he was with this bloke, Chris, I think his name is, but Chris is now saying Tom wasn’t with him at all, and nobody remembers seeing him until the meeting reconvened.’

  ‘Why the fuck didn’t he mention this earlier?’

  ‘Chris apparently covered for Tom before when he started seeing Beth, so Tom maybe assumed he would just go along with it? I don’t know.’

  ‘Bloody hell, do you think he did take Milo? That would mean we are way out with our little theories,’ Dev said, watching her carefully.

  ‘I don’t know. I hate Tom but I do know if he did take Milo he would never hurt him,’ she said slowly.

  ‘You’re getting quite cosy with the police, aren’t you, Holly? All these calls and first-name terms. You know I said me and Jayden were informants for DI Harper? Well, he’s staying well out of this investigation, isn’t he? But he’s picked up Bailey’s case quick enough. Seems to have left you with DC Marriot. I wonder why, and I wonder how good she really is?’

  Holly didn’t hesitate. ‘She’s very good. It’s been her and Steph Harlow from the start and they are putting everything into this.’ She thought of the intensity of Karen’s gaze as the pyjamas were passed across the table. ‘I googled her and she was involved in a case three years ago with a missing child. She was working in Romford then.’

  ‘Did she find the kid?’

  ‘The girl was dead, but you know, I’m thinking that if she thought she failed on that case, she might be trying extra hard to find Milo.’

  ‘Why did she fail?’

  ‘Some sick bastard took the kid and she was dead within the first few hours … Oh fuck, sorry Dev.’ Holly was crying again, reaching for a wad of tissues. Her eyes were sore and gritty but she scrubbed a tissue angrily across them anyway.

  ‘It’s okay, Holly.’

  ‘No it isn’t, and you know it.’

  Chapter 34

  Dev drove and Holly stared out of the window, shivering despite her coat and the warmth of the heated seats. Her eyes raked every house, every path, and shop, constantly searching, constantly choking back tears.

  She might have turned her back on the Seaview, but in all the windows, Milo’s posters were displayed. The bus stop was plastered with flyers, and a couple of women, staggering past with a buggy and heavy shopping bags, were wearing T-shirts with #FindMilo and his photo emblazoned across their chests. They looked hard at Holly and they waved tentatively. She waved back, tears flowing properly now.

  ‘No fuckers had better nick my wheels either,’ Dev said grimly as they pulled up outside the Nicholls place.

  Holly took a deep breath, scrubbed away the tears, her hands shaking as she opened the car door. But the anger was still there, the fire she needed to get through this. She had been telling the truth when she told Dev the police were doing a good job, but some things needed to be sorted between the families. Perhaps this was what Gareth had wanted all along.

  Her phone buzzed with a text from Donnie:

  At home with a couple of the boys.

  If you need us just shout. Don’t let G fuck you around.

  ‘Donnie checking up on you? It’s like he knows whenever you set foot on the estate.’

  ‘Yeah. Let’s do this.’ Holly led the way into the yard. This time the gates were pulled wide open, and they stepped quickly to one side, avoiding a vast HGV that rumbled past. The dour-looking driver gave them a thumbs-up and turned left, out towards the main road.

  Gareth was waiting in the portacabin, and when they entered he nodded, and then ignored them, clicking the mouse on his computer, frowning at whatever was on screen.

  After a couple of minutes Holly snapped, ‘We didn’t come here to play games. Get
off your bloody computer and tell me what I need to do to get my boy back.’

  Her fists were clenched, and her fear of the tall man turned into a white-hot flash of anger. You should never show your opponent that you were scared, never let them back you into a corner … But this man in front of her could be a characterisation of Death himself. The pale, soulless eyes resting on her with contempt, and his thin lips parted more in grimace than smile.

  As on the beach, his gaze swept over her body, appraising. She remembered Bailey’s talk of a party, and what happened to the girls, and she saw again Bailey himself, swinging from a tree. Joey was all about sex, and always had been, but his brother … Gareth was all about fear and pain. He got his kicks from the scent of terror, and the taste of blood. Sian had once said that Gareth was more animal than human.

  Dev broke the spell. He was leaning against the wall near the door, arms crossed. ‘Come on, Gareth, what do you want?’

  ‘You asked to see me, remember.’ The voice was cool, and he leant back in his chair, mirroring Dev’s pose.

  ‘Do you know where Holly’s kid is?’ Dev asked.

  He was enjoying it, she could tell, absorbing her pain and fear, feasting on her suffering, but he shook his head, ponytail flopping. ‘No. Whatever happened to him, it wasn’t anything to do with us. Nicholls don’t trade in small boys. Small girls, possibly, but boys … Nah.’

  Holly pressed her hands on his desk, until they were eyeball to eyeball. ‘But could you find out where Milo is?’

  ‘Why would I want to do that? Joey told you before what we want from you, but since Dev is here I can repeat the offer. First tell me why I should give a shit about your kid when all you’ve done is send the filth round. My own kid is dead, and my nephew got knifed. Don’t you think I’ve got enough troubles of my own?’ But the man’s face was far from grief. There was an unpleasant light behind those icy eyes and a half smirk that told another story.

  ‘Rohan’s a grown man, and that was nothing to do with me,’ Holly said, ignoring his mention of Bailey.

  ‘Maybe Donnie though? Rohan’s not talking at the moment, but when he does, then we’ll see.’ Gareth had always spoken slowly and carefully, tasting each word before he spat it into the world. ‘As for my son, well, I’m devastated, aren’t I? You raise them, give them prospects, and then they try and screw you over. Kids!’

  ‘You killed Bailey,’ Dev said, scowling, his voice thickening. ‘You can’t blame us for coming after you for Milo’s disappearance.’

  He didn’t bother to deny it. ‘Family loyalty is all that matters. If you screw with that you take the consequences. Holly should know that already. Her mum was a perfect example of someone who forgot where their loyalties lie.’ He raised a rough hand, palm outward, silencing them both. ‘Focus on your own kid, Holly, and forget the past. So here’s the deal … Say I could find your boy. I’d want payment for that, of course. Now that Dev’s back, I’ve already asked him to come back into the business, so how about the two of you heading up a joint Hughes–Nicholls operation. You sign over that slice of pie I want, and you work for me. Normally I don’t work with women, but I need a Hughes family member to smooth my path. The dealers who are loyal to your dad, will be loyal to you.’

  Holly’s head spun. ‘Donnie will never go for it.’

  ‘But if that was the only way to get his grandson back, and keep his girl happy, I think you could persuade him.’ Gareth looked thoughtful. ‘You can play up the fact it would be a partnership, soften the blow a bit.’

  ‘And Jayden?’ Dev queried, his own gaze intense as he watched the other man. ‘You’ve forgotten Jayden’s back and he might not like the idea.’

  Gareth laughed. It was a cold, scornful sound. ‘When I see him, I’ll believe it.’ His expression was one of private amusement, as though he knew far more than they did.

  ‘You don’t think he came back?’ Holly asked, still turning over the words in her head. Did the Nicholls have Milo after all? It still seemed reasonable to assume they did, as Gareth seemed pretty confident he could find him. His price was nothing compared to her son’s life, but she had no idea if Donnie would go for it, or if the Nicholls would hold up their end of the bargain.

  The man stood up, came around the desk in three long strides, towering over Holly. She took an involuntary step back and, realising what she had done, stepped forward again, looking up into those terrible eyes.

  Behind her Dev never moved, but she sensed he too was tensed to fight. For a long moment, she held eye contact, held fighting stance, and then he laughed again, and leant against the desk. ‘Like I said, I’ll believe it when I see it. And now you two can fuck off and think about my business proposition. You’ve got twenty-four hours or the deal’s off.’

  ‘What? You can’t set a time limit!’ Holly said.

  ‘I can do anything I want, because I give the orders,’ Gareth told her. ‘Now piss off before I change my mind.’

  ***

  Back in the car, Dev rested his hands on the steering wheel for a moment, watching Holly. ‘Hell of a choice. How the fuck are we going to persuade Donnie to sell out?’

  ‘Do you think they’ve got Milo?’

  ‘Who knows, but he was practically pissing himself laughing when I mentioned Jayden, and that worries me. And what about Jayden’s son?’

  ‘Nothing. They haven’t found him, so it looks like he did find his dad, and maybe they’ve just gone.’ Holly bit back her concerns and forced a smile. ‘Let’s go down the road and do some more visiting.’ Adrenalin was still pulsing around her body and her palms were wet with sweat.

  Mason himself was staggering back into his house as they pulled up at their second destination. His black eyes peered out from a mass of wrinkles, and his grubby white vest was tucked into baggy black trousers. Recognising them, he waited until they got out.

  ‘Mason. You all right?’ Devril said easily.

  ‘What do you want?’ The old man scowled, his greasy grey hair was loose, falling in straggly clumps to his shoulders, and stubble encrusted the lower half of his face. There was a little spot of dried blood just above one eyebrow. He gave a hacking cough.

  ‘To see Niko. I heard he’s back from holiday.’

  ‘You’ve got a fucking cheek. I suppose you’ve hooked up with her again.’ He sneered at Holly.

  ‘Mason, in case you missed it, my kid has been taken. I want to talk to Niko in case he’s heard anything that might help me find him,’ Holly said, scowling back. Mason was a bastard, but he’d never terrified her the way Gareth had. Just now, one left hook and he’d be flat on his back, and she was itching to give it to him.

  Mason spat a mouthful of green phlegm into his bare earth flowerbed. ‘Niko don’t know nothing. Boy’s only been out a few weeks and now they’re hounding him again. Of course he didn’t take your kid! I told the filth that, and I told Donnie, and now I’m telling you.’

  ‘We know that, but he might have heard something. You lot know everything that goes on round here,’ Dev said.

  ‘All right for you, moving away, working for the papers and renting a posh place over the river. Yeah, I know everything you been up to, Devril Mancini, and I know Gareth offered you a job too.’ The old man looked triumphant at their expressions of surprise. ‘Things move on, don’t they, and you’ll see Niko’ll get the business back up and running, and we’ll be working together better than before. Maybe Donnie’s past it, maybe not, but I’ll go with the money, always have done.’ He paused, and then waved an arm in the direction of the door. ‘Go on, you might as well see him, but don’t blame me if he tells you to fuck off.’

  They went inside the sour-smelling house. A thin, skeletal woman was in the kitchen, painted brows furrowed in concentration. She frowned at them, opened her mouth to say something, but carried on making her spliff at the table. Her long straggly brown hair fell loose across her shoulders, and track marks scarred her bare arms.

  Mason, ignoring all the usual planning
regulations, had added onto his house whenever he felt like it, to accommodate his growing family. Niko had always occupied the annexe that sprawled into the back garden and was reached through a door in the downstairs bathroom.

  Dev banged on the door and, not getting an answer, they walked in. The smell of weed was so strong Holly almost gagged. The shelf was lined with cannabis plants, and the music was turned up loud with some rapper yelling about death and decay.

  Niko came out of his bedroom, a jack knife half hidden in his hand, expression threatening. He saw them and stopped dead. ‘How the fuck did you get in?’

  ‘Put it away, Niko, we’ve just come for a chat,’ Dev said, amiably.

  ‘I’m not helping you, you fucking bitch! You told the cops I took your kid and I’ve just spent the night down at the station. Again. Fuck off and stop causing trouble.’ Niko was glaring at Holly. He looked exhausted, his dark eyes shadowed, and his shaven head and hollow cheekbones were vaguely reminiscent of a Halloween joke skull.

  Holly tried to breathe shallowly, avoiding the heavy scent of the plants. ‘I mean it, Niko. I didn’t send the police after you and all I care about is getting Milo back. Imagine if someone took Kian! You’d do anything to get him back wouldn’t you?’

  The mention of his son pulled him up short, and when he spoke again his expression was softer. ‘Look, I’m sorry about your kid, okay, but I don’t know where he is. When I said about him being good at football, I was just talking!’

  Dev pulled out a packet of cigarettes and shoved them over towards his cousin. ‘So have you heard anything about Milo? Come on, Niko, you hear everything that goes on, and I know you’ve been pulling in the old crowd, trying to get the business going again …’

  ‘Yeah, and Gareth is dead set on you and me coming back, but I need to bring some cash. I need that money Jayden owes me or I gotta do my own thing. I heard you saw him earlier in the week.’ His glance flashed sideways at Holly.

  ‘Whatever. Are you still trying to decide between Hughes and Nicholls?’