by Susan Lewis
Putting aside thoughts of her own parents, Andee said, ‘Does Jonathan know how you came to be his father?’
‘He does now.’
Since there was no more to be gained from exploring that, Andee said, ‘Going back to John Victor. Do you know what happened to him? I mean how he died?’
From the way Sven looked at her she could tell that he did.
‘Were you the man the neighbour saw getting into a car with him, just before he disappeared?’ she asked.
‘Yes, that was me.’
‘Was Kate involved?’
Once again he simply looked at her. It was answer enough.
Andee turned to Selma, but Selma was looking at no one.
‘Jonathan,’ Sven stated, bringing them back to the reason they were there, ‘is protecting one of the girls from his mother. The girl, Juliette, is pregnant, and the baby has already been signed away to a couple from Texas. The trouble is, she has decided she wants to keep it and Jonathan is trying to help her to do this. I am not sure when the birth is due to happen …’
‘In two weeks,’ Selma put in quietly.
Sven nodded. ‘She should already be in the States, at one of the clinics, but as far as I am aware she is still in England, or perhaps Jonathan has taken her somewhere else by now for her protection. I think not, or he would be more likely to face his mother, or to approach you himself. The fact that he won’t means the girl must still be with him.’
Andee could hardly begin to work out the implications of it all, legal, moral or emotional.
Sven waved a hand towards Selma, her cue apparently to continue.
‘If the girl goes into labour,’ Selma said, ‘which of course she will at any time now, Jonathan will have to get her to a doctor or a hospital, which will make it easier for Kate to find them.’
‘But what can she do?’ Andee protested.
‘She will take the baby.’
‘She can’t just walk out of a hospital with a baby that isn’t hers.’
Selma didn’t argue, nor did Sven, who was looking at her again. The answer was clear in their eyes: Kate would find a way to do it because Kate was Kate.
‘You have to help him,’ Sven said. ‘You see, the baby is also his.’
Andee’s eyes closed in shocked dismay. How much worse could this get? ‘What do you want me to do?’ she asked.
‘That will be for you to decide after you’ve spoken to him. I imagine he is hoping your law enforcement connections will be helpful.’
‘And how do you propose I do that when he won’t come near me?’
‘We’ll make it happen,’ Sven assured her. ‘We just have to know for certain that you’re on his side.’
Chapter Fifteen
‘How do you know you can trust this Sven?’ Maureen asked after Andee had finished telling her about one of the most gruelling hours she’d experienced in a very long time.
‘I don’t, I suppose,’ Andee replied, gazing at the fountain in front of her where the water was gushing and loud, but seemed oddly far away. She was sitting on a bench in the Karlaplan, an impressive and picturesque setting for yet more luxury apartment blocks that overlooked a circle of soaring oaks and this giant water feature, and where a market, or art exhibition, was currently being set up on the boundary. On leaving Sven’s home she’d insisted on walking back to her hotel, needing the time to clear her head, to assimilate what she’d been told and what she needed to do next.
‘Do you feel inclined to trust him?’ her mother prompted.
Maureen seemed to be dealing with this much better than Andee was; however, Andee had been careful not to mention John Victor, or the unthinkable suspicion that Penny might have been in some way involved in the death of Ana Sylvander.
Kate Trask had used poison on Faye.
How had Ana died?
‘Are you still there?’ Maureen asked.
‘Yes, I’m here, and yes I feel inclined to trust him,’ Andee told her. ‘Most of what he said makes sense, even if it wasn’t the entire picture. I don’t think he lied as much as omitted things.’
‘If the baby is Jonathan’s,’ Maureen said, ‘that makes it my great-grandchild, and your great-nephew, so we have to do something.’
Almost smiling at her mother’s ready loyalty, Andee said, ‘We’ll talk about it some more when I’m back. For now, if you see him again, tell him …’
What should she tell him?
The question went from her mind as a message arrived and she saw it was from Penny. ‘I’ll call you back,’ she said to her mother, and going through to the text she turned cold to her core as she saw what it was.
Pretty girl.
The picture was of Alayna’s beautiful, smiling young face gazing cheekily, provocatively into the lens.
Starting to shake, Andee texted back, What the hell are you playing at?
Who’s playing? Enjoy Stockholm, but try not to believe everything Sven tells you.
By the time Andee returned to her hotel she’d already been in touch with Alayna.
‘In a casting,’ Alayna had whispered down the line. ‘Up next. Will call later.’
So it seemed her daughter was where she was supposed to be, and now that Andee was calmer she realised that the photograph Penny had sent was from Alayna’s Facebook profile. So it was quite probable that she hadn’t actually been near Alayna. Nevertheless, there was a warning in the text that Andee knew she’d be a fool to ignore. Penny would know by now, if she hadn’t before, that Alayna was at Bristol Uni, and there was no telling what she might do with that information.
Determined to stop spooking herself, she went downstairs to the bar and ordered a beer. Not her usual drink of choice, but since it was in keeping with where she was she decided to give it a go.
A few minutes later, to her immense relief, as her tension was mounting again, Graeme rang.
‘Do you have time to talk?’ she asked as soon as she answered. ‘I mean a lot of time?’
‘If you need it,’ he replied. ‘What’s up?’
Taking the phone and her drink out to the pretty courtyard, she chose a discreet table beneath a cherry tree, and spent the next half an hour bringing him up to speed with everything that was happening.
‘Wow,’ he murmured when she’d finished. ‘I’ve sure been out of the loop.’
‘But you’re in it now and I desperately need to know what to do.’
‘Well, as I see it, I’m not sure you can do anything until they put you in touch with your nephew. Any thoughts on when that might be?’
‘No, but given the imminent birth it’ll presumably be soon.’
‘And you’re still in Stockholm? Do you know where he is?’
‘Probably England somewhere. I’m flying back tomorrow …’
‘Oh hell, I don’t believe this,’ Graeme groaned angrily. ‘Nadia’s just turned up.’
‘And you can’t make a phone call when she’s around?’ Andee snapped.
‘Please. This is difficult enough …’
‘Forget it,’ Andee cut in, and before he could say any more she rang off.
Minutes later she was regretting the overreaction, so after texting an apology, she decided to check her emails.
Finding one from Alayna that had apparently arrived while she was with Sven she immediately clicked on.
Boys
Interesting, but weird. The ones I checked out are mainly living in London or Paris, but they seem to travel quite a bit, and there’s a kind of competition going on between some of them. They post things like: Bingo! Got it in one! Beat that. Or, Second attempt, wish me luck. Never needed more, unlike some. I’ve included a screen shot of some posts about ‘Harry’ who they seem worried about.
I’m going to say that at least half of them are gay judging by the photographs on their pages, but I don’t know that for certain. No one seems to be ‘in a relationship’.
How are things in Stockholm?
Love you Axxx
Andee wa
s about to send a reply when her phone rang. ‘Selma,’ she said as she answered.
‘Andee. I hope you are OK. I think this morning was probably quite difficult for you.’
‘I’m surviving,’ Andee assured her. ‘How’s Sven?’
‘Sleeping. He was very tired by the time you left. I think it was too much for him, but as you saw, he can be very determined. Have you received details for your flight back tomorrow?’
‘Yes, they’ve come through, thank you.’
‘The driver will pick you up at eight. At the same time he will give you a mobile telephone with a number to call. I realise this must seem a little espionage-like, but Jonathan is insisting we do it this way. He wants you to call him, but he has it fixed in his head that his mother is able to monitor your calls.’
‘Does this mean you’ve spoken to him?’
‘A few minutes ago. He tells me Juliette is with him, but he won’t give me an address. Hopefully he will give it to you when you call him, or at least arrange to meet you. Please tell me you are still willing to help?’
‘If I can, I will,’ Andee promised, ‘but it’s hard to know what I can do.’
‘I am sure he has something worked out. He is a very smart, but impulsive young man, who is often too kind and too romantic for his own good.’ She added gently, ‘He means a great deal to Sven; to all of us.’
Remembering the child’s drawing on the door to the den, and feeling for the boy – after all, he was her nephew – Andee said, ‘Would you like me to be in touch once I’ve spoken to him?’
‘We would appreciate that very much, thank you. And please let us know if there is anything we can do. Sven wants me to tell you that we are at your disposal in any way we can be.’
After ringing off Andee sat thinking about the call for a long time. She couldn’t say why she was having so many trust issues, especially when helping the boy seemed to have no downside – or none that she could figure. Maybe it was Sven’s description of Penny’s career, his attempt to make it seem like some kind of charity … For sure, helping childless couples to achieve their dreams was a good thing, provided it was happening legally, which according to him it was. However, the fact that Penny was dealing with some of the most corrupt and dangerous individuals on God’s earth in order to groom and exploit vulnerable young people wasn’t sitting well with Andee at all.
‘But if the girls are willing,’ Graeme pointed out when they spoke again later, ‘then it can’t, as you seem to think, be forced prostitution. And if we’re going to believe what Sven told you, then she’s actually saving these kids from a far worse fate.’
‘I realise that,’ Andee replied, putting down her fork and knowing she’d never try smoked herring again in her life, ‘but it doesn’t stop there. What I want to know is what happens to these girls – and boys – after they’ve served their purpose?’
‘I’m guessing your nephew can answer that.’
Certain he could, Andee said, ‘This must have happened before, a girl not wanting to give up the baby. What I’m asking myself is how does Penny deal with it? And is it the reason her son won’t go near her? He must know better than most the kind of lengths she’ll go to to make sure things happen her way.’ She was thinking about little Michelle Cross, John Victor, Ana Sylvander …
Graeme said, ‘You know what’s bothering me quite a lot? It’s that the deeper into this you go, the more she’s going to view you as a threat, and that’s not feeling good. In fact, it’s feeling a very long way from good.’
As arranged a chauffeur came to collect Andee the following morning to take her to Arlanda airport. Although she hadn’t slept well she was feeling more apprehensive than tired, not sure what to expect when she returned to England, nor satisfied that she had completed her business in Stockholm. There was so much more she’d like to ask Sven, or Selma, but neither of them had been in touch since Selma had called to tell her about the chauffeur and mobile phone. As promised, when she’d got into the car she’d been given a small package which contained a phone with pre-paid credit and a folded sheet of paper with a number that was definitely British.
‘Yes, I rang it about half an hour ago,’ Selma had told her, ‘but there was no reply. My belief is that he will only answer when he feels sure that it is you at the end of the line. I have texted him details of the pre-paid phone which he asked me to do.’
Though that sounded reasonable, it wasn’t quite enough. ‘I don’t understand why he’d trust you to get a pre-paid phone for him, and yet he won’t speak to you.’
‘He is just being extra cautious. Are you having second thoughts about helping him?’
‘No, but that could change once I’ve met him.’
She’d needed to say that, even though she wasn’t sure she meant it. She simply didn’t want Sven or Selma to think she was some sort of pawn they could use in a game she hadn’t yet fathomed.
Thanks to the change in the hour it was still late morning by the time Andee boarded a train for Kesterly – and she wasn’t far into the journey when the pre-paid mobile rang.
Digging it out of her bag she saw the caller’s number was blocked, but clicked on anyway.
‘Hello?’ the voice at the other end said hesitantly. ‘Is that Andee Lawrence?’
‘Yes. Who’s this?’
‘It’s Jonathan Sylvander. I’ve been waiting for you to call.’ Before she could respond, he said, ‘I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have spoken to you like that. I’m just very eager to see you.’
‘Where are you?’
‘You spoke to Sven.’
‘Yes.’
‘So will you help us? Me and Juliette?’
‘In so far as I can, but I’m not sure what you want me to do.’
‘Juliette needs to give birth safely. Please can you help us to arrange that?’
‘She has to go to a hospital …’
‘Yes, but …’ His voice dropped out as they went through a tunnel. ‘… is having you followed,’ he was saying as the line came back again.
‘I lost you for a moment,’ she told him.
‘Do you know if my mother is having you followed?’ he asked. ‘I’m sure that she is, because she is hoping you will lead her to Juliette so she can take the baby. Or to me in the hope of finding Juliette. Is someone following you now?’
Andee glanced around the carriage. ‘It’s hard to say,’ she replied. ‘I haven’t been looking out for anyone.’ Until now she hadn’t felt concerned about anyone knowing where she was; if anything, she was happy to make herself an easy target.
‘Do you think you can meet me without her spies knowing where you are?’ he asked.
‘Probably. When and where are you suggesting?’
‘Is today too soon? I can text you our address.’
‘I’m on a train still two hours from Kesterly. Where exactly are you?’
‘About an hour south of Kesterly, by car. I’m not sure how you get here by rail.’
‘Send me the address and I’ll try to be there sometime late this afternoon.’
Since her car was in the driveway at Bourne Hollow, Andee took a taxi from the station and stayed at home long enough to unpack her bag and make a few discreet viewings of the green outside to see if there was anyone trying not to be noticed. There didn’t appear to be, but maybe this one was smarter than the rest. It didn’t matter, she had nothing to hide, and after leaving a note for her mother, who was at the library, she drove to Kesterly police station.
‘Let me get this straight,’ Gould said after she’d explained why she was there. ‘You want to leave your car on the Quadrant outside and take mine to wherever you’re going? And I would agree to this because?’
‘Because you want to help me be sure I’m not followed.’
‘Am I allowed to ask where you’re going, and when I might get it back?’
‘I’m going to meet my nephew and I’m hoping to be back before eight.’
‘This evening, or tomorrow morning?’
‘This evening.’
‘And if I need my car before that?’
‘You are welcome to use mine.’
He didn’t look impressed. ‘OK. So where is your nephew? What happened in Stockholm? And do we need to start making this official?’
‘Please, bear with me for the rest of today at least,’ Andee urged, holding up the mobile so he could see the address of where she was going. ‘As soon as I’ve seen my nephew I’ll come straight back here with your car and tell you everything I know.’
Sighing, he reached into his drawer and pulled out the car keys. ‘It’s in the DCI’s space,’ he told her.
She blinked.
‘I won it for a week at poker,’ he admitted.
‘You boys and the things you get up to,’ she chided, handing him her own keys.
Minutes later she was driving his BMW out of the underground car park, exiting at the back of the station into a one-way street, and after taking a zigzag route through to the main road she headed for the moor, certain no one was following her.
It was close to three thirty by the time Andee drove into the caravan park the satnav had brought her to. It was garishly resplendent in its colourful spread across its few acres of the West Devon coast, and seemed to have everything a holidaymaker could want, from fish and chip shops, to Costcutter supermarkets, to a heated indoor swimming pool, to a choice of bingo halls and a loudly musical amusement arcade. There was probably much more to entertain the tourists who were swarming about all over the place, but her focus was on searching out number 68 Seaview Way.
It turned out to be one of half a dozen or so rather smart log cabins – chalets she guessed they were called – at the far end of the park, with a small wooded area separating them from a sandy beach and the sea.
As she pulled up outside a face appeared briefly at a window, and a moment later a tall, muscular young man with dark blond hair came out on to the veranda to greet her. He reminded her of Luke, not in appearance for her son was much darker, but his demeanour, his age and slight awkwardness were similar. Could that be why she felt instinctively that she cared about this person she didn’t actually know?
