Lipstick and Lies

by Viggiano, Debbie

  ‘Yes,’ Charlotte gulped.

  ‘Good.’ PC Smith stood up. ‘We will be in touch.’

  Charlotte and I also stood up. I couldn’t believe we were being dismissed. For a moment I’d half expected Humpty and Olive to slap handcuffs on us and put us in a holding room on suspicion of kidnap. Or murder. Or whatever else had been flitting through their brains. But of one thing I was fairly sure. Either Victor hadn’t yet seen Selina to pass on the details about Morag and me visiting, or else Selina had chosen not to pursue the matter.

  In which case, why?

  Chapter Twenty Six

  I arrived home cold and hungry. I also felt worn out. My mood was swinging between irritation and immense worry. Humpty and Olive had exasperated me beyond belief. I also realised that keeping secrets from the twins and trying to remain cheerful would be testing. My worry for Stevie’s safety and whereabouts was nothing, you understand, to do with old feelings or regrets. Absolutely not. But it was everything to do with wanting my kids to grow up with their biological father on the scene, alive and kicking.

  Jamie greeted me as I came in through the front door. He took my hand, led me into the study and shut the door.

  ‘Mum’s brought me up to date Cassie.’ Jamie put his arms around my shoulders and drew me close. I snuggled into his chest. It felt warm. Solid. Utterly dependable. ‘I’ve been on the phone and spoken to my old Super. Harry. He’s already been in touch with the local nick and is pushing things along. Before the night is out, some of the boys will have paid a visit to Stevie’s house. Charlotte is probably liaising with them right now about access. And all hospitals are being checked. Just in case any lone, white, middle-aged male has been admitted – concussed or unconscious. Finally, Stevie’s bank details are being tracked. Any transactions and the location will instantly show up. They’ll find him. And soon.’

  I nodded. ‘I just don’t understand how he could simply disappear.’

  ‘I’m sure all will be revealed very shortly.’

  ‘I’d better go and bath Eddie.’ I went to pull away, but Jamie caught hold of me.

  ‘Mum’s doing it as we speak. You go and have some dinner. We’ve kept something hot in the oven for you. And I agree that we don’t say anything to Livvy and Toby for now. No need to worry them eh?’

  ‘Definitely not.’

  ‘Want me to keep you company while you eat?’

  ‘Yes please.’

  We walked into the kitchen and I flopped down at the table. The smell of shepherd’s pie made my stomach growl with hunger. I was also aware of another part of my stomach contracting in revulsion. Oh no. The earlier nausea seemed to be making an unwelcome return. Perhaps I was coming down with something? Jamie set a steaming plate before me.

  ‘Dinner is served Madame. Glass of wine?’

  ‘Why not,’ I smiled. Perhaps a drop of alcohol would quieten the queasiness. I forked up some mince. ‘How was work today?’

  ‘Busy. I gather you spoke to Selina earlier. You know Ethan and me are required at the bank this Saturday for a few hours.’

  ‘Selina did mention it, yes.’

  ‘I’m sorry work has been getting in the way of things so much lately Cassie. But the good news is the contract is almost complete, and James Powell has generated some fantastic contacts for us. Business is booming!’

  ‘Which surely means we’ll see even less of you,’ I pointed out.

  ‘Not necessarily. We’ll be recruiting again very shortly. And between you and me, I think Selina will take a lesser role in due course. She’s not up to the pace.’ Jamie massaged his chin and looked thoughtful.

  ‘What do you mean?’ I picked up my glass and took a sip of wine.

  ‘She’s not herself. Very distracted. Snappy. I don’t think she can cope with pressure. When Ethan and I came out of the meeting with James Powell, Selina happened to have a neighbour from her old apartment ring her. From her reaction, you’d have thought there had been some sort of catastrophe.’

  My hand froze mid-air, wine glass suspended. ‘And had there been?’

  ‘No! The neighbour was just letting her know he’d signed a delivery on her behalf, and to look in on him at some point. But her concentration was shot to pieces for the rest of the afternoon. What’s the matter Cassie? Your expression is the mirror image of how Selina was looking.’

  ‘Nothing,’ I said quickly. I flung some more wine down my throat. ‘I’m just a bit, you know, distracted. About Stevie.’

  ‘Of course. Well with a bit of luck, by this time tomorrow Stevie will have been found, safe and sound. And the twins will be none the wiser. Then we can get on with having a nice weekend. Are you looking forward to the ball darling?’

  ‘I wanted to talk to you about that.’ I swallowed some mashed potato and put my fork down. It was too hot to eat properly. ‘You know, I’d rather not have Selina give me a lift. I have a better idea. What about I come into work with you on Saturday? Keep you company and,’ I shrugged, ‘you can show me what you do. It would be interesting.’

  ‘Hardly Cassie! You’d be bored to tears in five minutes.’

  I blew on my dinner in an attempt to cool it down. ‘No I wouldn’t. Please let me come in with you.’

  ‘And what about getting the kids to and from the stables? Not to mention seeing to Eddie? I know Mum has been here pretty much twenty-four seven, and she’ll be here Saturday night while we’re out, but I don’t think we can just presume she’ll step into the breach all the time. Not to cover you coming into work with me on a whim.’

  I took a deep breath. ‘Look Jamie. I’ll put it bluntly. I don’t want to travel with Selina.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Because,’ I shrugged.

  ‘Because what?’

  I tossed the last of my wine down my throat. The alcohol had emboldened me. Just spill the beans Cass and be damned. ‘Okay Jamie. I’m going to level with you.’

  My husband looked exasperated. ‘About what!’

  ‘I haven’t told the police this because I have no evidence. But I think there is a possibility that Selina knows where Stevie is.’

  Jamie stared at me. I could tell he was annoyed. He refrained from reminding me that I liked to blame Selina for everything. From tampering with my dinner, to spiking my drink, to being involved in the disappearance of my ex-husband. Instead he just sighed heavily in a here-we-go-again manner. ‘And you base this theory on what?’

  ‘Because I’ve seen her with Stevie. Twice now. Recently they were shopping together at Fairview. It was on the day she rang in sick from work. And I happen to know he was skiving too. He told his employers he had a bad back.’ Jamie regarded me silently. ‘I saw them quite by chance when I was shopping for my evening dress for the ball. They didn’t see me. The two of them hopped into her sports car and roared off together. I refrained from telling you because you were adamant she was loved up with Ethan, and wouldn’t mess him around. And I realised that if I told you, you might feel awkward with Ethan.’

  Jamie raked a hand through his hair. ‘Yes, yes possibly I would. But Cassie, even if Selina did have something going with Stevie, how does this tie in with him going missing?’

  ‘Because I don’t trust her!’ I cried.

  ‘Cassie, you are absolutely right.’ Hurrah! At last my husband believed me. ‘You are absolutely right there is no evidence to tie Selina in to Stevie’s disappearance. No listen,’ he put up a hand to stop me. ‘So Selina and Stevie did what thousands of Brits do every day. Skived off work to play hooky. And they did whatever they wanted to do together. And then Selina went home to Ethan. She’s back at work. And after work she’s been going home with Ethan. Therefore, at what point has she had an opportunity to magic Stevie into thin air? Apart from anything else, what the hell would be her motive?’

  ‘Because,’ I waved a hand around, ‘she’s jealous of me. And wants to upset my world in whatever way she can.’

  ‘Cassie,’ Jamie’s eyes bored into mine, ‘Let’s
examine your theory together. You’re saying Selina wants to impact upon you. Am I right?’ I nodded my head. ‘Okay. Now if your theory is correct, put yourself in Selina’s shoes for a moment. She wants to upset you. Rock your world off its axis.’ I nodded my head vigorously. ‘Now forgive me for pointing this out, but if Selina wanted to majorly upset you, wouldn’t it make more sense for her to arrange my disappearance instead of Stevie’s?’

  I stared at Jamie. He was right of course. My head knew he was right. But my heart also knew he was wrong. Oh so wrong. I held back telling him about tailing Selina to her apartment with Stevie. And kept quiet about later visiting the place with Morag. I had a feeling there was only so much I could tell Jamie without him majorly losing his rag with me.

  ‘Look,’ Jamie took one of my hands, ‘if it makes you feel any better, I’ll talk to Harry about it. I’ll leave your theories out of the equation though. But I’ll tell Harry it’s possible Selina was the last person to have seen Stevie. Harry can decide what line to take. Just remember Ethan has police connections too. How the heck would it look if Ethan discovered I’d been talking to our old Super about his fiancée being involved – even loosely – with the disappearance of your ex-husband? So this is absolutely between you and me. Okay?’

  ‘Of course. And thanks Jamie.’

  ‘In the meantime, we just carry on as normal.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘I mean you drive to Oxfordshire with Selina.’

  ‘But I don’t want–’

  ‘Enough Cassie.’ Jamie stood up. Clearly his patience had run out. ‘Finish your dinner. I’ll go and get Eddie off Mum.

  An hour later Eddie was in bed. I then spent a bit of time with the children. My impromptu visit to the police station was passed off as seeing Nell over a domestic emergency. Jonas and Toby were playing on the Wii. I joined in with their fun for a while, before popping in on the girls. I found them deep in conversation about the pros and cons of buying a Lady Gaga wig.

  ‘Whatever do you want a wig for?’ I asked.

  ‘Because,’ said Petra, ‘we can enjoy the benefits of being platinum blonde without wrecking our hair.’

  ‘I suppose,’ I nodded.

  ‘The downside is that a decent wig is expensive.’

  ‘But cheaper than umpteen visits to the hairdresser,’ Livvy pointed out. ‘Do you like the idea of wigs Mum?’

  ‘They’re not for me darling.’ No need to tell my daughter about a recent venture with brunette tresses. I wondered if Victor had picked the wigs up and shown them to Selina. And whether he’d regaled her with the tale of two unlikely visitors peering through her kitchen window. ‘That reminds me, I need to phone Morag about something.’

  I left them gossiping, retrieved my mobile phone and slipped along the landing to the master bedroom. Jamie was still downstairs watching television. I shut myself into the en-suite and started a bath running. Whilst waiting for the tub to fill, I rang Morag’s home number. I put the loo seat down and perched, waiting for the call to connect.

  ‘Hello?’ It was Joanie, Morag’s sweet step-daughter.

  ‘Hi Joanie. It’s Cass. Is your step-mama around?’

  I sensed Joanie smiling. ‘Hey Cass! No, sorry. Morag’s out with Dad. They’ve gone to check the horses. They usually take a while.’

  I bet. No doubt Morag was, at this very moment, cantering around the indoor riding school totally starkers.

  ‘When she’s back, please could you give her a message Joanie?’

  ‘Sure.’

  ‘Tell her,’ I chewed my lip, ‘that I will be over tomorrow morning after the school run. And that we need to discuss Dobbin’s diet.’

  Joanie laughed. ‘You know about him do you? He’s one fat pony! Keeps breaking into the feed room and stuffing all the oats. He was charging around the riding school last week completely off his head.’

  Dobbin clearly had much in common with Morag.

  We made some small talk before saying good-bye. I hung up and turned off the bath taps. There was a sick feeling in my stomach. It had nothing to do with the earlier nausea. More a sense of foreboding. And that things were coming to a head.

  Chapter Twenty Seven

  Friday morning dawned. When the alarm went off I’d been in the middle of a terrible dream. PCs Thomson and Smith had come a-knocking on the door with a warrant for my arrest.

  ‘But why?’ I’d quaked.

  ‘For the manslaughter,’ Humpty had announced, ‘of Victor Meldrew, the neighbour of Miss Selina Hadley.’

  ‘B-but,’ I’d stuttered, ‘h-he’s a fictitious character!’

  ‘That’s where you’re wrong Mrs Mackerel,’ Olive had interrupted. ‘And you are also under arrest for harassing Miss Hadley and for abducting your ex-husband, Mr Stephen Cherry.’ And then Humpty had stepped forward and snapped a pair of pink fluffy handcuffs on my wrists, the likes of which you might find in a sex shop.

  ‘I want a solicitor!’ I’d yelled at them. ‘I know my rights!’

  ‘Ah, but do you know your nursery rhymes?’ PC Thomson had sneered. ‘You can only have a solicitor if you sing Humpty Dumpty. Backwards,’ he’d added.

  ‘Cassie!’ Jamie nudged me with his ankle. ‘Turn the alarm off.’

  My hand shot out from under the duvet and groped for the switch on the clock radio. I groaned and turned over. And as I did so a feeling of nausea rushed into my throat. I couldn’t take much more of this anxiety. It was literally making me ill. I flung back the duvet and padded into the bathroom. Maybe I’d feel less queasy once I’d cleaned my teeth. I squeezed out some toothpaste and began brushing, staring at my reflection in the overhead mirror. A grey-skinned woman with frightened eyes and dishevelled hair stared back. I couldn’t wait to get the school run out the way and see Morag.

  An hour later, the Muck Truck came to a halt outside Matt and Morag’s house. I suppressed a dry heave and unstrapped my seat belt. Matt was coming down the pathway, en-route to the equestrian centre.

  ‘Good morning Cass,’ he trilled as I clambered out of the car. ‘Quick, give me a hug and a kiss now. Before I disappear down the yard and end up stinking like the dung heap!’ He grabbed me in a bear hug and planted a smacker on my cheek. I hugged Matt back. He was always such a cheerful soul. ‘What’s up?’ he asked. ‘You look a bit peaky.’

  ‘I’m feeling a bit peaky,’ I nodded. ‘But it’s nothing to worry about. And anyway, you’re a fine one to talk. You’re looking somewhat jaded yourself Mr Harding. What’s Morag been doing to you?’

  ‘Ah. You might well ask.’ Matt tapped the side of his nose. ‘But where my wife is concerned, sometimes there are secrets that cannot be shared.’ I understood entirely. God forbid if Jamie knew some of the secrets I was keeping. ‘Go in Cass. Morag’s expecting you. See you later!’ Matt turned, waving briefly to Eddie through the car window, and ambled off to the yard.

  I opened the car’s rear door and unstrapped my boy. Swinging him onto my hip, I leant back inside the car and grabbed the baby holdall before walking up the path to the front door. Matt had left it on the latch, so I pushed my way inside.

  ‘Yoo hoo!’ I called. Henry’s grizzles floated along the hallway. I followed the noise into the kitchen. My godson was in his playpen, clearly upset that his Mummy wasn’t giving him the attention he wanted. Morag was slumped at the kitchen table. She was surrounded by little packets which I initially mistook for toothbrushes. ‘What’s all this?’ I asked.

  ‘Hi Cass.’ She looked up. ‘They’re ovulation kits and pregnancy tests.’ She waved a hand at the paraphernalia. ‘I picked up a load in the chemist a little while ago. We are officially trying for another baby and my period is late. I was absolutely convinced I’d scored a bingo.’ She stood up and retrieved a stick from the rubbish bin. ‘However, according to this,’ she waggled the stick in front of my eyes, ‘there are no buns baking in my oven.’ She chucked the test kit back in the bin before washing her hands at the sink.

  ‘W
ell never mind,’ I soothed, jiggling Eddie on my hip. ‘It’s not the end of the world.’

  ‘You don’t understand Cass.’ Morag dried her hands on a tea towel. ‘I feel absolutely gutted. And now I have to wait another twenty-eight days before I find out if Henry is going to have a little brother or sister. That’s four weeks.’ She flopped back down at the table.

  I remembered how Morag had been when she was trying to conceive Henry. Words like obsessed and neurotic sprang to mind. Morag had spent months carting around a handbag stuffed with ovulations kits, pregnancy tests, charts and graphs, not to mention every kind of multi-vitamin under the sun. Wherever Morag went, so did the test kits. Seeing all the scattered packets gave me a feeling of déjà vu.

  I walked over to the playpen and popped Eddie inside. Henry immediately ceased grizzling and stretched out a little hand. My son squealed with delight and began blowing bubbles. I left the boys to it and pulled out a chair at the table. Now was a good time to tell Morag that plans for another baby might need to be suspended. Certainly for the foreseeable future.

  ‘I think,’ I cleared my throat nervously, ‘that a negative pregnancy test might be a blessing in disguise.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Morag straightened up.

  ‘There have been some developments since I last saw you.’

  ‘I only saw you yesterday. What developments?’

  ‘Police developments.’

  Morag blanched. ‘Is it to do with that ruddy pensioner I nearly knocked over?’

  ‘And some,’ I nodded.

  ‘You mean there’s more to tell?’ She stood up and went to the kettle. Picking it up, she moved over to the tap and blasted water inside.