A Twist of Fate

by Joanna Rees

  ‘I felt it,’ Romy gasped. And – there – she felt it again: the tiny jab of Thea and Michael’s baby.

  ‘It never does that for Michael, although he puts his hand on it for hours,’ Thea said, smiling gently as she stroked her bump. ‘It must like its Aunty Romy already.’

  ‘You promised Michael you’d call,’ Romy reminded her.

  ‘I know. And I will, when it’s a more sociable hour for him over there. Anyway I still feel too shell-shocked after today, don’t you?’

  Romy nodded. ‘Come on,’ she said, forcing a brave smile. She’d escaped the past once. She would not let it drag her down again. ‘Shall we look at the photos again? Let’s focus on the good and not the bad.’

  Thea nodded, pulling the album towards them. They sat up on the bed, side by side against the headboard, turning over the crinkled pages.

  In all the press furore that had surrounded the high-profile arrests of Brett Maddox and Heinz-Gerd Solya, even more people had come forward, on both sides of the Atlantic, to accuse the two men of other criminal actions.

  A total of three American women so far had accused Brett Maddox of rape and sexual assault, amongst them a Senate researcher named Ally Monroe, the daughter of the woman Thea had once let into the party in Maddox Tower. Bethany had made a fortune from a book auction to sell the salacious inside story of her abusive marriage to Brett. Thea had heard she’d even sold the film rights.

  In Europe, more and more people had come forward in connection with Solya and his past crimes, but the one that stood out was Petra Bletford from England, who had claimed to be the girls’ aunt.

  After a blood test had confirmed this to be true, Thea had met Romy here in London this morning and earlier they’d visited Petra in her home in Kingston-upon-Thames. They’d sat in her large conservatory, overlooking a well-kept garden, as Petra had told them the story they’d both been longing to hear.

  Petra herself had come over to England when the Berlin Wall had fallen and had married an Englishman, Geoffrey, with whom she’d had two sons – now grown-up. Her children’s photographs were on the wall. She had been a teacher for most of her working life and she didn’t sound German at all, but as she started speaking, Thea got the impression that memories were flooding back.

  ‘This was your mother,’ Petra had said, opening the pages of an old photo album, the yellowing tissue paper crackling.

  Thea leant in close to Romy, who had the album on her lap, looking at the black-and-white image of the woman. She was wearing a headband in her long hair, which swished out as she danced and laughed in the sunshine. That was their mother? That pretty woman with blonde hair, just like hers, but a smile just like Romy’s?

  ‘Ana was always the one taking photos. It’s rare to have one of her,’ Petra said.

  ‘She was pretty,’ Romy said, sadly.

  ‘Yes, a real beauty.’ Petra turned to Romy and Thea. She put her hand on her chest. ‘If only she could have seen this day. If only she could have seen you two. I can hardly believe it myself.’

  Romy smiled softly at Thea and put down the photo album on the table. ‘Can you tell us, now we’re here, what happened? I know from your emails that it’s hard . . . that you wanted to tell us in person what happened . . . ’

  Petra sighed, clearly having prepared herself for this conversation. She sat, her hands crossed in her lap, as she told Romy and Thea about her childhood in East Germany and her little sister, Anaka.

  Thea listened, feeling ashamed. She’d had so much, when her real mother had had so little.

  ‘What was she like?’ Romy asked.

  ‘Romantic. Headstrong,’ Petra said. ‘It was no surprise when she fell for Niklas. He worked at the factory and was young and handsome. When she saw something she wanted, she went after it and didn’t stop. And she was determined to marry him, right from the start.’

  Thea glanced at Romy. From what she’d learnt already of her sister, it sounded as if she took after their mother. But Romy had already turned to stare at her, and Thea knew she’d just thought the same thing.

  ‘So what happened to Niklas?’ Thea asked. ‘Was he our father?’

  Petra shook her head. ‘Niklas worked at the steel factory, but one day he didn’t come home. Ana was frantic. She went to the factory and confronted the guy Niklas had worked for – Hans Volkmar.’

  Volkmar. The man who’d taken the babies to the wood. Thea would never forget his name.

  ‘He laughed at her, but she was determined not to give up. She started making a fuss to the boss, which is when Volkmar and another man – a scarier man – visited her at home. Our home.’

  ‘A scarier man?’ Romy asked.

  ‘Solya,’ Petra said.

  Romy stared wide-eyed at Thea, who gripped her hand, horrified that this monster she’d heard so much about had touched their mother’s life.

  ‘Solya took one look at Ana and wanted her for himself. He told her that Niklas was dead. When she fought him, he . . . well, he hit back. And . . .’

  Petra looked away from them then. She pulled out a handkerchief from the sleeve of her blue cardigan and wiped the corner of her eye. She took a breath to steady herself.

  ‘A month later Ana discovered she was pregnant. With you.’ Petra’s eyes locked with Romy’s.

  ‘You can’t mean . . .’ Thea gasped.

  ‘That Solya’s my father?’ Romy said.

  Thea felt her heart hammering. She could see the shock on Romy’s face. But Petra didn’t stop talking. There was clearly more to come.

  ‘Even so, she loved you when you were born,’ she told Romy, staring unwaveringly into her eyes. ‘God, she loved you. But word got out that she’d had a baby, and Solya came to see her.’ Petra took a deep breath. ‘This time he was calm. He offered Ana money, and then new furniture arrived and clothes for you. He said he’d look after her. He told her she was the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen. But she told him that her heart would always be Niklas’s and that she wanted nothing from him. He was furious. Then, the same thing – he raped her again . . . And he kept coming back, and she would try to fight it off, but always it ended the same . . .’

  Romy’s hand was over her mouth, her eyes bulging with tears. Thea clasped her other hand tightly.

  Petra looked over at Thea sadly now. ‘And then eight months later you were born.’

  Thea felt bile rising in her throat. That animal – that monster – he’d done the same thing to their mother that Brett had done to her.

  ‘When she had you,’ Petra continued, ‘so soon after her first baby, she was ill. I thought we’d lose her, she was so weak. She wouldn’t let you out of her arms, though – either of you. And for a while we thought it was all over.’

  ‘But what about Solya?’ Romy asked.

  ‘Ana planned to run away from him, when she was strong enough. But then he came back. He gave Ana one last chance. To submit to him, to love him properly. He told her that he would forgive her and they could start all over again together.’

  ‘But she said no?’ Thea guessed.

  Petra nodded. ‘Of course she did. She could never have submitted to that monster.’

  ‘What happened?’ Thea asked, her voice catching.

  ‘He did not ask her again. He beat her worse than he’d ever done before. He washed his hands of her and then he took his revenge.’ Petra blanched. ‘I will never forget the sound she made when Volkmar took you both from her. I tried to fight him. Our father did too. But Volkmar was too strong. He said he would kill us if we went to the police.’ Petra shook her head, wiping tears from her eyes. ‘Our neighbour had a gun, which he kept in his woodshed. That’s where we found Ana the next morning. She’d shot herself in the head.’

  Now, sitting here next to Romy on the hotel bed, Thea put her finger on the picture of their mother and her bright, lovely smile.

  ‘I’m so glad we were together today. I don’t think I’d have been able to cope if I’d been on my own,’ Romy said.


  ‘I can’t imagine how it must have been for her,’ Thea said. ‘Even living through everything Brett did – I can’t imagine being that scared.’

  The thought of having her baby taken away from her terrified Thea, and her baby hadn’t even been born yet. The thought of her mother loving Niklas, and then losing him – Thea couldn’t bear that, either. Because she couldn’t imagine losing Michael, and what that might do to her.

  Now, once again, Thea imagined Solya in the woods forty years ago, playing God with two precious babies, the whole image so much viler now that Thea knew he’d known all along that they were his own children. She thought of him deciding which one to give to Walchez, and the twist of fate that had sent Thea to America.

  Thea couldn’t begin to imagine what it would be like to confront Solya. Their father was in jail now, awaiting trial in Berlin. Romy and Thea would have to go there to face him eventually. But that was something to worry about another day.

  The most important thing was that she and Romy were together. And that, more than everything else, made Thea feel that evil had not triumphed. Not Solya. Not Brett.

  The way things were shaping up – even though Storm was using every last cent of her wealth, in an attempt to clear Brett’s name – Brett would be spending a long time in prison. Behind bars, physically and mentally. Michael had told Thea what they did to rapists and child molesters in jail. As far as Thea was concerned, Brett deserved everything that was coming his way.

  Which meant that Maddox Inc. was now truly hers – with the board firmly behind her, and Brett’s previous supporters already gone. Somehow though, with Brett gone, her own commitment to running the company had waned. As a result she’d dramatically cut back her hours and had learnt to delegate far more. And when the baby was born, she meant what she’d told Romy: she was going to take at least nine months, maybe even a year, off. She wasn’t going to miss a second of it. Romy had convinced her of that already.

  Thea stretched and got off the bed, pressing her hand to the small of her back for support, as she padded over to her suitcase on the rack in the hall. She delved inside it, remembering the present she’d brought. She picked out the wrapped package and dusted it off.

  And as she did, she thought of Jenny in Australia and her visit out there. They’d been in touch last year, and Thea had asked the company lawyers to see if they could find a settlement that would allow Jenny compensation for the inheritance she’d never received from her mother. It seemed only fair, since it had been Alyssa McAdams’s fortunes that had founded Maddox Inc.

  But Jenny had astonished Thea by refusing the money. She hadn’t wanted to become a part of the Maddox empire. She hadn’t wanted her life to change. What was much more important to Jenny than any money Thea could give her, she’d told her, was what she’d already given her. She’d found her father, Johnny Faraday. And Johnny couldn’t have been more delighted that he had two strapping grandsons, when Thea and Michael had seen him on their honeymoon last summer.

  ‘Here,’ Thea said, coming back to where Romy was carefully putting the album away. ‘I’ve got a present for you. I’ve been meaning to give it to you, but now feels like the right time.’

  ‘What’s this?’ Romy asked. She took it and opened the bow, then pulled out the cushion embroidered with the words ‘Sisters make the best of friends’. Thea felt a rush of emotion as Romy held it tight against her chest. And as Romy opened her arms to embrace her, Thea knew that everything she’d once dreamt a sister might be had come true.

  The next morning Romy woke up in the bed next to Thea. As she opened her eyes and looked at Thea’s sleeping face, Romy realized she hadn’t dreamt. Of anything. Of being chased. Of Lemcke. Of losing Alfonso. In fact, she thought, as she stretched, it had probably been the best night’s sleep of her life.

  She got up and washed her face and looked at herself in the bathroom mirror.

  She’d talked late into the night with Thea, as the idea for the Anaka Foundation had taken shape. And now, in the cold light of day, Romy felt more certain than ever that it was the right thing to do.

  Thea would help Romy finance it, but together they were going to find a way to help all those girls Solya had abused. Even ones like Claudia. It was a huge idea, but a challenge that Romy was already relishing – how she’d track them all down, and how she’d help other girls too, girls who were out there right now, lost and alone. Romy knew in her heart it was what she had to do. What she’d always known she must do.

  She wondered what Lars would say when she told him. Now it was Thea’s words she remembered – the last thing she’d said before they’d fallen asleep just before dawn, ‘Go for it with Lars. You have nothing to be afraid of.’

  Romy smiled at herself in the mirror, feeling butterflies in her stomach. She couldn’t wait to see Lars and Alfie and Gretchen walk off that train. They were going to see the sights in London, and then take the camper van on a long holiday through Europe. Romy only wished Thea could come too. But she needed to get back to America and Michael. Still, they’d be together again soon. Of that Romy had no doubt.

  Romy and Thea had breakfast together, laughing at the small quirks they delighted in noticing about each other – how they were both left-handed, how they both took their coffee black with half a teaspoon of sugar. Romy couldn’t get enough of her sister and her stories. She wanted to know everything. They were still talking as they both took a black cab to Waterloo Station.

  ‘How are we doing for time?’ Thea asked, as she paid the cab driver.

  Romy looked at her watch. ‘Any minute now.’

  Thea smiled. ‘You’re excited, aren’t you? I am too. I spoke to Michael earlier. He sends his love. He says he wishes he was here.’

  They walked together into the cavernous arrivals hall.

  ‘Wow. I haven’t been here for years,’ Thea said. ‘It’s certainly changed.’

  Romy stared up at the high glass ceiling. ‘I came here once. One night.’ One of the worst of my life, Romy now remembered. ‘I’d just arrived in London, and I was so desperate. I had nothing and I was completely alone.’

  ‘The last time I came,’ Thea said with a rueful smile, ‘I was going on a school trip to the theatre. I was fat and lonely, and had had my head screwed up by Brett. I remember coming out of the Tube and giving a girl some money, and that’s how I got talking to Bridget Lawson. You remember I told you about Bridget, Tom’s sister? And Shelley, their mom?’

  Romy stared at Thea as she continued talking, remembering how the girl in the red coat had appeared like an angel. And as the sun shone down today through the terminal roof, catching Thea’s blonde hair, Romy experienced a sudden moment of perfect stillness. As if life had been paused, suspended – and all the commuters, all the travellers and the coffee-vendors, had become freeze-framed.

  And she knew in that moment, with absolute certainty, that the girl in the red coat had been Thea. That their sacred, golden thread of sisterhood had connected them across the years – their fates bound together, unbroken by continents and time.

  ‘Here they come,’ Thea said, pointing to the arrivals board. She smiled at Romy. ‘What?’ she asked, noticing her strange expression.

  ‘Nothing . . . just . . . thank you,’ Romy said. Then, linking arms together, they walked into the crowd.

  Joanna Rees grew up in Essex before getting an English and Drama degree at Goldsmiths’ College. After several bizarre jobs, including running her own sandwich-delivery business and writing promotions for the back of Sugar Puffs boxes, It Could Be You was published in 1997 under her maiden name, Josie Lloyd, and enabled her to meet fellow novelist, Emlyn Rees. Together they wrote Come Together, a twenty-something romcom, which became a number one Sunday Times bestseller and was translated into twenty-six languages. They went on to co-write six more successful novels, and along the way got married and had three kids. In 2007 Jo went solo and wrote Platinum, followed by Forbidden Pleasures in 2010. Jo also writes a light-hearted blog a
bout her life as a novelist and mother in Brighton called mumwritesbooks.com, which was in the top ten Times mummy blogs. You can join her on twitter @joannareesbooks. A Twist of Fate is her eleventh novel.

  ALSO BY JOANNA REES

  AS JOSIE LLOYD

  It Could Be You

  AS JOSIE LLOYD, WITH EMLYN REES

  Come Together

  Come Again

  The Boy Next Door

  Love Lives

  We Are Family

  The Three Day Rule

  The Seven Year Itch

  AS JO REES

  Platinum

  Forbidden Pleasures

  Acknowledgements

  This has been such a fun project to work on from the very start. Many thanks go to the team at Macmillan, but most especially to my brilliant publisher, Wayne Brookes, whose faith in me made this book happen. Thanks also to my wonderful agents at Curtis Brown, Vivienne Schuster, Felicity Blunt and Katie McGowan. Also, my thanks to Katy Whelan for all her help, and to Toni Savage and Sara Sims. A huge thank you to my three amazing girls and my ever-supportive husband, Emlyn Rees – I couldn’t have finished without you. And lastly, my heartfelt thanks go to you, my readers.

  First published 2012 by Pan Books

  This electronic edition published 2012 by Pan Books

  an imprint of Pan Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited

  Pan Macmillan, 20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR

  Basingstoke and Oxford

  Associated companies throughout the world

  www.panmacmillan.com

  ISBN 978-0-230-76603-7 EPUB

  Copyright © Joanna Rees 2012

  The right of Joanna Rees to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.