Schoolgirl Missing

by Sue Fortin

  She took in an involuntarily sharp breath and had to do a double-take. If it wasn’t for the familiar mop of black curls, Neve couldn’t believe the person in front of her could be Jake.

  Both his eyes were swollen with deep dark bruising, the colours, ranging from purple and black through to yellow, spread across the bridge of his nose. His right cheek was grazed, his top lip split and his head was bandaged.

  ‘Beautiful, eh?’ mumbled Jake through his swollen lips.

  Neve startled. ‘Sorry, I thought you were asleep.’ She took a few steps closer to the bed, not sure of the reception she would receive. She felt unsure of herself. Maybe she shouldn’t have come here after all. ‘I can’t believe what’s happened,’ she said, now at the edge of the bed. ‘I suppose it’s a stupid question to ask how you are?’

  Jake gave a small grunt.

  ‘I’m so sorry,’ said Neve, she could feel the tears rising in her eyes.

  ‘What for?’ Jake managed to form a sentence, albeit only two words.

  Neve wrapped her fingers around his, while with her other hand she fumbled for a tissue in her coat pocket. ‘I shouldn’t have marched off,’ she sniffed. ‘If I had been with you …’

  ‘Don’t.’ Jake gave her hand a little tug. ‘Glad you weren’t.’ He paused while he coughed and then groaned at the pain.

  ‘Have you any idea what happened?’

  ‘No,’ said Jake, eventually.

  The door opening and a nurse poking her head around the corner brought a halt to the conversation. ‘I’m sorry but Mr Rees really needs his rest.’

  ‘I won’t be a moment,’ said Neve. She waited for the nurse to leave. ‘Is there anything I can get you? Anything I can do to help?’

  ‘Probably a bit late,’ said Jake. ‘My parents … travelling here with my brother today.’ It clearly pained him to even speak.

  ‘That’s good.’ Neve gave Jake a small smile. ‘Probably best if I don’t come again.’

  ‘Probably not,’ agreed Jake. His fingers found her hand again. ‘Will miss you.’

  She went to say she’d miss him too, but the words faded before they reached her lips. ‘Take care of yourself, Jake,’ she said instead. She gave his hand a squeeze, before leaving the room.

  Once in the car, Neve let her emotions run riot. Small sniffles at first, quickly followed by free-flowing tears. She wasn’t sure what she was crying for. Who she was crying for. The relief that Jake was going to be ok despite his awful assault? Or were the tears for the end of their friendship – sad tears or tears of relief? Or was it because she had made her peace with Jake? She wasn’t sure. Maybe it was all of those things. Whatever the reasons, she allowed herself the luxury of a self-indulgent release of emotion.

  Finally, she’d cried all the tears she had and with a clarity she realised she had a lot to thank Jake for. He had shown her kindness when she was in a dark place, lighting the path back to her heart. And ultimately, he had made her realise that her marriage was worth fighting for. She wasn’t sure if he’d feel the same sense of gratitude, she wasn’t sure what she’d given him, other than heartache, but he was a kind man and Neve was sure he’d find happiness with someone he deserved.

  Neve started her engine and drove out of the car park, briefly looking up towards the building.

  ‘Goodbye, dear-heart,’ she whispered. ‘Thank you.’

  As Neve was leaving the hospital, a text came through on her phone. It was Kit.

  Fancy a spot of lunch? Meet me at The Anchor in half an hour? Xx

  Neve smiled. The Anchor was a lovely old pub, situated on the edge of the harbour where her and Kit had stopped for a drink after viewing their home for the first time. It was from there Kit had phoned the estate agent and put an offer in on the house. An offer which was accepted half an hour later and Neve and Kit had celebrated with a glass of champagne, toasting their future together in Ambleton.

  Neve was touched by Kit’s gesture. He knew she’d remember the significance of the meeting place, one where they had looked forward to the future together, and one where they would do so again.

  She texted back a reply saying she’d love to before setting off, not worrying that she’d be early as there was no point going all the way home now.

  ‘Hey, you beat me,’ said Kit, as he walked over to the table in the corner of the pub. He dipped his head and kissed Neve. ‘And you got the drinks in already.’

  ‘Never let it be said I don’t believe in equality,’ said Neve, shuffling up on the bench so Kit could sit beside her. ‘How did the shopping trip go?’

  ‘It was a success, although my wallet is a bit jaded.’

  ‘Your mum and Poppy OK?’

  ‘Fine, they’re baking cakes. I think Poppy wanted to surprise you.’

  ‘That’s sweet. As long as your mum doesn’t put arsenic in my slice.’

  Kit gave a small laugh. ‘Give her time, she’ll be back on form soon. All this has knocked her for six. She does think a lot of you.’

  ‘Just not very good at showing it.’

  ‘Let’s not worry about Mum. If it helps, I’ll be your professional food taster,’ said Kit, he gave Neve a small nudge with his shoulder and then his face took on a more serious expression. ‘There’s far more important things to worry about anyway … like us.’

  Neve returned her husband’s gaze and a feeling of love, not without its fair share of desire, rose up in her. She did love him. She absolutely did.

  ‘I love you,’ she said. ‘You do know that, don’t you?’

  He brushed her cheek with his fingertips. ‘I know you do. And I love you too.’

  ‘But what? I feel there’s a but coming.’ She curled her fingers around his hand.

  ‘We need to be totally honest with each other if we’re going to get through this together,’ said Kit. ‘I don’t want any more secrets between us.’

  ‘Me neither,’ said Neve. She wanted to cry at her words. More lies. If she told him the truth, she would lose him and not only him, she’d lose the chance of having a baby. Nothing was worth that price. Nothing. Not even the truth.

  Chapter 29

  The next day, Cheryl announced that as she wasn’t needed any more because Kit was still off work, she would go back home but he was to call her the moment he needed her or if anything changed.

  Despite the less than subtle note of disapproval from Cheryl, Neve resolved to carry on as if she was unaware of this. She gave her mother-in-law a hug goodbye, thanking her for everything she had done. Neve figured if she carried on outwardly playing the dutiful daughter-in-law and gave Cheryl absolutely no reason to say anything against her, all Cheryl’s griping would come back to bite her. It would be Cheryl who looked like the bitter spiteful woman, not Neve. Privately, Neve had very different thoughts which she shared with Lucie when she went back to collect her bag.

  ‘Honestly, you should have seen the look on Cheryl’s face when I turned up,’ she said, hooking her bag on to her shoulder. ‘She could have curdled milk at a glance.’

  Lucie giggled. ‘Oh dear. Although, to be fair, she’s bound to be biased towards Kit and her granddaughter.’

  ‘Ah, bless you. Always the voice of reason,’ said Neve, smiling at her friend. ‘Yes, I do realise that. I just wish Cheryl wouldn’t make her dislike for me so obvious. If she really does have Kit’s best interests at heart, then she should be happy that we are going to try to make a go of things.’

  ‘I’m really pleased for you,’ said Lucie. ‘You make such a great couple.’

  ‘We’re not out of the woods yet,’ admitted Neve. ‘We talked about things yesterday when we managed to snatch an hour at lunch together. It’s been hard to talk at the house with Cheryl there and Poppy following me around like a second shadow. Which is great, but it hasn’t given us much breathing space.’

  ‘If you need more time or space, you know where I am,’ said Lucie.

  ‘Thank you. I do appreciate that, but we decided that we would never be able t
o make a go of things if I didn’t move back in.’

  ‘That’s good,’ said Lucie. ‘What’s happening with the police? You know Poppy’s kidnap and Jake’s attack?’

  ‘As far as I know, from what Edward said this morning when he phoned, they are treating it as two separate incidents at the moment but someone at the station who Edward knows said that on the QT they are looking to see if they can make a connection between Jake’s attack and Poppy’s kidnapping.’

  ‘Really? Jake was involved in it?’

  ‘Who knows what they think.’

  Lucie gave a huff. ‘Have they really not got any idea?’

  ‘I’m still officially under caution so I guess they haven’t ruled me out,’ said Neve. ‘Poppy just says she can’t remember anything. I think she’s frightened she’s done something wrong. She is opening up little by little. Tomorrow she’s going to see a trained counsellor to see if they can get her to talk. I’m a bit doubtful myself, but you never know.’

  ‘So, she hasn’t said anything at all?’

  ‘Not really. Just that she doesn’t remember leaving the boat and she doesn’t remember how she got to the windmill. Any questions about what happened in the missing days, she just goes silent. The only thing she’s managed to convey is that she wasn’t harmed. To all intents and purposes, she seems to have been looked after.’

  ‘Thank heavens on both counts,’ said Lucie.

  ‘My thoughts exactly.’ Neve pushed herself away from the counter. ‘They’re trying to find Lee. They think he might have something to do with it.’

  ‘They can only do that if they’ve got evidence, surely,’ said Lucie.

  ‘I don’t know, the police aren’t keen on sharing their info.’ She gave an exasperated look to the ceiling. ‘I really must get on. I’ll catch you later.’

  Pulling up outside the converted outbuildings of what was once a busy boat builders, Neve got out of the car and paused to take in the beautiful coastline. The marina had undergone a regeneration in recent years. The old workshops had been converted into offices, Kit and Sean’s build and design service being one of the first to move in. This was swiftly followed by a clothing shop, specialising in sailing gear and then a chandlers, supplying all the boating and sailing equipment. The coffee shop and restaurant being the most recent addition. It was now a busy, thriving boating community.

  She crunched over the gravel parking area, towards the building and pushing open the marine office door, was immediately greeted by Veronica, the office receptionist.

  ‘Neve! How nice to see you. How are you? We’re all so relieved to hear that Poppy was found.’

  ‘Thank you,’ said Neve. ‘It’s been a difficult time, that’s for sure. But Poppy is OK and that’s the important thing.’

  The door to the right opened and Sean appeared. He immediately enveloped Neve in a big bear hug. ‘Thank goodness it’s turned out all right,’ he said. ‘Kit was keeping me up to date with everything. Or rather, I was badgering him. I was going to come around, but Kit put me off.’ He shepherded her into his office, closing the door behind him. ‘Is everything OK with you and Kit?’

  Neve sat down in the chair. ‘It’s been tough on us, no doubt about it.’ She felt slightly embarrassed talking about her marriage to Kit’s business partner. ‘But we’ll get through. It’s just going to take some time.’

  ‘Of course. Of course,’ said Sean. ‘With the best will in the world, it would put even the strongest of marriages under strain.’ There was an awkward pause and they both went to speak at the same time. ‘No, you first,’ said Sean.

  Neve rummaged in her bag. ‘I’ve got some post. It came to the house by mistake. It looks like some promo stuff.’ She handed the bundle over.

  ‘Thanks. I’ll get Veronica to look at that. Is there anything I can get you? Tea? Coffee?’

  ‘No, I’m fine, thanks. I was only calling in,’ said Neve. ‘I’m just going to pop into Kit’s office. I have a new photo frame for his desk. It’s a surprise.’

  ‘Sure, you go ahead. I’m glad you called by. Let me know if I can do anything to help.’ The phone on the desk began to ring.

  ‘I won’t keep you,’ said Neve, nodding towards the phone.

  Sean picked up the phone, but held it to his shoulder, before calling to her as she opened the door. ‘You tell Kit to take as much time as he needs. He’s not to rush back to work.’

  Neve smiled and gave a wave as Sean attended to his phone call.

  She crossed the reception area to the other side and let herself into Kit’s office which overlooked the marina. Neve had printed off a photograph Poppy had taken on her phone last night. It was a selfie of the three of them sitting on the sofa together. Kit had remarked how much he loved it. So, this morning, Neve had commandeered Lucie’s printer.

  She picked up the brushed steel photo frame he had on his desk, which currently housed a picture of Kit, Neve and Poppy taken on holiday two years ago, sitting by the pool of the Spanish villa they had rented. Neve unfastened the clips at the back and slipped last night’s picture behind the glass, replacing it on Kit’s desk.

  She checked her watch, she ought to head off otherwise she would be late for the meeting she had planned. She was about to leave, when she had a sudden thought. She smiled to herself and looked around Kit’s desk for a notepad or sticky note. In Kit’s usual fashion, everything was tidy and neat. She opened the top drawer of his desk and picked up a biro languishing in the bottom and the pad of sticky notes by its side.

  Surprise!

  Love you!

  xxx

  She scribbled the note and then placed it in the drawer. Her and Kit used to leave notes for each other all the time when they were first married. Neve wasn’t quite sure when they had stopped doing so, but maybe this would spark a little feeling of nostalgia in Kit, help him to remember the people they were before things went wrong.

  On impulse, Neve wrote out another note.

  Gotcha again!

  Still loving you.

  xxx

  She looked around for somewhere less obvious to hide it. Ah, Kit had a small shower room off his office. In fact, both he and Sean did. It was always useful if they had to attend a function after work or if one of them ended up getting wet whilst out on the boats with clients or test driving.

  She opened the door to the wet room and looked round. There wasn’t really anywhere to put it other than in the vanity unit. She didn’t want the cleaners coming in and finding it stuck to the mirror or sink.

  She bent down and opened the doors. There were a few bottles of shower gel and shampoo. Neve stuck the note on top of the deodorant can. Kit would spy it immediately. It was then she noticed a carrier bag shoved to the back of the cupboard with a sleeve poking out.

  She reached in and retrieved the bag. Kit must have left some clothing in there by mistake, forgetting to bring it home to be washed. She stood up and peered in the bag. It was a checked overshirt he usually kept in the car. She was just about to close the bag when something caught her eye. Her heart did a funny sort of double beat against her breast bone and her stomach pitched. Slowly, she pulled out the shirt and held it up.

  Splattered across the front was a stream of red. Dried and crusted. But there was no mistaking it for what it was. Blood spatter.

  Visions of Kit’s bruised and swollen knuckles jumped before her. She tried to rationalise the thought lurking just behind the image. Kit had injured his hand trying to retrieve his keys. He could have wiped his hands on his shirt.

  But then that would be smears not splatters.

  Why was his shirt here? Stuffed in a bag at the back of his vanity unit?

  Why wouldn’t he have taken the shirt off at home and washed it?

  She knew she was just stalling, trying to avoid the inevitable answer.

  New images of Jake swamped her. His smiling face. The way his eyes crinkled when he laughed. His sensuous full lips, the fall of his dark hair across his brow. She clasped the
blood-stained shirt to her chest, as she sank to a crouch. Her mouth opened in a silent cry and she rocked back and forth.

  There was a knock on the door. Neve wasn’t sure if it was the first knock or second or even third.

  ‘Mrs Masters,’ came Veronica’s voice. ‘Are you in there?’

  Neve nearly tumbled over in shock.

  ‘Just using the bathroom,’ she called back.

  ‘Oh, OK,’ said Veronica and Neve heard her close the office door again.

  Neve stood up. Thoughts swirling in her mind. She had to get a grip of herself. Work out what to do. She stuffed the shirt back into the carrier bag, which she then managed to push into her own handbag, grateful for its generous proportions.

  Checking her appearance in the mirror, Neve closed the vanity unit doors and left the office.

  ‘I didn’t mean to disturb you,’ said Veronica.

  ‘No, it’s fine. I was just desperate for the loo,’ said Neve, with a liberal amount of cheer. ‘See you soon, Veronica. Bye.’

  She hurried out of the office. Her hands trembled as she unlocked the car and got in. Placing the bag on the passenger seat, she paused.

  The logical thing to do with a blooded shirt would be to confront her husband. To ask Kit how it had happened and why he was hiding it at the back of the vanity unit in his office. The other logical thing would be to take it to the police, pointing out that Kit had bruised and bloodied knuckles and that he may well have had a motive for attacking Jake.

  Neve did neither of these things. She didn’t want her husband arrested for manslaughter, or even murder. What if they found him guilty? He’d go to prison. Their marriage would be in tatters. No father for Poppy. No baby for Neve. She’d fought tooth and nail to avoid that, there was no way she was allowing herself to be put in such a position. Besides, Kit wouldn’t harm anyone physically. Sure, he got angry. He was possessive. He didn’t like being made a fool of, but he wouldn’t attack anyone, would he? She had to believe that. The alternative wasn’t an option.