Lipstick and Lies (51 page)

Jonas
instantly produced
a packet of Silk Cut.
‘
Please d
on’t tell Dad
,
Cass.
He’ll go ape.’

‘How long has this been going on?’ I looked from one boy to the other as, ridiculously, the soundtrack by Van Morr
ison began to play in my head.

Toby cleared his throat.
‘It was my idea Mum.
I wa
nted to impress Diane Cooper.’

‘What, by smoking?
No girl is going to be impressed by a boy humming like an ashtray Toby.’
I now had a mental picture of several ashtrays humming a tune.
God, I must be incredibly stressed.
Clearly the events of tod
ay were starting to get to me.

‘
But
I heard cigarettes make your voice gravelly.
And
I want a deep voice.
So Diane Cooper
might
fancy me.’

‘Oh man,’ sighed Jonas.

I stared at these two children of mine.
One on the threshold of puberty, the other a man-boy in a six foot body.
Trying to impress girls
.
Smoking.
D
oing stupid things
.
I
t was all
part of puberty and growing up.

I glared at them.
‘Promise me you won’t do it again
.
’

‘Promise.
’
T
hey nodded solemnly.

‘
Okay,
I won’t tell Jamie.
This
time.’
Crushing the box of cigarettes, I
stalked out the room.

Back downstairs
,
I
tossed
the
mashed
cigarettes into the bin.
And then fished them out again.
If Jamie saw them languishing amongst the potato peelings,
questions would be asked
.
I found a Tesco’s carrier bag and carefully wrapped them
within
.
O
nly then did I put them back in the bin – right at the bottom and buried undernea
th household detritus.

Irked, I
marched
into the utility room
.
Opening the tall cupboard, I yanked out the
vacuum cleaner.
Bending down to plug the cable into a socket, I paused.
My mobile phone was ringing.
I straightened up and hastened to my baby holdall.
Pulling out the mobile phone
,
I was amazed to see Stevie’s name flash up in the caller display.
Hitting the green handset ic
on, I put the phone to my ear.

‘
A
bout flippin’ time
!
’ I said
.

‘Cass,’ Stevie gasped.
‘Help me.’

At some point in everybody’s lives there comes a defining moment.
When,
for whatever reason, time stands still.
Clocks stop.
Noises cease.
All movement of objects and people in your feeling world come to a standstill.
Even your heart
feels like it
skips a number of beats.
B
riefly you are aware of your existence, but not actually
living
life.
Instead you’re stuck in a moment.
And right now that was happening to me.

Stevie sounded so scared.
Desperate.
And...odd.
Like he was – my blood ran cold –
drugged
.
From the other end of the phone
there was a sudden
scuffling.
A kerfuffle of sorts.
And then the call disconnected.
I stared at the mobile in horror. My heart
gave a lurch and began beating again
.
Blood
whooshed
around my body, and my ears roared with
the return of everyday noises
.

‘Mum!’ Livvy was screeching down the stairs.
‘When are you going to take Eddie?
He’s driving me nuts!’

I chucked the phone down and ran up the stairs two at a time.
My daughter was standing on the landing holding Eddie out as far as her arms would extend.
‘And he’s done a
number two
.
S
o h
is nappy needs–’
Livvy broke off and stared at me.
‘Whatever’s the matter?

‘Nothing.’
I took Eddie from her.
Livvy was right.
He
stank.

‘Bu
t you’re as white as a sheet.’

‘I’m fine.
Go and do your homework.’
I took Eddie
and went into his nursery, my m
ind whirring.
I’d ring
Charlotte
in a minute.
I stripped Eddie off and whizzed some wipes over his bottom.
And I’d have to tell Jamie now.
Not about casing Selina’s flat, but about Stevie’s phone call.
I reached for the Sudocrem.
But I definitely wouldn’t be telling the twins.
I didn’t want them upset and scared for their father.
For once Eddie lay still while I strapped him into a clean nappy.
In no time at all he was dressed in his romper suit.
Swinging him onto one
hip, I flew down the stairs and
into
the kitchen.
Leaving Eddie in his playpen, I settled down at t
he table with my mobile phone.

‘
Charlotte
?
It’s Cass.
I’ve just heard from Stevie.
Properly this time.’

‘Oh thank God,’ she squawked.
I could hear a car engine in the background.
She was clearly on the road.
‘Is he all right?’

‘No
.
Not as such anyway
.’

‘What!
Why?’

‘I don’t know,’ I cried.
‘He said
–
’ my brain struggled to remember
Stevie’s exact words
.
‘I think he said “Help”.
Or “Help me”.
Something like that.
And then there was a scuffling noise in the background,
as if
somebody
was
trying to get the phone off him
.
A
nd then the line went dead.
And his speech was slow.
Like he wa
s disorientated or something.’

‘Cass
,
you’re going to have to tell the police about this.
I’ve already phoned them and given them as much information as I possibly can.
They’ve asked me to pop into the station with all Stevie’s bank and credit card details
.
They’re going to check if he’s made any cash withdrawals or spent money anywhere.
I’ve also got to give them
some photographs
,
along with
his toothbrush.’

‘His toothbrush?’ I asked
incredulously.

‘Yes.
’
S
he stifled a sob
.
‘It’s to provide
a DNA sam
ple for forensic examination.’

I blinked.
And felt slightly sick.
Stevie’s absence was taking a whole new turn.
One that had fear curd
ling in the pit of my stomach.

‘Shall I
meet you somewhere?’ I asked.

‘I’m on my way over to Stevie’s house,’
Charlotte
said.
‘I need to collect the information the police want.
And the toothbrush.
Shall I meet you there?
Perhaps you can have a look around with me.
See if I’ve missed any clues to his whereabouts.
And then we’ll drive to
the police station together.’

‘Yes,’ I whispered.
‘Okay.
I’ll see you shortly.’

I disconnected the call just as the back door opened.
Cold air blew into the kitchen as Edna came in, Arthur bringing up the rear.
He smiled by way of greeting.
I put up a hand in response.

‘Hello Cassandra dear,’ Edna
said
.
‘We’re calling it a day out there,’ she jerked her head in the direction of the boat.
‘Time for a cup of coffee
while I get some
dinner going.
I thought I’d do
s
hepherd’s
p
ie tonight.
Would that be all right?’

‘Lovely,’ I nodded.

‘Are you all right Cassandra?
You look terribly pale.’

‘Um, no.
Not really.
The twins’ father has gone missing.
The police are investigating.
Charlotte
is on the way to
Stevie’s
house to
collect
some bits and pieces for the police, including
his
toothbrush for DNA purposes.’
Edna and Arthur stared at me in horror.
‘And to cap it all, I’ve just had a
peculiar
telephone call from
him
.
Stevie
sounded
dazed
.
He
begg
ed
for help
.
And then the line disconnected
.
Something is very wrong Edna.
I haven’t told the twins.
I don’t want them to know.’

Arthur was the first to recover.
‘This is terrible Cass.
Is ther
e anything we can do to help?’

‘Can you possibly look after Eddie for me
,
until Jamie gets home?
Charlotte
wants me to go to
the police station with her.’

‘Of course we will,’ said Edna.
‘Eddie’s no trouble at all.
You go and do what you have to do Cass.
Don’t worry about
a thing
.
And
if you’re not home by the time Jamie gets in, I’
ll
discreetly bring
him up to date
.
Try not to
fret
.
The police will find Stevie
.
Y
ou’ll see.’

An hour later
,
Charlotte and I were
at the local nick.
We were
holed up with PC Thomson and PC Smith.
The former looked like Humpty Dumpty’s brother
.
T
he latter was a woman with thin lips.
For a moment I couldn’t think who she reminded me of.
And then it came to me.
Popeye’s girlfriend
.
Olive Oyl.

I couldn’t imagine PC Thomson
pursuing
criminals.
He looked more like
the sort of
chap you’d find in a department store in December
.
W
earing a
jolly
Father Christmas outfit.
On the other hand,
PC Smith
had a body that matched her lips
.
No doubt she
would be
extremely
agile
if
chasing law-breaking offenders.
However, I had
a
feeling PC Smith had never hitched up
a
hemline
in order
to pursue a felon.
She didn’t need to.
All she
had to do
was look at them.
An
d
then the
offender would
instantly drop down dead.
Her eyes were hard.
The colour of flint.
I was pretty sure she’d taken every psychology course under the sun
.
That she
could
suss
guilt
in a nano second
.
Her eyes flicked from
Charlotte
to me.
And eventually
came to
rest just on me.
I met her gaze.
And inwardly shook.
She finally looked back at
Charlotte
.