Wish Upon a Star (37 page)

‘She was the one, wasn’t she?’ Miranda couldn’t not ask the question. ‘Christy was the woman you were in love with.’

‘What makes you say that?’

‘Just something she said when we were in the kitchen.
Something about her caring about you.’ She frowned slightly and Jake gave a smile.

‘I should hope that she does care about me. That’s what friends are supposed to do and, yes, Christy is the woman I was in love with, but it was a long time ago.’

‘Does she know?’

‘Yes.’ Jake’s voice was calm. ‘Funnily enough, I told her just before Christmas.’

‘This Christmas?’

‘That’s right. She and Alessandro were going through a bad patch. I wanted to remind her that what they had was special. Worth fighting for. I gave her up because I could see that they were perfect together. They still are.’

‘You really believe in perfection? Isn’t that rather romantic and idealistic? If you expect perfection then any relationship is doomed to fall apart.’

‘I didn’t say I believed in perfection, I said that they were perfect together.
Not
the same thing. In fact, I would say that it’s their imperfections that make them so perfect.’

Miranda laughed. ‘Now you’ve lost me.’

‘Well, they both have fiery tempers and they tend to communicate by flinging plates at each other and a great deal of hand-waving and raised voices. Hardly perfect. But they understand each other. They love each other. It works for them.’

She stared at him. ‘Ever considered being a marriage guidance counsellor?’

‘No. Far too depressing. A large number of people who marry do so for all the wrong reasons. Those marriages cannot possibly be saved and then they’re faced with all sorts of nasty, uncomfortable decisions, like whether they should stay together for the sake of the children, that sort of thing.’

‘Why did Christy and Alessandro separate?’

Jake was silent for a moment. ‘They didn’t really. It was a classic case of miscommunication. I suppose they lost their way for a while. It happens all too easily. It’s why it’s so important to share things with your partner.’ He glanced towards her. ‘What do you think makes a relationship work?’

‘I don’t know many relationships that
have
worked so I’m not a good person to ask.’ She looked out of the window and recognised the road. ‘Oh—we’re very near to my old flat. Can we just stop for a second so that I can drop my spare set of keys with the landlord?’

‘Can’t we just post them?’

‘It will only take a minute—I’ll just pop them through his letter-box.’

Jake took the necessary detour and pulled up outside the unwelcoming block of flats. ‘Give me the keys—I’ll do it. I don’t want you anywhere near that place.’

‘We’ll go together. Look what happened last time you went on your own.’ Miranda undid her seat belt. ‘Someone needs to keep an eye on you. If he happens to be there, I don’t want him hitting you again.’

His eyes gleamed with humour. ‘What are you, my bodyguard?’

‘Absolutely. Pregnant bodyguards are all the rage, haven’t you heard?’

As it turned out, the landlord’s flat was in darkness and they posted the keys through the door without mishap. They were just returning to the car when Miranda stopped dead.

‘What was that?’

‘What was what?’ Jake gave a shiver and pulled his coat around him. ‘It’s freezing, Miranda. Get in the car, quickly.’

Miranda frowned and glanced around her. ‘I heard something—a weird sound. I’m not sure what it was.’

‘Probably the sound of my teeth chattering.’ Jake grabbed her arm and tried to guide her towards the car but she shrugged him off.

‘Wait. Listen…’ She strained her ears and thought she heard a faint mewing sound. ‘There. I heard it again.’

‘Me, too—a cat, definitely a cat.’

Unconvinced, she turned in the direction of the sound. ‘I don’t know. It didn’t sound much like a cat.’

‘Miranda, for goodness’ sake, it must be below freezing tonight and you’re—’

‘Wait there just for a minute.’ Without giving him time to argue, she hurried back towards the building and into the stairwell. Lying on the ground was a pile of abandoned plastic shopping bags. There was no sign of a cat.

Miranda glanced around her, searching for the animal that had made the noise, but there was nothing. No sound and no movement. Presuming that whatever creature had made the noise had now found refuge somewhere warm, she turned to walk back to Jake when she heard the sound again.

This time there was no mistaking the sound and she ran back towards the plastic bags with a cry of horror. ‘Oh, no! Jake—come quickly.’

‘Miranda, I’ve told you that we need to—’ He broke off as he saw what she was holding. ‘Oh, my God.’ His voice hoarse with disbelief, he dropped to his knees beside her. ‘Is she breathing?’

Choked with horror, Miranda cuddled the tiny baby against her. ‘Yes, but she’s blue with cold. Oh, Jake, someone’s just left her here.’

‘And quite recently, too, by the looks of it.’ Jake’s expression was grim as he glanced around them. ‘She can’t be more than a few minutes old.’

‘We need to look for the mother.’

‘We need to get that baby to hospital,’ Jake said immediately, standing up and punching a series of numbers into his mobile phone. ‘Put her inside your clothes, Miranda, next to your skin. Then go and sit in my car. I’ll turn the heater up.’

Her hands shaking, Miranda did as he instructed, tucking the tiny baby against her chest and then closing her cardigan and her coat around her. ‘She’s freezing, Jake.’

‘I’ve rung Special Care—they’ll have a cot ready if we take her straight there.’

Miranda glanced back over her shoulder towards the darkness of the stairwell. ‘But the mother—’

‘The baby has to be the priority. Once she’s safely in the hands of the paediatricians, we’ll worry about the mother.’ Jake slid the car into gear and drove quickly but carefully towards the hospital.

In no time at all the baby was in an incubator, surrounded by skilled staff all assessing her condition and speculating on her identity.

Miranda and Jake retreated to the tiny staffroom and were in the process of warming themselves up with hot coffee when the police arrived to take statements.

Jake spoke to them and then the consultant paediatrician walked into the room. ‘She’s very cold and dehydrated. It’s a miracle you found her when you did. Any longer and she would have died of hypothermia without any doubt at all.’

The policeman frowned. ‘She wasn’t wrapped up at all?’

Miranda shook her head. ‘Just inside plastic bags.’

‘On a night like this?’ The man’s mouth tightened with disapproval. ‘What must the mother have been thinking?’

Miranda put her coffee down on the table. ‘I don’t suppose she was thinking at all,’ she said quietly, her voice shaking slightly. ‘I expect she was too busy panicking.’

‘Miranda’s right.’ Jake rubbed a hand over the back of
his neck, his eyes tired. ‘Whoever the mother is, she was obviously terrified and completely alone. I’m guessing that we’re talking about a teenager and she needs help, possibly urgently. We must try and find her.’

The policeman blinked and then cleared his throat. ‘Of course, yes. You’re right. We’ll arrange for house-to-house enquiries and we’ll contact the news stations and broadcast an appeal.’

The paediatrician looked at Miranda. ‘The nurses wondered if you wanted to give her a name.’

‘Me?’

‘Yes. You found her.’

‘Oh…’ Miranda thought for a moment and then gave a faint smile. ‘Bonnie. She’s such a pretty little thing.’

‘Bonnie, it is.’ The policeman scribbled on his pad. ‘I’ll be in touch. If there’s any change in the baby, give us a call.’

He left the room and Miranda turned to Jake, her expression urgent.

‘We have to try and find her. The mother, I mean.’

His eyes met hers. ‘Miranda, the police are going to do house-to-house enquiries and—’

‘And the police have absolutely no idea what it’s like to be a terrified teenager.’ She glanced towards the paediatrician. ‘Bonnie’s in good hands now. We can’t do any more here.’

Jake’s eyes slid to her abdomen. ‘It’s late, you’re tired—’

‘I couldn’t possibly sleep knowing that a poor teenager is out there somewhere, terrified and possibly bleeding.’ Her hands clenched into fists and Jake’s eyes rested on her face.

‘You don’t know it’s a teenager.’

She knew he was wondering why her reaction was so extreme but she didn’t care. And she certainly didn’t intend to offer an explanation. ‘Jake!’

‘All right.’ He muttered something else under his breath
and ran a hand through his hair. ‘We’ll go back to the flats and have a look around. But just for an hour. After that we’re going home.’

Two police cars were parked outside the flats and Jake pulled up behind them while Miranda turned up her collar and wrapped her scarf round her neck.

‘Do you have a torch?’

‘Glove compartment.’

Miranda reached inside and tucked the torch in her pocket. ‘Come on. Let’s go.’ She climbed out of the car and walked away from the flats, the beam of light from the torch flickering in front of her.

‘Go where, exactly?’ Fastening the buttons of his coat, Jake strode after her. ‘Don’t you think we should start by looking around the flats?’

‘That’s what the police are doing and I just don’t think that’s where she’s going to be.’

‘Why not? That was where she left the baby.’

‘Because she wanted it to be found! But that doesn’t mean that
she
wants to be found. Think about it, Jake! If she wanted her pregnancy to be made public then she would have turned up at an antenatal clinic. It’s far more likely that she’s avoiding people. Maybe she lives there, maybe her parents live there, but at the moment I think she’s huddled in an alleyway somewhere, trying to work out what to do,’ Miranda reasoned as she crossed the road and walked away from the flats. ‘I don’t believe she’s in the flats.’

‘You’ve missed your vocation.’ Jake watched her with fascination as he kept pace. ‘Have you been watching crime programmes in your spare time?’

‘I don’t have any spare time. I have work time and sleep time.’ Miranda stopped dead, her frown slightly impatient as she tried to focus her mind. She looked around her,
searching for inspiration, trying to think like a frightened teenager. ‘What would you do, Jake? Think. You leave your baby somewhere where you know it’s going to be found because you want it to be found.’

‘Do you?’ Jake scratched his head, trying to follow her train of thought. ‘Miranda, perhaps we should leave this to the police. They have—’

‘The park.’ Miranda grabbed his arm and hurried along the road. ‘I bet she’s in the park.’

‘This place has a park?’ Jake glanced around him doubtfully and Miranda looked at him impatiently.

‘It’s where all the teenagers hang out. I’ve seen them.’ She was half running now, her torch winking in the darkness. She pushed open the gate and paused.

Jake peered into the soupy darkness. ‘She’s not here.’

‘You don’t know that.’ Miranda let the gate go and walked further into the park. ‘This is just the play area for the little ones. Further in are bushes and trees. That’s where the teenagers hang out. It’s where they go to smoke.’

‘How do you know all this?’

But before she could answer, Jake grabbed her arm. ‘Over there.’ He kept his voice low and pointed. ‘To the right. Do you see it?’

Miranda followed the direction of his gaze and nodded. ‘It’s a person. Sitting on the ground. Oh, Jake, I’m sure that’s her—’

‘It might be nothing. Just a drunk. Miranda, you stay here and I’ll go and see who it is.’

‘No way. How is she going to react to being approached by a six-foot-two man she doesn’t know?’ Miranda shrugged him off and hurried across to the figure. ‘Hello?’ She swung the torch and the light suddenly illuminated a blotched, miserable face.

‘G-go away.’ The girl’s voice was weak. ‘I wanna be on my own.’

Miranda immediately dropped the torch and went down on her knees. ‘I’m from the hospital. A midwife. We found a baby near here. Was it yours, sweetheart?’

Perhaps it was the endearment or just the relief of being found, but the girl started to sob quietly and the sound had a desperate quality that tore holes in Miranda’s heart.

‘Don’t cry.’ She slid her arms round the girl and held her. ‘Please, don’t cry. We’re going to help you. I promise we’ll help you.’

‘I didn’t know what was happening!’ The girl choked and sobbed, her words at times almost unintelligible as she talked. ‘It hurt. It hurt so much and now the police are there.’ The girl hiccoughed and wiped her nose on her sleeve. ‘And I know the baby’s dead and I’ll go to prison. I killed her.’

‘You won’t go to prison. And she isn’t dead. You haven’t killed anyone.’

The girl was so distressed that she wasn’t listening. ‘She came out all blue and messy and I knew she was dead so I left her on the bags. I didn’t know what else to do.’

‘She isn’t dead. Babies sometimes look a bit funny when they’re born, that’s all,’ Miranda soothed, still holding the girl. ‘She’s beautiful and she’s safely in hospital and that’s exactly where you should go now. There are people there who will help you.’

Jake crouched down next to her and the girl shrank away, noticing him for the first time.

‘Is he a cop?’

‘No, he’s a doctor. What’s your name?’

The girl sniffed. ‘Angie. Is the baby really OK?’ Her voice was small and she sounded very, very young. ‘I didn’t
want anything to happen to it. I was terrified when I thought it was dead.’

‘She—The baby’s a little girl. Angie,’ Miranda’s voice was gentle. ‘Come to hospital with us now and we can make sure you’re all right. Then someone will come and talk to you about the baby and you can decide what you want to do.’

‘I can’t keep her.’ There was a note of panic in Angie’s voice and Miranda hugged her.

‘You’re not in a fit state to make big decisions like that at the moment. You need help and I’m going to see that you get it. How old are you?’

‘Sixteen.’ Angie scrubbed at her face with the back of her hand. ‘And I don’t want to go to hospital. They’d tell my dad.’