Page 71 of Perfect Wives
‘She’s playing with us,’ I say.
Beth nods. ‘She knows we’ll wait,’ she says. ‘It’s a final power play. We have the photograph now – proof she knew Jonny – and this is her way of trying to remind us that she’s still in charge.’
‘I want my life back,’ Tasha whispers, biting her thumbnail, eyes darting between us. ‘Are we really going to show the photo to DS Sató?’ she asks.
‘I don’t know,’ I reply, feeling suddenly uncertain. Adrift. I want my life back too, but what life is that? The marriage I’ve been pretending isn’t rotten and dead. I’m an admin assistant working part-time in an estate agent’s. Chair of the PTA. Host of the Magnolia Close residents’ group. Chief party planner for our events. An Instagram influencer without the followers I need to be seen. It’s pathetic. I’m pathetic. My life isn’t big and beautiful and amazing. It’s empty and ordinary, just like Nate said.
‘I’m sorry,’ Tasha says again, and something sharp coils inside me. I want to tell her to stop apologising, to just get on with it. Sorry isn’t going to save us now. ‘But is there an option,’ she continues, voice small, ‘where Keira agrees we all walk away from today? She’s got things on us. We have something on her. No one goes to the police. We pretend none of this ever happened.’
I want to believe that. I want to believe we can walk away from this today, but as I look between my friends, see the fear tightening Beth’s mouth and the guilt swimming in Tasha’s eyes, I know the truth – we all know it. It’s not going to be that easy. Not anymore.
Keira has threatened our families. Gone to extreme lengths to drag us into something none of us understand. There’s no way this is over. Not by a long shot. But still, I’m resolute on one thing – we can’t go to the police. We can’t talk to DS Sató. This mess we’re in is ours to fix.
The bell jingles again. Another group enters the café looking for a table. The waitress gives us a pointed look, and I shake my head. ‘She’s not coming,’ I say to Tasha and Beth. ‘We should leave.’
It’s as we’re gathering our coats that our phones buzz in unison. I pull out my phone, my heart suddenly racing as the words of the message blur and then sharpen. Panic surges through me, tightening around my lungs like a vice.
I have your children. Do exactly what I say or you’ll never see them again.
Beside me, Tasha gasps. Beth sways on her feet like she’s going to collapse. A hand flies to her mouth. Only I remain frozen. Body. Mind. Unable to process the message. She has my son. My entire world.
‘She’s lying,’ I say. Hope. Beg. Pray. ‘She has to be.’
‘Call Alistair,’ Tasha whispers. Beth’s hands fumble with her phone as she pushes out of the café, Tasha and I following her out onto the high street. The day is bright, and the air bites with a faint promise of winter.
We move away from the shoppers on their way to the market and stand on the corner of a narrow road, leading to a used record shop. Beth taps her phone, holding it to her ear. I want to tell her to put it on speaker, but it’s too late, she’s already talking.
‘Hey,’ she says, trying to keep her voice light. ‘Everything OK with the kids?’
There’s a pause. A second. Maybe two. Too long. Beth’s face drains of colour. Her eyes flick wildly between us. Keira isn’t lying. She has Oscar. The fear threatens to crush me.
‘Do you know where they went?’ she asks, that same fear in her voice.
Another pause.
‘You let them go? With someone you’ve met once? Alistair, she’s a stranger. We don’t know her.’
She falls silent.
‘I know, I’m sorry. It’s just…we don’t know this woman. Please go and get them.’ There’s a shorter pause, and then Beth says, ‘Thank you.’
Beth ends the call, her bottom lip trembling. ‘Keira came to the house. She told Alistair she’d been knocking for all of us. She told Alistair that she was there to collect the children for a pirate playdate. She told him she’d arranged it with us last week, and Alistair assumed we’d forgotten and let them go.’
‘And he believed her?’ Tasha asks.
Beth looks like she’s going to be sick. ‘He thought it was harmless. He said Henry was really excited to go, and Keira gave him her address and suggested he collect them after lunch.’
‘Lanie—’ Tasha starts.
‘She’s with Alistair,’ Beth says. ‘She’s safe.’
‘But the others aren’t,’ I add and even though my voice is steel, I’m cracking inside. Oscar is my whole world. If anything happens to him, I won’t survive it.
Beth’s gaze shoots to mine. ‘He’s on his way there now. He’s going to drive. He’ll be there in a minute. I’ll message him,’ she says, tapping on the screen. ‘And tell him to call me when he gets there.’
Another flurry of messages from Keira land.
Do exactly what I say.
