But Ellie shook her head politely, then looked at them in turn and spoke calmly. ‘Thank you both for everything you’ve done for me. I’ll make sure you’re well recompensed for it.’ She patted out the creases from her skirt and tucked her hair behind her ears. ‘Ula, after what you’ve just seen, if you are able to assemble my legal team and have them meet me in the boardroom, I’d be grateful. I assume the police will be here very soon. Then clear my schedule for the foreseeable future.’
Ellie paused and looked up at the Match Your DNA logo etched into the smoked glass of her office wall. She pictured the inert figure of Matthew on the other side, wrapped in a rug on the bathroom floor. She’d been happier with him than she had ever thought imaginable, but only now she understood it wasn’t because their DNA had dictated it, but because she’d opened herself up to the concept of love.
She picked herself up from the floor and began to walk in the direction of her office, closing the door behind her. She poured herself a gin and tonic and took a seat behind her desk. From down the corridor, she heard the first of many pairs of feet making their way out of the lift and towards the office.
She took her iPad and swiped the screen to take one last look at the extensive list of tasks she’d always begrudged yet needed to complete before her working day was over. But it was blank – Ula had already erased it.
Chapter 96
MANDY
‘Stay in the car until I know what’s happening. Promise me you won’t move from here.’
It wasn’t a question; it was an order. Lorraine, Mandy’s police liaison officer, was firm in her demand and didn’t wait for a reply before jumping from the driver’s seat and hurrying towards the front door of the cottage.
Two other police cars and a van were already on the scene, parked on the cobbled road next to two ambulances. Mandy hunched forwards in the rear of the car, barely breathing, and craned her neck to see past the headrests to gain a clearer view of what was happening in the house. It was a frenzy of activity, with uniformed police officers coming and going, speaking into walkie-talkies and mobile phones.
Eventually, a frustrated Mandy couldn’t wait any longer, so she clasped her fingers around the door frame and pulled herself out.
The journey from Essex to the Lake District had taken five hours and, on occasion, the vehicle’s motion combined with the stress had made her so uncomfortable that Lorraine had been forced to pull onto the hard shoulder so Mandy could vomit onto the grass verge. Her head was spinning with adrenaline, and nothing was going toprevent her from being reunited with her child if he was indeed being kept there.
The picture of the family’s Lake District cottage had jolted her memory, and she’d remembered Pat mentioning how much Richard had loved it there. Detectives had quickly discovered the title deeds to the home buried away in Pat’s files, and an immediate operation had been launched, beginning with officers inside an unmarked police car scoping out the property. When they confirmed a woman matching Chloe’s description had entered the home, the rescue plan had begun in earnest.
‘Where is he?’ shouted a panic-stricken Mandy as she made her way towards the front door from which Lorraine was exiting.
‘Mandy, I need you to stay calm,’ she said, and took hold of her arms. ‘Chloe has already been arrested and was taken away earlier. Your son is with Pat; however she’s barricaded herself in the bathroom.’
‘What’s she doing in there?’
‘He’s safe as far as we can ascertain, but Pat wants to talk to you before she unlocks the door.’
‘I don’t have anything to say to that woman, I just want my baby back.’
‘It goes without saying that we want a positive outcome from this, so let’s give it a try. I’ll be by your side, so please don’t worry.’
Mandy wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and was led inside the small, thatched cottage, up a narrow carpeted stairway and towards a panelled wooden door. Dusty framed photographs of Richard and his family hung from the walls, partially hidden by the half-a-dozen police officers crowding the corridor. One held a black, metal, battering ram, ready to break down the door if necessary.
‘Relax, take deep breaths and talk to Pat in the same way you used to before all this happened,’ Lorraine began.‘Nice and calm, OK? Don’t get involved in an argument or lose your temper with her. Do you understand me?’
Mandy nodded, unsure how she was going keep a lid on her emotions when she’d spent so much of the last month waiting for this moment to tell her baby’s paternal grandmother what she thought of her.
‘Pat, I have someone here who wants to talk to you,’ Lorraine said, and nodded at Mandy.
Mandy paused and took a few breaths before she spoke. ‘Hello Pat, it’s Mandy.’
She could hear movement, a shuffling sound, in the bathroom, and for the very first time, she also heard her son make a noise, like a delicate whimper. She closed her eyes and wanted to cry – suddenly her son was real, and all that separated them was a few feet of wood and plaster. It was all she could do to stop herself from tearing down the door with her bare hands.
‘Is my baby safe, Pat? Can you just tell me that he’s safe?’
‘He’s fine,’ Pat’s voice inside replied. She sounded exhausted, Mandy thought.
‘Pat, I need to see my son.’
‘I know you do, I just need a little bit longer with him.’
‘You’ve had long enough, Pat. I haven’t seen him at all yet.’
‘He looks like his daddy, don’t you, little man? You have the same eyes and the same colouring.’
