I look at him for the first time,reallylook at him, his bloodshot eyes and sallow skin. Try to see Mia’s features in his, in the face of this man who seems set on destroying his own flesh and blood.
‘You don’t have to do this, you know,’ I say. ‘Let me take Mia to the authorities, to the police.’
‘You really haven’t been paying attention, have you?’
‘You can just walk away. I won’t tell anyone about any of this, about you. I swear.’
‘Oh, youswear, do you?’ His voice is heavy with sarcasm. ‘Well that makes everything all right, doesn’t it?’
‘Just let me take Mia and—’
He shushes me with an outstretched palm. The news report has switched to a reporter standing outside a large redbrick building with a taxi rank behind her, people hurrying past. The screen switches again, to a still that looks like it’s been taken from a CCTV camera. The quality is not great, but there is no mistake who is in the picture.
A woman carrying a baby.
An image of me and Mia.
11
He sits up, rigid in his chair.
‘Shit,’ he mutters, stabbing at the volume button on the TV remote as the screen plays grainy black and white footage of me walking out of Marylebone train station a few hours ago.
‘. . .asking anyone who may have seen the woman in the Marylebone area to come forward with any information,’ the reporter says solemnly into camera.
Dominic hits rewind, his attention fully focused on the screen. He runs it back to the start of the bulletin as the two studio anchors introduce the lead story.
‘Police are investigating the abduction of a three-month old baby this evening and the disappearance of a twenty-four-year-old woman. The baby is thought to have been abducted on a journey into London earlier today. Here’s Alice Durham with more.’
The image switches to a young dark-haired reporter standing outside Marylebone station.
‘Concerns are mounting for the safety of Kathryn Clifton, who was last seen in the Amersham area earlier today and was believed to be travelling into London with a baby.’
The screen changes briefly to a still image of Kathryn, looking younger, smiling in a bridesmaid’s dress.
‘Police are also searching urgently for another woman who was captured on CCTV leaving Marylebone station with a baby earlier today.’The image switches to the CCTV footage of me walking quickly out of the station, Mia in my arms.‘Ms Clifton has not been seen since these images were taken and the police are becoming increasingly concerned for her safety. It’s thought that the woman captured in these security camera images could hold vital clues in the disappearance of Kathryn Clifton and the abduction of the baby. Detectives are asking anyone who may have seen the woman in the Marylebone area to come forward with any information. This is Alice Durham for ITV News London.’
The screen switches back to the two news anchors in the studio as they move onto the next item, about a double stabbing in Tottenham. Dominic hurls the TV remote into the corner of the room, the black plastic case shattering into splinters across the floor.
‘Shit!’ He shakes his head at the screen, jaw flexing.
‘They made it look like I abducted her and did something to Kathryn,’ I say, summoning a calmness to my voice that I don’t feel. ‘That’s crazy, that’s not what happened at all.’
‘Welcome to my world,’ he grunts.
‘What do you mean?’
‘It doesn’t matter—’
Finally he turns back to face me.
Freezes.
Stares down the barrel of his own gun, clutched in my outstretched hand, the remains of the black duct tape still hanging from my wrist.
I circle away from him so that Mia is on my right side, out of the line of fire. The compact bulk of the pistol is solid in my hand, my fingertip curled around the smooth, curved steel of the trigger.
‘You should have bound my feet, too.’
