‘You sure?’ the man replied.
Gracie wriggled out of his grasp. She took a step towards Reynolds but he held out his hand, like a police constable stopping traffic.
‘Less of that,’ Reynolds said. ‘I let you have this one for old time’s sake. Try it again and you won’t be so lucky.’
‘Tell us where Ruby is and we can leave you to play with the rats,’ Gracie said.
‘Gary, get a brew on,’ Reynolds said.
*
Gracie and Reynolds sat across from each other at the table, Cook took a referee’s position between the two. Reynolds’s lieutenant, having made the tea, had retired to a bunk.
‘When was the last time you heard from her?’ Gracie asked Reynolds.
‘The first day of the bombing,’ Reynolds replied. ‘The day Frankie came up. Which was why I assumed she’d been on the bus. She still might have been for all any of us knows.’
‘She’s alive,’ Gracie said.
‘That’s hope talking,’ Reynolds replied.
‘No,’ Gracie said. ‘I got word from her. Second post.’
Gracie pulled a postcard out of her pinafore. She handed it to Reynolds. He studied it, grunted, and passed it to Cook.
Cook looked at the card – a picture of the beach. Southend. He turned it over and read the message.
‘Seems like good news,’ Cook said.
‘No,’ Gracie said. ‘She’s in trouble.’
68
‘Why do you think she’s in trouble?’ Cook asked.
‘She said “our Frankie”. She’d never call him that.’
‘Just a turn of phrase,’ Cook said.
‘No,’ Gracie said.
‘You seem very sure,’ Cook said.
‘Tell him,’ Reynolds said.
Gracie topped up her tea, hands trembling. The adrenaline from her fight with Reynolds still flowing through her veins.
‘She’d never say “our Frankie”,’ Gracie said. ‘Because he’s not. He’s not ours.’
Cook felt like he was expected to make the connection. He looked to Reynolds for answers.
‘He’s hers,’ Gracie explained. ‘Her Frankie. Her baby.’
Cook thought it through. He’d been thinking of Ruby as a young woman. Too young to have an eleven-year-old boy.
‘She was only a girl,’ Gracie said. ‘Fourteen. Got into trouble. We kept it quiet. She was a slip of a girl. Never showed ’til right towards the end. We kept her out of sight. Told everyone the baby was mine. Little runt of a thing, didn’t expect it to stick around. Just a short visit. But he was stronger than we thought.’
‘Does Frankie know?’ Cook asked.
