Steve ran a hand over his neck. ‘No … no, I didn’t,’ he admitted at length. ‘She’s never mentioned him. She doesn’t have contact with him, as far as I know.’
But surely she would have? Unless there was some terrible reason she couldn’t? Sarah was growing more bewildered by the second. ‘He looks like Ollie,’ she said again, wondering why Steve hadn’t commented on it.
He drew in a long breath. ‘It’s probably just a coincidence,’ he said.
Rubbish.He didn’t believe that.Shedidn’t. It was more than a coincidence, she was sure it was. Her heart ached for Laura and her mother both, but she was struggling to digest this latest revelation. It made no sense that Laura hadn’t told Steve any of it. She had to be hiding things from him for a reason.
‘Don’t you think youshouldhave all the details, Steve?’ She stared at him, wondering how he couldn’t see that something was very wrong here. ‘These aren’t just trifling things she’s overlooked mentioning, are they? They’re huge, life-changing things.Whywouldn’t she have mentioned them?’
He averted his gaze. ‘I’ve told you, they’re not things she feels comfortable talking about.’
‘Oh, right.’ Sarah laughed in disbelief. There was an awful bloody lot the woman didn’t feel comfortable talking about, wasn’t there? ‘And you’re okay with that, are you? Quite happy to have her involved in Ollie’s—’
‘Don’t start that again, Sarah.’ Turning away from the window, Steve walked away from her.
‘Start what?’ Not sure she was hearing him right, Sarah followed him. ‘Youshouldhave known about these things, Steve,’ she said forcefully. ‘Especially about her missing brother; every last detail. How can you possibly contemplate leaving your own child in the care of a woman who was involved in the circumstances surrounding a child’s disappearance when you don’t know all the facts?’
‘Right.’ He stopped, his expression agitated as he turned to face her. ‘And you know all there is to know about this Joe character you’re seeing, do you, who’s undoubtedly perfect?’
Unbelievable. What the hell had Joe got to do with any of this? ‘Actually, I do,’ she countered, her heart squeezing, because it seemed that shedidn’tknow everything there was to know about him, like the fact that he’d been continuing to see his ex-wife, fixing her bloody bath taps for her while she was no doubt in a suitable state of undress ready to climb into it. ‘As I tried to tell you when you first met him, we were at school together. We went out together. I’ve known him practically all my life.’
‘Not quite all,’ he corrected her, with a tight smile. ‘There are a few years in between where Joewas presumably livinghislife, therefore he also has a history. Hashebeen married?’
‘Yes,’ she answered, although it was completely irrelevant. ‘And hetoldme he had been. He’s never been anything but—’
‘Does he have kids?’ Steve went on, before she could finish.
‘No,’ she provided patiently. ‘He wanted children, but—’
‘Skeletons in cupboards?’
‘No,’ she snapped, her heart wrenching as she wondered now whether he had. ‘And he certainly doesn’t ask Ollie to keep secrets fromme!’ She eyeballed him with a mixture of pent-up fury and frustration.
Steve pulled in a breath.
Sarah breathed out. This was ridiculous. She was being defensive, and it was getting them nowhere except off the subject. Steve was obviously infatuated with Laura, protective of her. While the latter might be commendable, it was misplaced if it put his son in danger. He couldn’t be so blinded by love that he couldn’t see that.
‘I’m concerned, Steve, about Ollie,’ she said, more calmly. ‘I’m not on a mission to rubbish Laura. I just need to know thatherskeletons won’t hurt him. Surely you can understand that?’
Steve eyed the ceiling, visibly trying to compose himself. ‘I know you’re not,’ he conceded finally. ‘I do understand, of course I do.’ He looked back at her, his expression agonised, his emotions obviously in turmoil. ‘I would die before letting any harm come to him, you know I would. It’s just … I don’t want to go in too heavy.’
Sarah arched an eyebrow, but cautioned herself not to say anything.
‘She has nightmares about her brother,’ he confided. ‘Actually, it’s more than that.’ He hesitated, the troubled look in his eyes causing goosebumps to prickle Sarah’s skin. ‘She sleepwalks. I’ve found her a few times in the garden. She seems to be searching for him. She’s obviously never come to terms with what happened, and …’ He paused and kneaded his temples. ‘Could you go easy on her, Sarah? Please? Just hold off tackling her about anything until I’ve had a chance to talk to her? I promise I’ll find out more about the Facebook posts. I just don’t want to charge in and do anything that will make things worse for her, emotionally I mean.’
Sarah looked him over, and couldn’t help but be concerned for him. He was shaken. Conflicted, clearly. At least now, though, he was aware. ‘Okay,’ she reluctantly agreed, alarmed though she was by this sleepwalking twist. ‘But only on the condition that you do establish the facts. All of them. We need to know under exactly what circumstances her brother disappeared.’
He nodded, his look now one of immense relief. ‘I will. I’ll call you,’ he said.
‘Soon, Steve,’ she urged him. She didn’t want to appear to be issuing gilded threats, though in fact she was. She couldn’t countenance Ollie coming here until she knew more.
Seeing he had got the message, she headed for the hall. And then turned back. ‘Why aren’t there any details online about her brother?’ she asked, not caring that Steve would know she’d been doing more than browsing Laura’s online profiles. She’d spent some time searching the internet for anything she might find. Nothing had come up under Laura’s name with any reference to a missing child.
‘Try the name Caldwell,’ he suggested. ‘She left home not long after it happened. Changed her name, according to her mother.’
Not according to Laura, then? She really hadn’t been forthcoming about anything, had she? Whatever excuses Steve might be making for her, the woman was a pathological liar. ‘What was his name?’ she asked, a chill of trepidation creeping through her.
‘Jacob,’ Steve replied, and Sarah’s breath caught in her throat. This was the name of the superhero in the story she’d told Ollie. Laura had called Ollie Jacob. The first time she’d been here, she’d actually called him by her brother’s name. Her blood turned cold as she realised that Laura had been keeping this lost child alive through Sarah’s son.
