“Did you hear what I told you? She was sitting with her familyin the courtroom.”
“Yes, I heard what you told me, you wanker. Why do you think I’m so fucking stressed out? Do you know where she is now or not?”
“I have no idea and no interest in the whereabouts of Clarabelle Mason. I’m merely here to establish?—”
“Oh, do bugger off, Rafe,” Mrs Clayton put in, and I gaped at her in disbelief. What was wrong with these women?
“Listen,” I said in one last attempt to get them to seereason. “She’s been stringing you all along as well. Aren’t you pissed off?”
“Clara has done nothing butprotectherself,” Mrs Clayton said, her voice steady now with that thread of steel I’d heard many times before as a child. “Everyone has a right to protect themselves, Rafe. I’m sorry she didn’t tell you more, but it’s obvious that she didn’t trust you enough. And to be honest, from your behaviour here today, I think that was a good call, don’t you?”
“Mybehaviour? What the...?” I spluttered. “I don’t think you understand. I had to recuse myself from a case that I’d been working on formonths. Clarabelle Mason has completely fucked up my career. I’m under investigation. You can’t imagine the amount of hassle this is going to cause me.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” said Lily, not sounding sorry at all. “This is going to cause you some hassle, is it?” She rolled her eyes. “Give me a break. Take your self-important, pompous arse out of here. We’ve got to start looking for Clara.”
“I cannot understand this attitude,” I snapped. “Quite honestly, it’s ridiculous that you––”
“Oh my God, you aresuchadick!” shouted Lily. My head ticked to the side in surprise, and my eyes narrowed, but Lily continued undeterred. “If you saw Clara with her family, thenshe is not safe.”
“Why wouldn’t she be safe with her family? She’s one of them, for God’s sake! Believe me, I saw her; she was right there with them in full support.”
Mrs Clayton stood up from her chair, patting her hair down. Her previous slip with her emotions forgotten, back to the stoic headmistress that I knew.
“Rafe Sterling,” she said, that thread of steel still there. “You’ve made your threats. You’ve done what you camehere to do. I’m sorry if you think that Clara has messed with your precious career. But I would really like you to leave now.”
“Did you have any contact with her at the court?” Lily asked suddenly. “Did she say anything to you? Did she at least try to…?” She broke off and swallowed before going on. “Did she try to speak to you? It’s really important.”
I shifted uncomfortably on my feet. “She did make an approach after I’d recused myself and been bloody well thrown out of my own courtroom. But I wasn’t in the mood to speak to the architect of my downfall. I’d been humiliated enough.”
“Oh my God,” Lily whispered, her eyes filling with tears. “She tried to stop you. She tried to speak to you, and you brushed her off? Are you serious?”
“What the fuck is going on?” I shouted at them, losing my temper then.
“Just go away, Rafe,” Mrs Clayton said, sounding weary now.
Well fuck it. I wasn’t wasting any more time on some career-ruining bitch and two teachers who weren’t making any bloody sense. Anyway, seeing as Clara hadn’t had the gall to return to work, I didn’t need to throw my weight around to get her fired. I told myself that was a good thing. It meant I wouldn’t have to see her again, and that was the last thing I wanted… wasn’t it? I ignored the deep ache in my chest at the thought of never being near Clara again, and the twist in my gut when my brain conjured up the image of her small face, looking up at me in that corridor yesterday, the desperation I had seen in her eyes. How she’d asked me for help.
I was quite sure her familyweredesperate, and they would only become more so once the next case came tofruition. The evidence against Freddie Mason was overwhelming, and as for the rest of the Mason network… they were fucked.
Even with me out of the picture, the prosecution was solid. Clara probably would do anything to help her brother get off, but I wasn’t going to help her. I wasn’t having her manipulate me any more than she already had. Apart from anything, it could be a career-ending mistake. So I stormed out of the school without looking back.
But as the day went on, I had this nagging feeling in the back of my mind that something was very wrong. That’s why after Ozzie read to me, having been placated with more lies about Clara’s whereabouts, and I put him to bed, I decided to ring Grant.
Grant Mitchell was the main coordinating detective inspector for both Freddie Mason’s case and the case being built against the Mason family. And he was the one who knew the most about the dynamics of the organisation. He picked up after two rings, and I wasted no time telling him why I was calling.
“Clarabelle Mason,” I said simply, and he sighed.
“Where are you going with this, Rafe? I heard what happened in the courthouse. There’s no point in talking to you about Clara.”
I frowned. “Clara? How do you know to call her Clara?”
There was silence on the other end of the line.
“Listen,” I went on, “why wasn’t Clarabelle Mason mentioned in any of the investigating paperwork for the Mason case? You talk about the mum, you talk about every single member of that family, but you don’t mention Clarabelle at all, except in passing.”
“There was no reason to talk about Clarabelle Mason,”he said firmly, having reverted to her longer name, but the slip-up had already been made, and noted by me.
“You know her,” I whispered. “You know Clara, don’t you?”
