‘Kids, eh?’ Lyra said from behind.
Kim tried to imagine Ava amongst this gang. She couldn’t even imagine the fun these kids would have with Ava’s prosthetic. Nothing in her childhood had prepared her for this.
A feeling of sickness overwhelmed her.
‘You wanna see upstairs?’ Lyra asked.
No, she really didn’t. What she wholeheartedly wanted to do was grab the Chances by their throats and throw them around the room for the heartbreak they’d caused. She wanted half an hour with the children to teach them some manners. She wanted the power to prevent the inevitable.
‘No, I’ve seen enough, thank you. I’ll see myself out.’
She headed at speed for the front door and closed it behind her.
* * *
As she leaned against it, a head popped out of the neighbour’s property. ‘Everything okay?’
Kim nodded and walked towards her.
The woman stepped out and pulled the door closed behind her, looking back furtively.
‘You sure everything’s okay?’ she repeated. The woman’s efforts to appear as though nothing was amiss was having the exact opposite effect.
A niggle of alarm shot through her. This woman couldn’t have been any clearer that she was hiding something if she’d been holding a sign.
‘I’m good. What about yourself?’ Kim asked, standing before her.
‘Yeah, yeah, all good. Just checking.’
‘Lyra was here a minute ago,’ Kim said, crossing her arms.
Fear seeped into her features. ‘Yeah, we’re neighbours. Always popping in and out. Just having a chat, you know, passing the time of day, like neighbours do.’
Her determination to show that it had been just an innocent chat told Kim it was anything but.
Kim considered the woman’s manner combined with what was happening later.
‘Dropping something off, was she?’ Kim asked, moving towards the door.
‘Just a bit of shopping. Good as gold she is.’
Kim wondered if she had any idea that every time she opened her mouth, she inflated Kim’s suspicions more. Lyra was definitely not a woman given to assisting anyone other than herself, and this lady looked perfectly able to fetch her own shopping.
‘Oh yeah, like what?’
‘Just stuff.’
‘I think you’re lying to me, but without a warrant there’s not a lot I can do. So, guess what – I’m just gonna ask you a couple of questions and trust you tell me the truth. Save us both a lot of bother, eh?’
The woman shrugged.
‘I’m assuming Lyra has dropped something off that she’s going to collect later?’
‘Maybe.’
‘Something she doesn’t want in the home when social services turn up?’
The reddening of the woman’s face answered the question.
