“Not helping!” Jenny shouted her down. “Fox, I’ve got Sally’s home address from when I did a deep dive into her. You can go to her house to make sure she’s got nothing to do with this.”
Haze’s hands were shaking. “If sheisinvolved, I swear I will fucking lose my mind. You invited that woman into your life, and she’s a psycho!”
“I was trying to do the right thing! I was struggling and I got help. How was I to know she was an unstable stalker?”
“Because you should always think the worst of everyone!” Haze’s arms dropped to her sides. “Isn’t that what this has taught us? Never trust anyone!” Her voice cracked. “We’ve got to find her.”
“We will. Of course we will.” I put my hands on her shoulders. “We’re going to get her back. She’s going to be fine.”
Haze looked up at me. Her body rigid. A beat. And then she collapsed into my chest. I held her close.
“We need to move.” Jenny stood up from the table.
We unraveled from each other as Haze reached for her sweater.
“I’ve got two Ford Fiestas leaving this area in the right timeframe. I’ve got the number plates of each, and the last location sighting on CCTV. Haze, you’re on the one with a number plate ending in OGE.”
We had a plan. And we had each other. I had two knives on me. Haze had one in her back pocket, and Danny’s gun in her waistband. Jenny picked up the knife from the chopping board.
We were ready to get Bibi back.
—
Sally lived half an hour away from us in Surrey. I hadn’t known she was that close. Close enough, I realized with a creeping dread, to easily come and spy on us.
Weaving through traffic on my motorbike, the loud thrum of the engine was doing little to drown out the thoughts going round and round in my head.
One question kept coming back. How had she known to call me Fox?
This trip was just to rule her out. Just because she’d developed what was clearly an unhealthy fixation with me didn’t mean she’d take my child.
She lived in a terraced house on a long street of identical houses. Her small back garden overlooked a footpath. I charged down it and climbed over the fence.
From the end of the garden, it looked as if Sally was sitting watching television. I could make out her outline in a fluffy dressing gown in an armchair. A bowl on her lap. If you’d just kidnapped someone’s daughter, it was doubtful you’d be so relaxed. But she could be a sociopath who didn’t think anything of it. I needed to get closer.
I creeped up to the garden door just as a security light came on, illuminating me. Sally turned toward the light, saw me, and screamed.
I opened the door and walked in. “Shush! Sally, it’s me.”
She half swallowed her scream and spoke with a quivering voice. “Why are you here? How did you get this address?”
She stayed stuck to her armchair, the remote control gripped in her hand. I saw her glance at her mobile phone, which lay on the coffee table.
I was now aware of how it looked. I was a patient, turning up at my therapist’s unlisted address. At night.
“My daughter is missing.”
“And…and you want a therapy session?”
“No! I’m checking she’s not here.” I took another step toward her, and she cowered further into the armchair. “Just walk around your house with me and then I’ll be gone.” I beckoned her with my hand.
She got unsteadily to her feet. “Why wouldIhave her?”
I took her by the arm and led her through to the hallway. It wouldn’t take long to ascertain if Bibi was here.
“You were clearly upset about me quitting our sessions.” I checked the small bathroom off the hallway. Empty. I led her up the stairs.
“You thought I’d take your child as revenge for you quitting? How does your mind work?”
