‘Ha! For a minute, I thought you said you were being arrested.’
‘I am. I did. Ash is here to take me into custody.’
‘What?!’ Fiona’s outrage is loud enough for Ash to hear. I give him a look that says,You see?He frowns and makes a winding-up motion with his finger.
‘Fi, can you take the boys back to yours while I try to straighten this out?’
‘Shit. Are you okay? Don’t worry, I’ll pick up the kids right now. Are they at yours?’
‘Yes.’ My voice breaks. Hearing Fiona’s concern is undoing me.
‘Kelly, don’t worry. We’ll sort this out, okay? And the boys can stay with me for as long as you need.’
‘Hopefully it won’t be for long.’
‘Don’t worry about that. Why were you arrested? Surely it’s a mistake. Shall I call someone? A lawyer?’
Ash is holding his hand out for my mobile.
‘Look, Fi, I have to go.’
He finally takes my phone from me and puts it back into my bag. ‘PC Shales will stay with the boys until Fiona gets here.’
‘Thanks.’ At least that’s something, I suppose. At least I don’t have to worry about my boys for now. ‘I can’t believe you’re doing this, Ash. After what happened with Michael last year. After what the kids went through. And now you’re putting us through whatever charade this is!’ I’m not normally an angry person. I’m calm, even-natured, gentle. But right now, I want to yell at Ash and pummel his chest in frustration. This is ridiculous. Whatever I’m supposed to have done, I bloody well didn’t do it.
At that moment someone steps out from the back of the ambulance. It’s Sophie. She’s red-faced, like she’s been crying.
‘Sophie! Are you okay? What happened? Was it Greg? Did he come looking for you?’ I turn to Ash. ‘Is she under arrest too? Did Greg report her to the police, is that it? Because you should know that Sophie’s hiding from him. She’s scared. He’s been abusive—’
‘Okay,’ Ash says firmly, ‘that’s enough now. Save it for when we’re at the station.’
Sophie has stopped dead in her tracks. I notice her wrists and ankles have red welts around them, as though she’s been tied up. When she spots me, her face drains of all colour. She lifts her arms slowly and points in my direction.
‘That’s her,’ she says, her eyes sharp with fear. ‘That’s the woman who drugged me and locked me in her attic. I… I thought she was going to kill me.’ Her breathing is ragged, and she sounds like she’s about to have a panic attack.
I stare back at Sophie in mounting confusion and horror. ‘What are you talking about? Sophie, it’sme, Kelly.’
But she turns away and is led back into the ambulance by a paramedic.
I look at Ash. ‘What did she say to you? I don’t understand. I was helping her! You can ask my kids. They’ll tell you.’
Ash leads me to the police car and puts a protective hand over my head as I duck into the back seat. He’s now avoiding all eye contact with me. Can he really believe I’m guilty of what Sophie’s accused me of? Before he closes the door, I try to appeal to his paternal instincts. ‘Can I just go and tell Ryan and Sonny not to worry? Won’t you at least allow me that?’
‘You don’t want them seeing you upset like this, Kelly. It’s better if my colleague explains.’
‘But what will she say?’
‘She won’t make you look bad.’
‘Bit late for that.’
‘She’ll tell them you need to answer some questions.’ Ash closes the door and all I can do is look out the window. But I can’t even see my two from in here. I wish I could at least give them an encouraging smile, so they’ll know I’m not upset.
Embarrassingly, several of my neighbours are out in the street, and while they’re not overtly gawping, I can tell they’re fascinated by what’s happening, giving me sideways glances. No doubt they’ll all get together when I’ve gone to have a good speculative gossip. But I don’t care about any of that. I’m still totally bewildered by Sophie’s accusation, and I’m devastated that my children have had to witness their mother being arrested. We were on our way home to have a nice family evening. How did it turn intothis?
It hits me now how stupid I’ve been, letting this stranger into my home. I was arrogant and self-righteous, thinking I was doing this good thing. Helping a girl in distress. Being kind. When all I’ve really done is put my family in jeopardy.
Twenty-Six
