Page 112 of The Stolen Child

‘Wait,’ Kimberly said, holding her hand up. ‘Just wait a moment. Don’t you want to hear about him first? About where we’ve been?’

Sally desperately craved every single detail, but she didn’t trust Kimberly not to bolt.

‘You said yourself there’s nowhere for me to run. Sit down. Please. Let me explain. I owe you that much, at least.’

‘I’ll give you five minutes, but I’m fine standing,’ Sally spat back at her.

Kimberly returned to the sofa and sat down again, crossing her legs elegantly. Sally could hardly fathom that this woman was the same person who once had been her best friend – her sister in every way but blood.

‘You must hate me,’ Kimberly said. ‘And I don’t blame you. I hate myself.’

‘Save me the theatrics.’ Sally replied acidly.

Kimberly sighed. ‘You have to believe me. I didn’t plan it. When you refused to leave, I knew I had to save Robert.’

‘Would you stop calling him that? His name is Zach!’ Sally shouted. She’d never felt rage like this before, and it took all her strength and willpower not to rush at Kimberly, as she’d threatened only a few moments before.

‘Okay. Zach it is.’ Kimberly smiled pleasantly. ‘But you need to know that he answers to Robert now. He has a little sister, Lily. She’s six months old. And he has the most wonderful father. Jason. Who adores him as if he were his own child. He has the life that you always wanted for him. But that he could never have with Ian Baldwin.’

Sally could not believe her ears. ‘Are you telling me that my son is better off with you, in some fantasy make-believe world, than with me, his mother?’

Kimberly didn’t respond, and Sally said incredulously, ‘You genuinely believe that, don’t you?’

‘You left me no choice but to run. For Rober . . . I mean Zach’s sake, I had to leave. I was scared for him . . . for you too.’

Sally had heard enough. She needed to see her son, and hold him in her arms. ‘I’m done listening. I’m going to the captain and he can call the Spanish police. And I am taking back my little boy!’

Sally opened the door of the salon, but before she could leave she felt two arms pull her from behind, dragging her forcibly back into the room.

‘I can’t let you do that, Sally. You’re going nowhere. Not until you hear me out.’

BEFORE

July 1983

Sally

The Carousel, Spanish Coast

Sally’s breath quickened as she listened to Kimberly go through all that had transpired since that fateful day at Elite in London. She began to clap slowly when Kimberly finished her account.

‘You fell in love. You met a man and decided to play happy families with him. With my child. That’s your explanation of why you abducted my son.’

‘You make it sound so sinister,’ Kimberly replied, her face flushed with affront.

‘It is sinister. You can try and dress that up as much as you like, but the bottom line is this irrefutable fact. You abducted a child, Elsie.’

‘I love him,’ Kimberly said, her eyes glassy with tears. ‘Robert is my world – him, Lily and Jason. We’re a family. We love each other. And, I told you,’ her voice hardened, ‘I’m Kimberly now.’

Sally clenched her fists by her side, her nails pinching her palms. ‘He is not yours, though! And what about me? Your oldest friend from childhood. Do you even care about the devastation you left in your wake? The hell you put me through?’

Kimberly’s breath quickened, and she raised a hand to her temples as she listened to Sally.

‘When we found Zach’s empty pram, Nicola stayed in the salon, in case you came back, and I began running up and down the streets, searching for you.’

‘You were supposed to follow me to Ireland!’ Kimberly said, her voice rising an octave in accusation. ‘I knew you’d never leave Baldwin!’

‘Oh, I left Ian. But how could I follow you when I didn’t know where you’d gone?’ Sally cried. ‘You disappeared off the face of the earth!’