Page 32 of Don't Believe A Word

‘It wasn’t possible to tell – on a grassy knoll somewhere, on a sunny day. I’ll give them to Jacks to see if he can get any more detail out of them. Anyway, the interesting – and good – news is that Mia has said she wants to talk to me. We just have to hope she doesn’t back out before we can make it happen.’

‘OK, that is interesting. Do we know what brought her to that decision?’

‘She knows we’ve seen the pages Sadie found, so I’m presuming she wants to …explainthem? Ask us to forget all about them? Anyone’s guess until I speak to her.’

‘So does this mean you’ll be going to Guernsey?’

Speaking across the lurch in her heart, Cristy said, ‘If I do go I think you should come too. Can you get away …?’

‘No problem!’ Jodi shouted out. ‘My mum is itching to come and stay, so don’t worry about me and the baby.’

‘You’re assuming I can bear to be parted from you,’ Connor retorted.

‘You managed last night,’ Jodi reminded him.

‘Speaking of which,’ Cristy said, ‘thanks for coming to the gig. Aiden really appreciated it, and you saved me from being landed with Matthew on my own.’ Though her ex-husband had insisted on walking her home last night. She hadn’t let him in, or accepted more than a hug goodbye, despite his best efforts.

‘It was a cool band,’ Connor declared, ‘if you’re into house, and I kind of enjoyed catching up with your ex. If nothing else, he’s always good company.’

‘And there is nothing else,’ Jodi hastily added. ‘Anyway, are you OK, babe? You haven’t seemed yourself lately, and something obviously didn’t go to plan after Con and I left Guernsey at Christmas …’

‘Stop prying,’ Connor scolded.

‘I’m just saying, if you want to chat, or come over and hang out with us, you know we’re always here for you.’

Cristy smiled past the tightness in her throat. ‘Thanks, guys. It means a lot you saying that, but you’ve got enough going on, getting used to being parents …’

‘In the bag,’ Connor insisted. ‘We’re naturals, and we love your company even more than Matthew’s. A lot more than Matthew’s, I should say. Is Aiden still with you at the flat?’

‘He’s not supposed to be, but I won’t know for certain until I get home.’ If he was there it might make it difficult for her to ring David, if she decided to, and she really wasn’t sure she would when he still hadn’t contacted her. ‘Actually, there’s another call coming in,’ she said, realizing she ought to get off the line while tying herself in knots, ‘but I’ll send Sadie’s interview as soon as I’ve uploaded it to my laptop.’

As she ended the call and indicated to leave the Pennsylvania Roundabout to take the A420 back to Bristol, she decided that rather than obsess over her ridiculous personal life she’d catch up on the latest edition ofThe News Agents. It was one of her favourite podcasts and could generally be relied on to provide suitable distraction as well as an interesting take on the world of politics.

She’d got no further than Lewis Goodall’s intro to an interview with a recently disgraced cabinet minister when her phone actually did ring. With an unsteadying surge of nerves she saw it was David, and had already clicked on before realizing that now, while driving country roads in the dark, might not be the best time to talk to him.

‘Hi,’ he said. ‘Can you hear me?’

‘Yes, sorry. I’m in the car. The reception might not be great … How are you?’

‘I’m good. How about you?’

‘Yeah, fine. I’ve just been with Sadie actually, at her boyfriend’s parents’ place.’

‘Anna said you were seeing her today. She also told me about the note, the one that matches the story written in the first pages, about the child’s name being Sasha and that she’s two years old. Have you seen it?’

‘I have.’

‘So is it genuine?’

‘On the balance of probabilities I’d say it is.’

‘OK. So how has Sadie taken it?’

‘It’s unsettled her, as you might expect. I think she’s still in some kind of shock over it.’

‘Has she shown it to Mia?’

‘Not yet, but she assures me she will. Actually, I can understand her reluctance. Wanting to find out the truth is one thing, dealing with it when it comes can be another altogether.’ Realizing she could be talking about herself and their relationship, she quickly added, ‘The problem at this stage is that no one is sure Mia can be trusted to give honest, or even helpful answers. There’s a chance she might speak to me, apparently.’