Page 125 of Stolen Ones

‘Can’t get him to ask him. He’s not answering his phone.’

‘I’m sure there’s an innocent reason for that.’

Just one word. Subtle. Put the word out there, plant the thought. Give it time to grow.

‘Good gardeners are always busy. I had a really good one. Couldn’t do enough for his customers. Used to come to trim the hedges but ended up mowing the lawn and jet washing the slabs. Sometimes he’d be there all day.’ She smiled and rolled her eyes. ‘I didn’t half learn a lot about his home life: cheating missus, rebellious kids, the lot. Gardeners are good guys,’ she said with a smile.

‘He could be up to anything while I’m in here,’ Lisa said, scratching at the skin between her thumb and her forefinger.

‘Of course he could.’ She paused. ‘But you can’t think like that. You’ve got to trust him. It’s not like he’s cheated on you before.’

Her face fell further. ‘He did once, about a year ago. He got drunk and had a one-night stand.’

‘Well, at least he told you about it,’ Alex said.

‘His mate told me,’ she said, raking at that small area of skin.

‘Oh, okay,’ Alex said, appearing to be at a loss for words. ‘But that’s not to say he’s going to do it again. It was obviously just sex because you were—’

‘But I’m not there, am I? He doesn’t have me to come home to,’ she said as the tears sprang once more into her eyes. ‘For all I know he’s already met someone, and I’m not talking about just sex. What if he meets someone at work and it’s more than sex? What if he has another woman around my child? Another woman putting my baby to bed at night, singing to her, feeding her, rocking her back to sleep, calling her mum?’

Alex knew that picture had been playing over and over in her mind. It was her worst fear.

‘You can’t think like that. He’ll wait for you. A lot, I mean, some men are stronger than—’

‘But not all. He’s already done it once and now I’m not even there. I can’t bear these thoughts, these pictures in my head of other women around my child. It’s driving me insane, and the warden hasn’t come back to me about recommending early release.’

Alex knew Lisa had put everything into her extenuating circumstances appeal. She’d had a meeting with Warden Siviter a week ago. It was her final bullet.

‘Oh, you haven’t been told yet?’ she asked innocently.

‘You know something?’ Lisa asked as the scratching paused for just a second.

‘No…I mean…not…It’s just something.’

‘Tell me, Alex.’

‘No, I might have got it wrong.’

‘Just tell me what you know.’

Alex sighed heavily and hesitated while she saddled up the wild horses to drag it out of her mouth.

Remove all hope.

‘I just overheard a conversation. That’s why I came to see if you were okay with the news.’

‘What news?’

‘Oh, Lisa, I don’t want to—’

‘What news?’

‘The warden isn’t putting you forward. She thinks you’ll be refused.’

Alex hid her delight as she watched any hope fade away and the realisation that there was no escape. There would be no early release; her boyfriend would be out there all alone; her baby would be without her for years. Her boyfriend wouldn’t visit, and her child would forget all about her.

‘Lisa, I’m sorry. I thought you knew.’