Not My Child by Samantha King

Author:Samantha King [King, Samantha]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2022-05-23T12:00:00+00:00

Chapter 33

KEW, SOUTH-WEST LONDON

Friday, 3 September; 12.55 p.m.

As I gave Billy one last cuddle, it was on the tip of my tongue to ask him if Daddy had ever taken him to see Aunty Bea, as he called her, alone, without me. I couldn’t shake the thought that her house in Richmond, ten minutes up the road from our apartment, was where Daniel had guessed Billy might be, after he’d gone missing …

But I didn’t want to worry Billy; all I’d ever wanted was to give him a happy life. If Daniel was having doubts about sharing that life with me, he needed to say so. No more secrets. I wanted the truth, and as soon as things were resolved with Billy, I would demand it.

‘If this is all so straightforward, why didn’t you bring the police? Or a lawyer?’ I heard Daniel say as I returned to the kitchen, leaving Billy to play with his new favourite train.

I saw Daniel step quickly away from Eve, and I groaned as I realised they’d been arguing the whole time I was out of the room. I hated this conflict in our home; it wasn’t doing any of us any good, least of all Eve, by her pained expression.

‘I didn’t have time to arrange one,’ she said, her pale face flushed and blotchy now. ‘I only saw your photo last week. It didn’t take me long to find you, but Jack had to sort out mooring rights for the boat.’ She huffed. ‘People always think boats can go anywhere, but there’s so much paperwork. Records to fill in. A whole history of names, dates, times—’

‘Presumably you looked up the bank where I work.’ Daniel frowned as he held up a hand, cutting her off. ‘You must have found a phone number. Why didn’t you just call me?’

‘I wanted to see Billy first. To be sure. But if you’d like to give me your number now.’ She took a phone out of her pocket, dangling it between her fingers.

‘Oh. That’s mine.’ Immediately, I recognised the sunflower case with a cracked corner: Billy had broken it last week, and I hadn’t got around to replacing it. ‘I thought I’d lost it,’ I said, wondering how on earth Eve had got hold of it.

‘You did. When you ran away from me at the school. And I found it.’

‘It wasn’t actually you I was running away from,’ I muttered, still thinking about Bea.

‘When you ran away from your guilty conscience, then.’

I held out my hand. ‘Please. Just give it back.’

‘I haven’t finished with it yet. I’ve been enjoying the pictures of Billy.’ She started swiping through them. ‘You really should set a passcode on your phone, you know?’

‘Give it back,’ I said, more sharply now. I couldn’t bear the thought of Eve looking through my private everyday snaps – little moments with Billy that I’d wanted to capture for myself. It felt like she was invading my life – my family.

‘Sure.’ Eve tucked the phone into her pocket.

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