Mummy's Little Secret by M. A. Hunter

Author:M. A. Hunter [Hunter, M. A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780008409050
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

I feel terrible for lying to Charlie and Mum, but Rosie made it perfectly clear that she needed to meet me tonight, and I don’t want either of them to know that I mentioned the Morag–Daisy situation to the police, even if Rosie is family. I push my chair down the road to the small parade of shops, under the guise of buying salad to go with tonight’s pizza. The small grocers probably won’t have anything resembling fresh produce, but I’m not worried about returning empty-handed. Charlie always describes lettuce and salad vegetables as rabbit food, and the expression he pulled when I suggested this trip out tells me that he’ll probably be relieved if I fail in my mission.

Rosie is sitting on a public bench outside the hair salon, two doors down from the grocers. I roll over, out of breath from the exertion of the journey. I’m surprised to see a cigarette between her lips, which she quickly stubs out, before averting her eyes in shame.

‘I know, I know,’ she says, fanning away the exhaled smoke, ‘but sometimes I just need something to balance my mood. Don’t tell Charlie. You know how he feels about smoking after Dad passed of lung cancer.’

I wave away her concern; I’m the last person who wants Charlie to know about this rendezvous. ‘What was so urgent? Did you find out something about Daisy? Was I right that she was abducted?’

Rosie’s blonde ponytail swishes against the suit jacket she’s wearing as she looks around, as if suspecting we are being watched and listened to. The charcoal-coloured business suit flatters her complexion, and covers her muscly arms, lending her a more feminine appearance than I’m used to seeing.

‘I can’t say too much,’ she begins, occasionally glancing around us, ‘but I had a look at our caseload for any missing children called Daisy.’

The suspense is killing me. I don’t know why we’ve had to meet in such a clandestine way. ‘And?’

‘And there are no reported missing children from the area called Daisy. You said she was five, right?’

‘Nearly,’ I confirm, remembering Morag had said it was Daisy’s birthday this Friday.

‘Well, I went back over cases from the last five years, and nothing came up. I’m sorry.’

I don’t understand why I feel so disappointed. I suppose if Rosie had managed to uncover Daisy’s true identity, Morag and Angus would be arrested and Daisy returned to her frantic parents. I’m also even more confused about why Rosie felt she couldn’t deliver this message over the phone.

‘Who is this girl?’ Rosie continues, leaning closer towards me. ‘You were vague on Sunday, and I sense there is more you’re not telling me.’

The tar on her breath is off-putting, but I focus on breathing through my mouth so I won’t have to smell it. This is a crucial moment; I feel it in my bones. If I come clean and tell Rosie everything – albeit very little – that I know, it could lead to her digging further into Morag and Angus’s backstory.

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