Schoolgirl Missing: Discover the dark side of family life in the most gripping page-turner of 2019

‘No.’

‘I’ll just wait here in the car, then,’ said Neve.

She watched Poppy go over to the bus stop. None of the other kids looked at her and Neve wondered if that was a conscious decision based on the fact that she was standing guard. She didn’t care. In fact, she was pleased they seemed a little wary of her now. Within a few minutes the St Joseph’s bus pulled up and once Neve had seen Poppy board, she felt happy to leave and head off to her art classes with a clear conscience.

Arriving at the art studio and pushing open the door, Neve was surprised to see the main hall empty. She walked further in and called out. ‘Hello! Jake, are you there?’

She could hear voices coming from the studio at the back and assumed Jake must have a visitor. It was unusual that the studio was empty. Her class was a small group but, all the same, there was usually at least three or four of them there at any one time.

The door opened and Jake appeared. Something about the look on his face stopped Neve in her tracks. A movement behind him caught her attention.

Neve’s heart thudded against the wall of her chest as Kit walked into the main studio right behind Jake. ‘Kit! What are you doing here?’

‘Hello, darling,’ said Kit, walking over to her and slipping his arm around her waist, pulling her towards him so that her stomach was pushed against his groin. He kissed her on the mouth, lingering for an embarrassing moment too long. ‘After our conversation this morning, I thought I’d drop by and see how Jake was.’

Kit released Neve from his clinch but retained a proprietorial arm around her.

‘Hi,’ said Jake, pushing his hands into his pockets. There was an unease about him and Neve wondered if Kit was picking up on this, or whether she was being hyper-sensitive.

‘Jake was just showing me some of your artwork,’ said Kit.

Neve’s whole body tensed. She looked at Jake. ‘You showed him my artwork?’

Jake’s expression was somewhere between apologetic and wary. ‘I thought you said …’ He looked at Kit and then back to Neve.

Kit spoke first. ‘I asked him to. It’s not Jake’s fault. I asked him to show me.’

‘But you know my work here is personal.’ She peeled Kit’s hand from her body and took a step away, before turning to Jake. ‘You shouldn’t have shown him.’ Neve shook her head in silent disbelief. How could Jake betray her like this? He of all people should know that her therapy artwork was private and personal.

‘I’m sorry,’ said Jake.

‘As I said, I didn’t give him a lot of choice,’ said Kit.

Neve strode past the two men and into the smaller studio. On the workbench in the middle on the room were several pieces of her work. She went to touch them, to gather them up but stopped. They somehow now felt tainted. Kit had seen her deepest, darkest thoughts.

‘They’re pretty good,’ came Kit’s voice as he entered the room and stood next to her. ‘I was thinking about getting one framed for you as a surprise for your birthday.’

‘They’re not for display,’ said Neve, looking at the landscape she’d painted from memory. A wide sandy beach, big rolling waves, a wintery sky. Two lone figures standing at the water’s edge.

‘I particularly like this one,’ said Kit, as if watching her gaze. He picked up the painting. ‘That’s very dramatic. In fact, all your paintings are. I love the use of the blues, blacks and greys. It seems quite a theme.’

‘Shut up,’ snapped Neve. She couldn’t stand listening to him. He wasn’t just talking about her paintings, he was talking about her fears, her regrets, her guilt. He was talking about her pain and her shame.

Neve grabbed the painting from Kit’s hand and tore the watercolour in half. She heard Jake swear.

‘Fuck! Neve, what are you doing?’

Kit tried to grab her arm. ‘Hey, hey, hey,’ he said. She snatched her arm away and then, spotting the Stanley knife on the side, she swiped it up and slashed at the acrylic painting that lay on the table. Another one of her secrets exposed for Kit to see.

This time Kit was too strong to shrug off as his hand clamped down over her wrist, bending her arm to the side until she was forced to drop the blade. Meanwhile, Jake had rushed over and was pulling the other two paintings away from harm.

‘Get off me,’ said Neve. ‘You’re hurting me.’

Kit let go of her wrist. ‘Let’s get you home,’ he said, cupping her elbow in the palm of his hand in an attempt to guide her away.

Neve shrugged him off. ‘I’m perfectly capable of getting myself home. I don’t want you anywhere near me right now.’ She turned to Jake. ‘And that goes for you too.’

With that, she darted from the studio, through the larger one and out into the car park, gulping for fresh air.

‘Bastards!’ she yelled. ‘Both of you. Bastards!’

The sound of laughter had her spinning round on her heel tracing the source of the noise.

Leaning against the gatepost was Lee. ‘Tut, tut, tut, Neve,’ he said. ‘That’s not very ladylike.’

‘What are you doing here?’ demanded Neve.

‘Thought I’d join the art class. We could buddy up.’

Neve glanced back to the studio and through the full length windows, she could see Kit and Jake talking in the main studio. She took her chance and stomped over to Lee. ‘Didn’t I make it clear enough yesterday?’ she hissed. ‘You’re not welcome here. Now why don’t you just piss off back to where you came from?’

‘Next you’ll be telling me this town ain’t big enough for the both of us and demanding I’m out of here by noon. Now where’s the fun in that?’ said Lee. ‘Besides, I quite like Ambleton. I’m just beginning to settle in and make new friends.’

Neve glared at him. She just wanted him to go away. To leave her alone. She didn’t understand why he’d turned up now or what his motive was, but he had the potential to ruin everything. If Kit found out about her past, he’d leave her, she was sure, and then where would she be? She couldn’t imagine Jake would want anything to do with her either. No husband, no partner all equalled no child. She needed to get rid of Lee but threatening him and making an enemy of him clearly wasn’t going to work. She’d have to get smart.

‘Look, Lee, we seem to have got off on the wrong foot. Maybe we should start again?’

‘Well, you changed your tune quickly.’

Neve glanced back at the art studio. ‘My husband’s in there and if he sees you, he’s not likely to be very happy. Maybe you should make yourself scarce. I’ll text you and we can catch up another day. Properly. Like old friends should.’

Lee cocked his head to one side as if contemplating Neve’s little speech. He pushed himself away from the gatepost. ‘OK,’ he said. ‘I’ll go. I don’t quite know what your game is, Neve, but I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.’

‘No game,’ said Neve.

‘Yeah right. See you soon then.’

‘I’ll text.’

Neve drummed her fingers on the gatepost as she watched Lee saunter back down Copperthorne Lane. He’d underestimated her. If she was going to turn this situation around, she needed to play him at his own game. What was that saying about keeping your friends close, but your enemies closer? She was about to put that into practice.

Chapter 9 (#ulink_5c6740cb-4cc4-5dec-911d-90a0ca7db9ef)

Kit was surprised to find the house empty when he got back. He assumed Neve had stormed off home but her car wasn’t on the drive and only Willow greeted him. Not that he was expecting a fanfare from his wife, more like a blazing row, but it was something he could deal with. After all, he had only gone there to try to understand Neve more. All right, it was a bit of male pride too, he had done a bit of strutting and preening to remind Jake that Neve had a husband.

Neve had once called it his silverback gorilla mentality when he had got pissed off with one of Neve’s male work colleagues whom she had gone for a drink with one lunch time, apparently to talk over some new assessment system they were implementing at the college where Neve was a learning support worker. Kit had hit the roof and then proceeded to meet Neve for lunch every day for the next week to warn the bloke off. They had moved to Ambleton shortly after that, Kit had made sure the commuting distance was unrealistic and he encouraged Neve to resign. Since then, he’d managed to find a reason for Neve not to apply for any other jobs she’d looked at. So much so, he was inclined to believe she’d given up on the idea – it wasn’t like they needed the money, as Kit liked to remind her, and being able to be at home for Poppy had a major influence on Neve’s decision not to go back to work.

In all honestly, Kit hated the thought of Neve out working, especially when she didn’t have to. He liked providing for his family, it made him feel good about himself. He considered it his job. He knew it was probably an old-fashioned way of thinking these days, but all the time his father was in good health, he’d worked and his mother had stayed at home. Kit had valued this as a child and he wanted his own daughter to have the same security as he’d experienced. This was especially so, given Poppy’s extra needs. Besides all that, he knew being at home wasn’t any less demanding than going out to work. He didn’t want Neve to have to juggle home and work. He didn’t only want her at home, he needed her at home. Ultimately, it meant he could work all the hours he needed and Poppy would always have the care she needed.