Date Night (ARC) Read online

  ‘I’m so careful what I put in my body,’ she told her as they were packing up the car with crockery. Libby remembered the event well as there were two vegans attending as well as a guest with coeliac disease; she was quite used to catering for all types of dietary needs. But Libby couldn’t help wondering if Sasha may have, or was heading in the direction of, an eating disorder. She was so thin and obsessed with running too, plus she rarely accepted food while working for her. She thought she’d keep an eye on things, say something if she was worried. But she wasn’t sure if that should be to Sasha or to her mum.

  ‘No, it’s not like her at all,’ Jan said, jangling her keys as she sat perched forward on the edge of the armchair. ‘Well, a couple of times she’s gone off without letting me know where she is. Turned out she was with Matt – he’s got a car, you see – and they once decided to go off for the weekend on a whim. She didn’t have a phone charger with her and was basically having so much fun that she forgot to let me or Phil know.’ Jan rolled her eyes and gave a half-smile, as if this recollection made the current situation not so bad.

  ‘So do you think she might have gone off with Matt now?’ Sean asked, looking hopeful. ‘If his house was deserted and his parents away, maybe they’ve gone somewhere together? Or perhaps gone out for the evening and will go back to his later?’

  Libby knew he was casting about for possibilities.

  ‘They’ve been having problems,’ Jan said, making an exasperated face. ‘As much as you can have relationship problems at their age.’

  Libby nodded. This fitted with what she knew too, from when she and Sasha had chatted.

  ‘Matt’s been messing her about lately,’ Jan went on. ‘Going off with his mates more than usual, and she’s been feeling a bit ignored.’ She exhaled then, her face telling of something else on her mind. She wondered how much Jan was overlaying this situation on top of her own, if indeed the rumours were true. But Libby wasn’t about to pry. The woman looked exhausted and, while she was undeniably pretty – her thick hair framing her face, her slim fingers ending with perfectly painted nails – woman to woman, Libby could tell she looked as though she’d had enough. And, if they hadn’t been in this situation, then she’d have poured a glass of wine for each of them and chatted it out.

  ‘Sash told me once she thought Matt might have someone else – you know, another girl,’ Jan said.

  ‘That sounds tough,’ Libby said, making a face. ‘I know how much she likes Matt. She often talks about him.’

  ‘Yeah, she likes him all right. But, as her mother, I’ve sometimes wanted to step in, take her by the shoulders and tell her to end it. He’s not always treated her right.’ She looked down then, fiddling with the keys. ‘Anyway…’ she finished, looking embarrassed.

  ‘Would you like a cup of tea while we wait?’ Sean said. ‘Unless you think we should go out and look around the village again?’

  ‘Wait?’ Jan said. ‘I think it’s past just waiting now, isn’t it?’ She looked at her watch and took her phone from her coat pocket. ‘I’m going to make a few calls to her friends,’ she said. ‘And her father, of course. I’d be grateful for a cuppa, thank you.’

  Sean nodded and went to the kitchen.

  ‘I sent Matt a Facebook message earlier,’ Libby said. She checked her phone for the hundredth time. ‘But he hasn’t read it or replied yet. I didn’t have his phone number, but I do think it’s worth you calling him.’

  Jan already had her phone to her ear. ‘Matt, yes it’s Jan, hi,’ she said. ‘I’m OK, thanks. You?’ She stared at Libby and made a face. Libby could hear the boy’s voice on the other end of the line and thought he sounded as though he was slurring, plus there was loud music in the background, as if he was in a bar or club.

  ‘I’m just a bit concerned about Sash,’ Jan went on. ‘Can you hear me? Is she with you, Matt?’ She held her breath then her shoulders fell. ‘Oh, OK, that’s a shame. When did you last hear from her?’ Jan held the phone away from her ear and checked the signal. ‘Hello?’ She shook her head as the line went dead, calling him straight back, but Libby heard it divert to voicemail. Jan tried a couple more times before she left a message, urging Matt to call her back as soon as he could.

  ‘No luck, I take it?’ Libby said, just as Sean came back in carrying a tray of mugs. He was about to put it on the coffee table and slide the books out of the way, but thought better of it and set it on a side table instead.

  ‘No,’ Jan said thoughtfully, taking the cup of tea from Sean. ‘He sounded a bit… drunk,’ she added.

  ‘Well, he’s eighteen and it’s Friday night,’ Sean said, sitting down again. ‘Have you tried Sasha’s other friends?’

  ‘I think it’s her dad I need to call next,’ Jan confessed quietly. Sean and Libby didn’t say anything. ‘He’s not been spending much time at home at the moment, you see. She may have gone to him or even his parents. She’s close to her dad.’

  ‘Ah, OK,’ Libby said, not wanting to pry too much. ‘Perhaps he came to pick her up?’

  ‘Yes, that’s what I’m hoping,’ she replied, dialling and waiting again.

  Libby and Sean exchanged glances. It was getting more and more likely that the police would have to be involved, but neither of them wanted to suggest it. That was Jan’s decision to make, though they were aware that time was of the essence if something bad had happened.

  ‘He’s not answering,’ Jan said, ending the call. ‘Probably because he saw my number come up.’

  ‘Can you text him?’ Sean suggested.

  Jan was already tapping at her screen, and followed up by messaging a few of Sasha’s girlfriends. ‘How long do you think I should leave it before I call the police?’ she asked, looking at her watch. ‘It’s after midnight now. This really isn’t like her. And I know she’d never abandon your daughter on purpose. I’m so sorry she did that. Something bad must have happened. Oh…’ Jan covered her face, a couple of sobs bursting between her fingers. Then she sat forward and grabbed Sasha’s phone off the table. ‘And she’d never leave this behind. She’s glued to it.’

  Jan pressed the iPhone’s home button before entering the passcode. ‘She always uses the same code and we sometimes use each other’s phones if one is out of charge,’ she said, thumbing through a few apps, checking call logs and messages.

  ‘Yes, we do the same,’ Libby said, glancing at Sean. Though she couldn’t deny that, over the last few weeks, he’d been more protective of his phone. She thought she’d try his passcode later, if she got the chance, just to see if he’d changed it.

  ‘There’s only a call from you showing, Libby,’ Jan said, putting the phone back on the table. ‘Nothing else recent.’

  ‘Look, Jan, I’m not trying to worry you but I think it’s really time to call the police now,’ Sean said. They both knew this would mean their involvement, maybe giving statements. ‘If nothing else, just to ask for their advice perhaps?’

  Jan nodded slowly, sniffing back tears. ‘Yes, you’re right. I just keep hoping she’ll call me from someone else’s phone, or walk in the door at any moment, all apologetic and ashamed that she left Alice.’ Jan spread her hands wide, allowing them to fall down on her lap.

  Sean googled a number for Jan to call. Time was ticking on and, while no one liked to acknowledge it, a teenage girl disappearing in this way was concerning, and every minute now counted.

  Jan jumped as her phone rang, answering it immediately. ‘Phil, hi, thanks for calling back,’ she said quietly. ‘Yes, I can talk.’ She paused, listening. ‘Oh, OK. Well that’s a worry. When did you last see her?’ Another pause. ‘No, I’m not saying that, I simply asked when you’d seen her, not who else you’d seen. You have to turn things round all the time, don’t you, as if it’s all about you? And I’m not the one doing the accusing, remember?’ Jan sighed, biting on her lip.

  Libby made eye contact with Sean, each of them wondering what Jan meant. Then she got up to look out of the front window in case there was any si
gn of Sasha, while Sean went upstairs to check Alice was still sleeping.

  ‘No,’ Jan said loudly, making Libby jump. ‘I haven’t been out tonight and no one’s been round to the house, for God’s sake, Phil. And what the hell’s that got to do with finding Sash, anyway? I’m glad you’re so concerned about our daughter…’

  Libby sat back down again, perched on the arm of the sofa, sipping her tea while Jan finished the call.

  ‘Look, just let me know if you hear anything from her, OK? And if you can be bothered, or aren’t too pissed, then getting in your car and driving around the area looking for her might be a help.’ She gave an apologetic look to Libby, rolling her eyes. ‘Yes, goodbye.’ And she hung up, dropping her phone back into her bag at her feet, letting out a big sigh. ‘Men,’ she whispered just before Sean came back into the room. ‘He’s not seen Sasha since earlier in the week. He has no idea where she is, though was more interested in what I’d been up to.’ She added the last bit under her breath, making Sean and Libby exchange glances again.

  ‘It’s 101 you need to call,’ Sean said, showing her the police information page he’d found. ‘I think it’s worth reporting this now, Jan. I’m really sorry.’

  Jan nodded. ‘You’re right, I know. It just seems so… real once I do that.’

  ‘Shouldn’t she call 999?’ Libby asked, feeling sick at the thought. ‘Isn’t 101 for non-emergencies?’

  ‘I’m sure they’ll redirect Jan if they think it warrants it,’ Sean said. ‘It’s a start and we don’t want to waste their time.’

  ‘True,’ Jan said as she grabbed her phone and dialled, waiting for the line to connect. Within a few rings it answered, and Jan described the situation to the call handler, giving out details of what she knew. Which wasn’t much at all.

  Fifteen

  ‘I’ve got an incident number,’ Jan said, hanging up. Her face indicated that she didn’t really know what that meant, except it sounded serious. ‘They’re… well, they’re sending someone out.’ She bit on a nail. ‘They thought it best,’ she added.

  ‘That’s a good thing,’ Sean said, reaching over and touching Jan’s hand as it lay on her lap. He gave it a squeeze.

  ‘It really is,’ Libby said, noticing. ‘They have resources, stuff we can’t access. They’ll find out where she is in no time, you’ll see.’ She swallowed, looked away.

  Jan nodded. ‘They said I should wait here. I’m so sorry if I’m keeping you up. But when I explained how she’d disappeared, how old she is, how out of character this is for her, they said they wanted to come out and talk to us tonight. I suppose I could ask them to do it at my place, if you prefer?’

  ‘Don’t be silly,’ Sean said, with Libby echoing agreement. ‘There’ll be questions that need answering and we’re happy to help.’ He gave a decisive nod.

  ‘Truth is, I don’t really want to be alone. Nathan, Sash’s little brother, is sleeping over at a friend’s house tonight so I don’t have to worry about him. He went to the cinema with his mate’s family.’ She forced a small smile, knowing that at least one half of her offspring was safe.

  ‘Can I get you anything?’ Libby asked. ‘Food, water? A drink, perhaps, to settle your nerves?’

  Jan thought for a second. ‘A small drink might help, thank you. I sometimes do.’ Her expression revealed that things hadn’t been easy for her lately.

  Sean went to the drinks cabinet, pouring Jan a small whisky. ‘Here,’ he said, handing her the glass.

  ‘Thanks,’ she said. ‘Though I must stay clear-headed. I want to go out and look for her in the car again.’ She half covered her face with one hand, hanging her head. ‘In fact, what am I even thinking, sitting here doing nothing?’ She put down her drink, got up and dashed to the front window, peering up and down the lane. A fine rain was dribbling down the panes, making the view obscure. ‘My daughter’s out there somewhere and I’m sitting here with a drink.’ She reached for her coat, was about to put it on, but Libby put a hand on her arm.

  ‘Jan, I think it’s best if you stay here for now and wait for the police. Do you know how long they’ll be?’

  ‘Not long, I don’t think,’ Jan said, dropping her coat and sitting down again. Her shoulders were hunched and her face crumpled from worry. ‘They asked if she was vulnerable in any way and, when I said I didn’t think she was but that this was totally out of character, that she’s only seventeen and was meant to be babysitting, that’s when they said they’d come out. As though…’ Jan pulled her cardigan around her, showing off just how thin she was. Just like her daughter, Libby thought. ‘As though they already knew it was bad,’ she whispered, knocking back half of her drink anyway.

  ‘Look,’ Sean said, ‘it’s common knowledge that most people who seem to be missing aren’t actually. There’ll be some story behind this that you had no idea about. You know what teenagers are like,’ he added. ‘Kids get up to all sorts of things behind your back that most parents would be horrified about. Sometimes it’s best that we don’t know.’

  Libby looked at him, tried to signal for him to be quiet, but he didn’t see. Instead, he left her wondering if he was speaking more from past experience than the current situation, given that Alice was only four and Dan, aged fifteen, had been a model son so far.

  * * *

  Forty-five minutes later a police car pulled up in front of the cottage, its lights illuminating the lane, followed shortly by a knock at the door. Sean went to answer, while Libby continued to comfort Jan, who hadn’t had any luck phoning around Sasha’s friends. A couple of them had replied by text, but just to say that they’d heard she was babysitting tonight or hadn’t been in touch. It only added to the frustration.

  ‘Jan,’ Sean said, leading a tall man into the living room. ‘The police are here.’

  The plain-clothes officer ducked his head as he entered, his eyes scanning around as soon as he came in. Behind him, a female officer in uniform followed, removing her hat as she stood behind her colleague. Libby wasn’t sure which was more intimidating – the deep furrows on the man’s brow, his dewy beard and moustache glistening from the drizzle outside and the steely, unreadable look on his face, or the younger officer’s uniform and radio that crackled at her shoulder, the bright yellow of her jacket. Libby decided it was the uniform, and the kit attached to her, that made everything seem unbearable.

  ‘Please, take a seat,’ Sean said to the two officers, gesturing to the sofa. ‘I’m sorry there’s not much space. And just so you know, this is just how we found Sasha’s stuff, so if you’d rather I brought in chairs from the kitchen or we sat elsewhere, that’s fine.’ Libby knew he didn’t want to imply that they may want the sofa undisturbed, therefore suggesting that something bad had happened on it, but didn’t want to be the cause of contamination either.

  ‘Detective Inspector Doug Jones,’ the man said, holding out his hand to Jan. His voice was deep and slow, and oddly reassuring, as if he’d done this a hundred times before and would suddenly make Sasha reappear at any moment. ‘And this is PC Watts,’ he added. ‘And, agreed, let’s go elsewhere, please.’

  A moment later they were all seated around the pine kitchen table with the kettle boiling. It almost felt to Libby as if they’d got a few friends around for a drink, that they should put some music on or get the cards out for a game. The detective, who at first seemed unapproachable, gruff and the type to take no nonsense, had soon put them all at ease and was chatting with Jan as he waited for his drink, a comforting smile breaking through the thickness of his beard and moustache. He turned to Sean and Libby when Jan mentioned that Sasha had been babysitting for them.

  ‘It’s just so out of character for her to take off like this,’ Jan went on. ‘I’m so sorry you’ve been bothered. Friday must be a really busy night for you.’

  The detective didn’t say anything, rather listened and scratched his beard – a mix of black and grey. A pale-blue shirt, dark jacket and jeans made him seem approachable yet entirely capable.
/>   ‘Not at all,’ he replied, stirring his coffee. ‘It’s what we’re here for. So your daughter Sasha was babysitting here from what time?’ he said, looking between Jan, Libby and Sean.

  ‘She arrived about—’

  ‘Seven thirty,’ Sean said, interrupting Libby. PC Watts had a notebook and was jotting everything down, silencing her radio as the chatter continued at her shoulder. ‘Our table was booked for eight, though they don’t mind fifteen minutes either way, and we wanted to have a drink in the bar first. It’s only a short taxi ride from here.’

  Libby nodded, confirming everything Sean was saying.

  ‘So what time did Sasha leave home?’ DI Jones said to Jan.

  Jan looked puzzled for a second. ‘That’s the thing,’ she said. ‘She went straight from college to a friend’s house for some food then came here. I think her mate’s mum must have dropped her off. Is that right?’ Jan looked embarrassed at having to ask Libby and Sean about her daughter’s movements.

  ‘She was alone when I answered the door,’ Sean said. ‘I didn’t see a car and didn’t ask how she got here. I didn’t think to.’

  The detective nodded. ‘And how did she seem when she arrived?’

  ‘Fine,’ Sean said immediately. ‘We’d just finished getting ready and I came down to answer the door. She had her backpack of college books with her and went straight into the living room. Alice was already in bed.’

  Libby looked at Sean, thinking she should add something. ‘I got my coat, came down and said hi to her. As Sean said, she seemed…’ Libby hesitated, ‘absolutely fine. She’d got out some of her books to study. Maths, by the looks of it. They’re still in the living room.’