The Secret Mother(44)

‘I know I can come across like a bull in a china shop,’ she says. ‘That’s just the way I am, it’s what makes me good at my job. My mum says I’m determined.’

‘That’s one way of putting it,’ I say with a reluctant smile.

‘Okay, Tessa, how about this…?’

I shake my head at her continued perseverance. ‘I’m sorry, but it’s no good, Carly. I’ve had enough. I need to go to bed and you need to leave.’

‘Please come and sit back down. Listen to my final offer. If you don’t like it, I’ll leave you alone and never bother you again. Not even to borrow a pint of milk when I’ve run out.’

‘Is that a promise?’ I murmur.

‘Yes, it’s a cross-my-heart-and-hope-to-die promise.’ She gestures to the empty chair and I gingerly sit back down. ‘So,’ she begins, ‘the way I see it, Fisher’s hiding something. If you did speak to him, you probably know more than I do. But I can help you dig deeper and find out how his son ended up at your house. If we work on this together, we’ve got a better chance of discovering the truth. True, I’m doing this for my career, but… I also like you – despite what you might think – plus I can’t stand it when someone gets away with something. And I think Fisher is getting away with something, and I think you do too.’

She leans back in her chair and laces her fingers together. ‘So how about this: we tell each other everything we find out. I promise not to sell the story until we’ve discovered all there is to know. You can read what I write, plus you get to veto anything you don’t like. But I have exclusivity so you can’t tell anyone else.’

I absorb her words, turning them over in my mind like coins to be weighed and measured. If I don’t go for her terms, then I’m back to where I was before. Stuck. Knowing nothing. Accepting that I’ll never find out what really happened with Harry. If I do accept her deal, then I’m putting my fate in her hands, hoping she’ll be true to her word and that she won’t sell me out the minute I’ve confirmed I went to see Fisher.

I realise that coming here to fix my window was a ruse to get in and have me confide in her. Either that, or an opportunity to snoop while I was out. But how else am I going to get answers? Sod it, I may as well tell her. Ultimately, I need her help. ‘Okay,’ I say. ‘But I want you to put it in writing.’

She gives me a quizzical look.

‘Your proposition, what you just told me. Put it in writing and sign it.’ I walk over to the odds-and-ends drawer and pull out an old sketchbook and a biro, sliding them across the table towards her.

‘Not sure it’s legal if it hasn’t been witnessed,’ she says.

‘Just write it out and sign and print your name with the date,’ I say. ‘That will be good enough for me.’

I pace the kitchen while she writes out the deal and signs her name. I take the proffered sketchbook from her, read through what she’s written and then sign my name underneath hers.

‘So,’ she says. ‘Are we good?’

I nod and sit back down as Carly takes a small notebook and pencil out of her handbag.

‘You’re right,’ I say. ‘I went to see James Fisher.’

‘I’m impressed.’ She exhales. ‘You have got balls after all.’ I can almost hear the cogs whirring in her brain. Does she have a story for me? Is this going to be great for my career? Am I going to make a mint? ‘So, you went to see him,’ she continues. ‘And he spoke to you.’

‘More like he yelled at me and I almost got arrested,’ I say, twisting my lips into a scowl at the memory.

‘Tell me exactly what happened,’ she says.

I describe my trip to Cranborne. How I went around the back of Fisher’s house and knocked on his door. I tell her what I said to him and how he yelled at me. I don’t mention seeing Harry in the hallway. It’s not relevant to anything and I somehow feel uncomfortable about it.

She nods and makes uh-huh noises as I recount the day’s events, rounding off with the police visit. With them issuing me a PIN warning me to stay away from Cranborne unless I want to be arrested.

Her forehead furrows.

‘Something wrong?’ I ask.

‘Uh, is that it?’ she says.

‘What do you mean?’

‘Well, you’ve basically just told me that you went onto Fisher’s private property and he told you to get lost.’

I nod. ‘Yes, because that’s what happened.’

‘I thought you’d had an actual conversation with him, that he’d told you something interesting. We’re no further along than we were before.’

‘But it shows he has something to hide, doesn’t it? Him being so aggressive towards me.’

‘No, Tessa. He did what anyone would do if a stranger suspected of abducting their child showed up at night in their back garden, banging on the door.’

‘Fine,’ I snap. ‘You wanted to know what happened, so I told you.’

‘Thanks for nothing,’ she murmurs, stuffing her notebook and pencil back in her bag and rising to her feet.

God, I want to slap her. ‘You’re the one who came round here uninvited, Carly. You’re the one demanding I share my life with you. So don’t go getting all stroppy when I don’t tell you what you want to hear.’