Her One Mistake(12)

Of course this is not okay, a voice screamed inside her head. How could it possibly be okay?

Brian’s precious fishing rods clanked against the path as he threw them down, looking from the policewoman to his wife, his face startled and searching for one of them to tell him what to do. He didn’t know whether to drag Harriet into the house or leave her there to punch out the ground as she had started doing.

“What happened?” she cried. “What happened?”

“I really think we should get inside,” Brian urged, looping his arms under his wife’s and pulling her up and into his chest. Harriet allowed herself to sink into him; his arms swallowed her up as he tugged her along. With one hand he searched for a key in his back pocket and fumbled it into the lock. “This is Officer Shaw and she’s going to tell us everything,” he said.

? ? ?

THE HODDERS’ HOUSE was unfailingly dark. Despite the bright afternoon, Brian needed to switch on a light in the hallway. The door to the kitchen at the far end was closed, as was the one on the right, making the small hallway even pokier.

Brian opened the door on the right, gently maneuvering Harriet into their neat, square living room and onto the sofa. Officer Shaw followed them, and even with only the three of them in it, it felt cramped.

“Will someone just tell me what happened?” Harriet said.

The policewoman sat in the armchair and shuffled to its edge so she could face Harriet and Brian, who were now side by side on the sofa. “Your friend, Mrs. Reynolds, was looking after your daughter today?”

Harriet nodded, feeling her husband wriggle awkwardly next to her. Out of the corner of her eye she could see him looking at her quizzically but she kept her gaze on Officer Shaw, who had paused momentarily, distracted by Brian’s jerky movements. “I’m so sorry.” She turned back to Harriet. “I know how difficult this must be to hear, but Alice has disappeared from the school fair. We have officers looking and—”

“When? When did she disappear?” Harriet asked.

“We received the call at one fifty this afternoon.”

“And what happened?” Harriet demanded. She felt her hand shaking inside Brian’s tight grasp.

Officer Shaw inhaled loudly through her nose, and didn’t appear to exhale. “Your daughter had gone on an inflatable obstacle course. She ran around the back and that was the last Mrs. Reynolds saw of her.”

“I don’t understand,” Brian said. “You mean like a bouncy castle? What was she doing at the back of it? Alice wouldn’t do that.”

“No, it wasn’t a bouncy castle. It’s called a Jungle Run,” the policewoman said.

“But Alice hates anything like that.” Brian shook his head. His grip on Harriet’s hand tightened. “She’s never been on such a thing. Why would she go on one today?”

Officer Shaw pressed her lips flatly together. It was obvious she couldn’t answer his question.

Brian continued to stare at her. “She probably got scared,” he cried. “She’d have hated it.” Harriet felt his shoulders rise and dip with his deep breaths. “But maybe that’s a good thing?” he said. “It means she probably ran off rather than someone took her?”

“We are trying to ascertain what happened, Mr. Hodder.”

“I want to go,” Harriet said. “I need to see it.”

The policewoman shook her head. “It’s better if you’re both here right now.”

“No. My wife’s right,” Brian said. “I want to see this thing too. None of this makes sense.”

“Mr. and Mrs. Hodder, please,” the policewoman urged, “you’ll be helping much more if you stay put. We need you at home for when there’s news.”

Brian tensed beside her but he didn’t persist. “Where was Charlotte when all this happened?” he asked instead, his gaze drifting over to Harriet and then back to Officer Shaw. “When she was supposed to be looking after our daughter. I mean, how did Alice even manage to go anywhere without her seeing? She should have had her eyes on her the whole time.” Harriet could almost feel his rising panic; his breaths had become more rapid. The thought of a mother not watching a child—it was something she knew filled Brian with dread.

“Charlotte couldn’t see the back of it from where she was,” the officer said. “And when Alice didn’t come off, they searched the fields and then raised the alarm. I believe she did everything she could to—”

“To what?” Brian cried out. Officer Shaw dropped her eyes. “She did everything she could to look for her, is that what you were about to say? She should never have lost her in the first place!” He shook his head and slumped back into the sofa, pulling his arms away from Harriet and cradling his head in his hands.

“I’m sorry,” the policewoman said. “I didn’t mean to upset you, Mr. Hodder. The area is being thoroughly searched and everything is being done to ensure Alice will be brought home safely.” She paused, her eyes flicking nervously between the two of them again, making Harriet think the officer didn’t believe her own words. “We are doing everything we can,” she said more quietly.

Brian’s body was hard and heavy and uncomfortably close against Harriet. She could feel the tightness of his muscles. Fear seeped out of him and bled into her until she wanted to move away so she didn’t have to feel it. Every so often his eyes glanced toward her. She knew there was something he needed to get off his chest.