Her One Mistake(70)
“How come you never told me?” she asked slowly.
“I was too ashamed,” Harriet said. “He was making it seem like I was crazy, and for a long time I thought he was right.”
Yet you’ve just kidnapped your own daughter, Charlotte thought, remembering Brian telling her he was worried because Harriet had left Alice in the car and forgotten all about her.
“You have to believe me,” Harriet begged.
Charlotte rested the back of her head against the wall behind her. How could Harriet expect her to believe anything she said now?
“I’ve got no one else I can ask and I’m sorry but please, you have to help me find Alice.”
Harriet’s fear sounded genuine, but Charlotte didn’t have any idea what to do. She listened as Harriet told her about her dad not answering her calls and the empty cottage where Alice should be.
“But they could be anywhere. How long have you waited?” Charlotte couldn’t believe she was already trying to placate her friend, but the pain in Harriet’s voice was very real.
“I know something’s not right,” Harriet said. “I can feel it.”
“You need to call the police, Harriet. There’s nothing I can do.”
“I can’t,” Harriet cried. “If I call them I have to admit this is all my fault. If I do—” she broke off. “I could go to prison. Brian would have custody of Alice, and that can’t happen, Charlotte. You have to understand, I cannot let him have my daughter.”
“What are you asking me to do?”
“Come here. Help me find her.”
“Seriously—” Charlotte broke off and gave a short laugh. She couldn’t get embroiled in Harriet’s plan any further. The very idea of driving to Cornwall to aid a friend who’d betrayed her was ridiculous.
“I’m in a place called West Aldell,” Harriet was telling her, and began reeling off the address of Elderberry Cottage. “I’ve already looked at the beach, but I’ll wait at the cottage for you.”
“No, Harriet. You need to tell someone who can help you and it’s not me.”
“There is only you.” Harriet sounded almost hysterical at the other end of the line. “Charlotte, I know you don’t know whether to believe me or not, but you have to know by now that I would do anything for Alice.”
“Please don’t ask this of me,” she said. There was silence at the end of the phone, and for a moment Charlotte thought Harriet had hung up. “Harriet? Are you listening to me?”
“I can’t not ask,” she whispered. “If I don’t, then it’s over.”
CHARLOTTE
Charlotte pulled out of her driveway and to the end of the cul-de-sac. Her shoulders ached with tension. She’d have thought the weight of her own responsibility would have shifted now that she knew it hadn’t been her fault, but if anything it was worse.
She couldn’t get her head around the degree to which her friend had betrayed her. Her life had been pulled apart, everything she thought she knew about herself had shattered. Her friends didn’t trust her, hell, she didn’t trust herself anymore. Charlotte’s happy existence had been ripped at the seams and it was all Harriet’s fault.
She had only ever been a good friend to Harriet, taking her under her wing when Harriet needed it most. And this is what she did in return?
Everything rooted deep inside Charlotte told her to call Captain Hayes. She needed to extricate herself from this mess she’d already been unwittingly caught up in. As soon as everyone knew the truth, Charlotte’s name would be cleared. And it was all Harriet deserved.
Charlotte pulled up at a red light and waited for it to turn green, slamming her hand hard against the steering wheel. She was already fifteen minutes late picking up Molly, but hopefully her daughter wasn’t as ill as the school had implied.
She pressed the telephone button in her car, ready to redial Hayes’s number, playing out the conversation in her head. He’d suck in his breath loudly as he listened to her tell him it was Harriet who had abducted her own daughter. Then he would badger her with questions she didn’t have answers to while signaling for a raid of the cottage in Cornwall. Charlotte shuddered. She could picture Harriet waiting for her at the window, but instead of seeing her friend, Harriet would watch as a police car pulled up and officers marched to the door, ready to handcuff her and drag her to the station.
There had been a case recently where a father had escaped to Spain with his son. He’d pleaded that the mother had abandoned her child and he was taking him back to his own country to live with his parents. Regardless, the dad was locked up for seven years. Her heart went out to him when she saw a picture of the mother. She didn’t seem remotely bothered by what her son had been through.
Charlotte tapped the steering wheel as she waited for a mother and daughter to cross in front of her, debating what to do. Charlotte’s chest tightened as she took deep breaths. She knew as soon as she told Captain Hayes the truth, Harriet’s life would be over.
Was that what she deserved?
In the crossing, the little girl had stopped, letting go of her mum’s hand to pick up a gray teddy she’d dropped. The mother turned and scooped her into her arms, kissing the girl on the head as she carried her the rest of the way. Images of Harriet with Alice filled her head.