The Family Next Door(70)

“Ma’am,” the man said again. The woman, Barbara noticed now, was pointing her phone at them. Barbara ignored them both and put the car into gear, heading back to Melbourne.





54


ISABELLE


Talking to the police proved to be a difficult affair. Apparently they weren’t inclined to issue a red or amber alert for a child who had gone missing for just a few hours and was under the care of her loving grandmother. Isabelle scoffed at that. Explaining that Mia’s grandmother was a baby snatcher wasn’t straightforward, given that Isabelle’s proof wasn’t legally binding, and even if it was, Barbara hadn’t been convicted of anything. If Isabelle’s story was true, they said (with heavy inference that it wasn’t), it was far more likely to have been a case of the switched-at-birth type of situation.

They were speaking with Ben and Essie now, but in the meantime, they said, they’d be keeping an eye out for Barbara’s car, and checking for car accidents.

“In most cases like this,” a jolly, slightly overweight copper with a handlebar moustache told them, “we find the people involved, unharmed, having taken a spontaneous outing and then had their cell phone run out of batteries.”

Essie and Ben hung on that. “Yes,” Ben said. “Of course that’s what’s happened. Mia probably begged Barbara to take her to the zoo, and we all know Barbara is powerless against Mia. They probably headed out on the excursion and lost track of time. And Barb isn’t one to keep her phone fully charged, is she?”

“Never,” Essie agreed. “They may have even run out of fuel somewhere. We’ll hear from them soon.”

Isabelle understood why they needed to believe this, but she didn’t share their confidence. They hadn’t seen Barbara’s face cloud over when she’d confronted her about Essie, as though she’d suddenly awoken from a dream.

Then again, perhaps they were right. No one would be happier than Isabelle if Barbara walked in that door right now with Mia. After all, Isabelle had come to Melbourne to try and get her sister back—not to start this nightmare all over again for another family. She’d never forgive herself if something happened to Mia. Worse, Essie would never forgive her.

“Isabelle.”

Jules appeared in the doorway. She’d called him half an hour earlier to tell him what had happened, and his response had simply been: “What is the address?” Now he was here. She walked into his arms.

“What can I do?” he said at the same time as Essie gasped.

The policeman with the handlebar moustache was holding out his phone and Essie was looking at it. Isabelle went to her side. It was a low-quality video at what looked to be a gas station. Barbara held Mia by the neck of her T-shirt. There was something about her face—a blankness. Her jaw was hard and tight. She muttered something irritably to whoever was holding the camera then grabbed Mia uncharacteristically roughly, then shoved her into her car seat, buckling her in without care or concern.

“This is your mother and daughter?” the policeman asked Essie. It was Ben, finally, who confirmed that it was. Essie was too stunned to say anything at all.

“Where are they?” Isabelle asked him.

“The video was taken at a fuel station near Albury, headed for Sydney.”

“Albury?” Ben cried.

Essie slumped back against the bed. Ben reached for her but she pushed him away. She glanced around the room and finally her eyes landed on Isabelle. Isabelle opened her arms, and, without hesitation, Essie fell into them.





55


FRAN


The emergency room was full, but Ava was seen straight away. Fran couldn’t decide if that was a good thing or not. She wanted Ava to be seen quickly, of course. But if it was just a minor temperature, surely she wouldn’t have been rushed through like this? Wasn’t she always hearing stories about people waiting hours in emergency to be seen by a doctor?

Fran stood in a hospital room with Rosie by her side, while a bunch of people in hospital scrubs stripped Ava naked and examined her. Fran presumed they were doctors, but who knew? The doctors, nurses, and other hospital staff all seemed to dress the same. Be doctors, she willed them. Be the best doctors around.

She remembered the feeling of her skin when she picked her up. So so hot. Burning hot. She’d had to follow the ambulance in her car because she couldn’t find anyone to watch Rosie, and they weren’t both allowed to travel in the back of the ambulance. It was a five-minute drive to the nearest hospital, and as she drove, questions swirled in her mind. How had she not noticed Ava was so ill? Hadn’t she been fine an hour earlier? She’d been a little irritable maybe, but who wasn’t in this heat?

It was her fault. She’d missed something, clearly. She was the mother, it was her job to stay on top of things. As she stood in the corner of the hospital room, she peppered hospital staff with questions.

“What’s wrong with her?”

“Will she be all right?”

“What can I do?”

“Is this my fault?”

Rosie had her own stream of questions.

“What are they doing to Ava?”

“Will they give her medicine?”

“What kind of medicine does she need?”

Nigel had bought Rosie a book a few months back, The Human Body. She’d been obsessed with it, before she’d started her puzzle phase, and had taken to reciting little facts from it, like “The human body has two hundred and six bones.” She probably understood the human body better than any other three-year-old. Perhaps she understood it too well. Clearly the hospital staff thought so, because after a minute or so, one of the people in scrubs came over and squatted down in front of her. “Do you like secrets?”