The Half Sister(66)

None of this explained what Jess actually wanted from them of course, though to cause as much distress and conflict as possible certainly seemed to be at the top of her agenda. Otherwise, why was she working with Matt? Why was she infiltrating Lauren’s life? Why was her flat set up for a baby?

‘And what the hell is she doing shacked up with my husband a hundred and fifty miles away?’ Kate had asked herself out loud.

The never-ending questions had circled in Kate’s head for most of the night, until she’d finally fallen asleep at dawn, wondering whether it was the past she should be worried about at all – because it seemed to be the future that was under threat.

She turns to Matt’s side of the bed now and hopes against hope that he’s there. When he’s not, she’s consumed not with a sense of foreboding, as she’d expected, but a sudden determination to find out exactly what Jess is up to. Because whatever it is, Kate will not let it beat her. ‘I’m a journalist, for God’s sake,’ she says under her breath.

She pulls her laptop towards her with a renewed sense of purpose and looks up the government website for births, deaths and marriages. It turns out it’s relatively easy to get a copy of an adoptee’s birth certificate; but not without their original surname and adopted parents’ names.

So she calls Jared, an old colleague of hers and a fearsome investigative reporter who leaves no stone unturned in his quest for the truth.

‘Hey stranger,’ he says as he picks up, making her feel as if she only ever calls him when she wants something. She resolves to call him more often when she doesn’t. ‘It’s a bit early for you, isn’t it?’

‘Hey, how you doing?’ says Kate. ‘Are you okay to talk?’

‘Always,’ he says, making Kate feel even worse.

‘I need to trace someone’s back story, but I don’t have their birth name.’

‘That shouldn’t be a problem,’ he says confidently. ‘Are they adopted or have they changed their name?’

‘Yes,’ says Kate, before thinking about it. ‘No, I don’t know.’

Jared laughs. ‘Well, which is it?’

She thinks back to what Finn told her. ‘Her adopted name is Harriet Oakley, but she’s been living as Jessica Linley more recently. I’m not sure if she’s changed it by deed poll or not.’

‘Sounds interesting.’

You have no idea.

‘Do you have a date of birth?’

‘Yes, fifteenth of September, 1996.’

‘Okay, but no birth name?’

Kate sighs. ‘I can have a guess, but it would be a real stab in the dark.’

‘Anything might help,’ says Jared.

‘Okay, can you try Harriet Alexander?’ asks Kate, though even as she says it, she knows it’s highly unlikely. Firstly, she’s not her father’s child and why would her mother give Harry’s name to a child she was giving up for adoption? Even if her husband did know about it?

‘Anything else you can tell me?’ asks Jared.

‘Actually, can you also look at Harriet Grainger?’ adds Kate, wondering if her mother would have given the child her maiden name rather than that of her lover. It occurs to her for the first time, whether Rose even told Jess’s father that she was pregnant with his child.

How is she going to deal with that when the time comes?

‘Okay,’ says Jared. ‘Let me talk to my contact at the adoption bureau and if she needs any further information, can I give her your number to call?’

‘Of course,’ says Kate.

‘Great, leave it with me for a day or two.’

‘Thanks Jared, I owe you one.’

‘Yeah, yeah,’ he says, as if she already has an outstanding debt.

She’d hate for him to think she won’t pay it – that’s the way it works in journalism. You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours. ‘We should get a date in the diary,’ she says before he hangs up. ‘Maybe grab a meal.’

‘That would be great,’ says Jared warmly. ‘If I trace your girl, it’ll be on you.’

‘Deal!’ says Kate laughing, momentarily forgetting that this isn’t someone else’s story she’s chasing. This is her life. It’s funny how different it feels when it’s happening to you.

She gets in the shower and imagines the water, hotter than feels comfortable, washing away her troubles. She groans as it stings her eyes, reminding her how much she’d cried last night.

There’s a tap on the glass screen and she jumps, her heart skipping a beat.

‘Jesus!’ she says, as Matt’s smiling face peers through the condensation.

She wipes a circle with her hand, but even through the fogginess, he still looks like he’s been up all night. His eyes are heavy-lidded and his hair unkempt, making her suspect him of things she doesn’t want to suspect him of.

‘Surprise!’ he says, handing her a towel as she steps out of the shower. He tries to kiss her, but she turns her head.

‘You made good time,’ she says, coldly.

‘Good to see you too,’ he says, sarcastically. ‘I cadged a lift with Oddie – thought it might get me home quicker than waiting for the trains to start up this morning.’

Oddie? The Political Editor on the Gazette? The thought of Matt being with a colleague from her own newspaper makes her feel better, though she doesn’t know why. She tries to convince herself that it means he’d never be foolish enough to do anything untoward in front of someone who knows his wife so well. But the very next minute, she’s consumed with shame; knowing that if he has, everyone in the office will know about it except for her.