Chapter 19
NINETEEN
Reese
‘I didn’t… send an email,’ I manage to say to Bonnie on the school reception desk. I don’t know where my kids are and I cannot believe this is happening.
‘Oh, well… oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. It came from your email address, see,’ she says, pointing at her computer screen with one finger as she pats her chest with her other hand, trying to calm herself.
I get up off the chair, thoughts clashing in my head, my whole body feeling wobbly and walk around her desk.
This is just to let you know, my sister, Camilla, will pick up the kids this afternoon.
I peer at the computer. Oh God, oh God. It is from my email address. I’ve emailed about pick- up changes before, if I’m not able to call because I’m in a meeting with a client. And it’s right there in black and white, my email address.
She’s hacked my email and taken my kids. She’s taken my kids, taken my kids, my kids.
Why did they go with her?
‘We need to call…’ I start to say because we need to call the police right now.
My phone pings with a message and I grab it. It’s on Instagram and my fingers shake as I get the screen open while Bonnie watches me, concern on her face.
Another message from Camilla.
They’re safe and sound at the park opposite the school.
‘I need to go,’ I tell Bonnie. ‘They’re at the park.’
‘Oh good, oh my goodness, I thought we had made a terrible mistake. So they’re okay then. Your sister has them?’
I’m not sure how to reply because there is too much to explain and I just need to see my children. ‘Yes, it’s… fine,’ I say because what else can I say? Is it fine? Are they okay? Please, please let them be okay.
I dart out of the office and the school and as I cross the road to get to the park, I send Victoria a message because if Camilla has done this to me, has she done it to Victoria as well? Dylan and Cash were meant to be in after-school care but I didn’t see them, so where are they?
Do you know where your kids are?
As soon as I enter the park, I see the play equipment and immediately spot Max and then Kayla. My stomach twists and I bite down on my lip as hot relief runs through my body. There they are. That’s Max, that’s Kayla, there they are. They’re fine. They’re fine. They’re fine.
‘Hey, Mum,’ shouts Max when he sees me. He’s standing at the top of the slide and he sits and whizzes down. The clouds above are an ominous black. The rain will be here soon but it feels like the sun is shining directly on my face because I can see them, I can see my children.
I look around, trying to see where Camilla is.
‘Hi, Reese,’ I hear and I turn to the slide to see Dylan sliding down, followed by Cash.
My children are here and Victoria’s children are here.
I look around the park, searching for Victoria. Would she have picked up my kids? Would she have sent an email and called herself Camilla? None of this makes sense.
A message pops up on my phone from Victoria.
After-school care. Why?
There are other children around and other adults, but no one is watching my children and no one is watching Victoria’s children. My head swings back and forth as I look for Camilla.
‘Mum,’ says Max. ‘Can Dylan and Cash come over and play this afternoon? Their dad is busy and their mum was supposed to pick them up from after-school care, but then the lady came for them, just like she came for us.’
I have no idea what to do first. Victoria obviously doesn’t know her kids are here. But I also want to know exactly who picked them up.
I understand why Max went with whoever he was told to go with but I expected better from Kayla.
Hurriedly I text Victoria, letting her know her kids are with me and where we are.
My phone rings and I answer. ‘What are you talking about?’ demands Victoria.
‘I don’t know how it happened but I got to school and my kids weren’t there.
The secretary had an email from me saying that my sister, Camilla, would fetch them.
I was about to call the police when a message came through on my phone telling me they were in the park and when I got here, Dylan and Cash were here too. I don’t know what’s going on.’
‘Shit, shit, shit,’ spits Victoria. ‘I’m coming to get them. I’ll be there in ten minutes.’
‘Okay,’ I reply.
‘Mum,’ says Kayla, walking over to me. ‘Why did that woman fetch us from school and take us to the park? I didn’t want to go with her but the secretary said that you sent an email that your sister was coming and I thought that was Auntie Jordan but it wasn’t.
It was some lady who said that she was a sister that we had never met and I want to know why we’ve never met her.
She told us to stay here and told me to look after all the little kids and she went to get us ice cream. ’ She folds her arms.
No matter how sophisticated children are these days, no matter how much access they have to technology, they are still just children and unable to question a trusted adult. Bonnie told them I had sent the message so why would they doubt her, even when the wrong person showed up?
‘She’s not my sister. What did she look like? What else did she say? Why did you go with her? She’s a stranger and you’re not to go with strangers,’ I say, hurling questions and statements at my daughter.
Kayla narrows her green eyes. ‘The secretary told us you sent an email and that Victoria sent one as well. She knows that you and Victoria are best friends. I thought something was wrong. And now she’s gone. Weirdo,’ she says, turning to look around the park.
‘What did she look like, Kayla? Can you remember?’ I demand.
‘If I had a phone I could have called you,’ she says and I want to scream with frustration.
‘Can you please answer my question,’ I say as I look around the playground, seeking a woman holding ice creams, looking for Camilla. But I can’t see her.
I can’t quite believe this has happened and I am suddenly aware of how complacent I’ve been, how safe I’ve always felt in my life and my neighbourhood. I never anticipated someone from my past coming back to hurt me and I know she means to hurt me.
She means to hurt Victoria as well.
‘She had blonde hair and she was wearing a red dress,’ says Kayla. Camilla had white-blonde hair. It was one of her most distinguishing features but that means nothing.
‘Can you see her?’ I ask Kayla.
She looks around and then shrugs her shoulders. ‘Should I go check at the ice-cream stand?’
‘No,’ I say firmly. ‘You stay here with me. We’ll get ice creams later.’
‘Kayla,’ we hear and Kayla’s friend, Carly, comes running towards us. ‘Do you want to climb with me?’ she asks and Kayla nods enthusiastically.
‘Okay, Mum?’
I nod, even though I want to tell her to stay close but I am standing only a few feet from the giant climbing frame and she is with a friend.
I watch her and then check on the boys who are together going up and down the slide.
I turn around in a circle again, my gaze landing on each mother, each woman I see. But whoever picked up the kids has gone.
A pain slices across my jaw and I realise that my jaw and both my fists are clenched, my nails digging into my palms as I try to still my racing heart. Concentrating on my breathing, I try to relax my body.
They’re here. They’re safe. They’re fine.
I will need to call the school and tell them they are not to accept email pick-up changes ever again.
As my eyes dart from Kayla to the boys and back again, I think about the last time I saw Camilla. I was in tears and Victoria was furious.
‘She won’t get away with this,’ Victoria said and I knew that she meant it.
But now Camilla is back and I have a feeling that Victoria and I are not going to get away with anything. Our buried secrets are going to be exposed and I’m not sure our friendship or our lives will survive that.