CHAPTER THIRTY #3
‘Nothing,’ she insisted, aware of Clove and Jacks regarding her as if she’d just grown another head.
‘Or I guess everything,’ she admitted in a rush, ‘from not knowing if my son is going to become a father at sixteen, to worrying about what my ex is planning to do with Boo Boo Bear while he has custody, to missing David, to feeling distinctly edgy about what is happening over there in Guernsey.’
Sinking into his chair, Connor said, ‘I’ve got to admit, the Sadie/Mia thing is getting to me a bit too and I can’t really put my finger on why.’
‘It’s got a strange sort of undertow to it,’ Clove observed. ‘I can’t stop thinking about it.’
‘Nothing to do with the fact that we’re totally focused on shaping a last episode,’ Jacks commented dryly.
‘Do you think we should be over there?’ Connor asked Cristy.
She was distracted by another text arriving and had checked it before she could stop herself. ‘For God’s sake,’ she muttered under her breath when she saw it was from him. A gushing thanks for the ‘hot tit-pics’ that she hadn’t even sent. How could she, when she didn’t even have his number?
Connor said, ‘Are you still getting those anonymous texts? Is that what’s going on here?’
Knowing her cheeks were burning, she said, ‘They’re vile. At least some of them are. I know I shouldn’t read them …’
‘Give me the phone,’ he demanded.
‘I actually don’t want you to see them.’
‘Too bad. Hand it over.’
Realizing how ludicrous she’d seem if she outright refused, she opened up the thread and half threw the phone at Connor, already feeling the shame of things she hadn’t actually done.
‘Shit,’ he muttered as he read the messages. ‘What a fucking psycho. Jacks, you need to get onto this, find out who it is so we can shut him down.’
‘But I need the phone,’ Cristy protested as Jacks reached for it.
‘Who are you expecting to hear from tonight?’ Connor asked.
‘David. Matthew. Aiden. Possibly Hayley. There’s also a chance Sadie will call.’
‘Then text them one of the burner numbers,’ he told her. ‘You only have to say yours is going through some sort of routine check, and will be back on air … When?’ he asked Jacks.
Jacks shrugged. ‘No knowing how deep we might have to dive, but I’ll get right on it.’
‘I just want you to know,’ Cristy said, looking from Connor to Jacks and back again, ‘that nothing – I mean, absolutely nothing – he’s saying is true. OK?’
‘Got it,’ Jacks assured her.
‘So what’s he saying?’ Clove immediately wanted to know.
‘It’s your typical scumbag fantasy stuff,’ Connor replied dismissively. ‘Nothing to worry about, but I’ve got to admit, I wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of it. Let’s run him to ground asap, Jacks, and then do whatever it takes to make him rethink his career choice.’
‘Could be a woman?’ Clove suggested tentatively.
‘Doubtful,’ Connor told her, ‘but you won’t want to see the proof unless dick-pics are your thing.’
With a moue of distaste, Clove said, ‘Could still be a woman, hiding behind someone’s dick.’
‘It’s not that big,’ Connor quipped and even Cristy had to laugh. It turned to a shudder of revulsion as the thought of it made her feel as though she’d been contaminated, violated even, in an actual physical way.
‘We need to keep this in mind for a future series,’ Clove told her gravely. ‘There’s so much of it now and some people, kids, are getting seriously damaged by it.’
Agreeing that it was worth looking into, Cristy glanced over at her phone as another text arrived.
‘Shall I?’ Jacks asked.
She nodded, and as he opened the message she became so tense it actually hurt.
‘It’s Matthew,’ he told her, holding the phone out, ‘wanting to know if you’re free for a bite to eat later.’
Holding up her hands to block it, she said, ‘Text back to say you have the phone, but you’ll pass the message on and you’re sure I’ll be in touch.’
Going to take a spare phone from the store they kept, Connor passed it to Jacks for set-up and said, ‘If you’re worried this creep is actually following you, why don’t you come and stay at ours tonight?’
Cristy gave a laugh, without quite knowing why. ‘Thanks, but Aiden’s going to be with me, and now it looks as though a family dinner is in store. Does that mean you think there is someone following me?’
Jacks was shaking his head while staring at the phone. ‘No way of telling at the moment,’ he said, ‘but whatever he’s got in mind it’ll be me he’s coming home with tonight. Wonder how much he’s gonna like that.’
*
‘You’re kidding me,’ Cristy groaned, looking from Matthew to Aiden and back again. ‘Please tell me that’s not what she said.’
Matthew regarded her helplessly, while Aiden only shrugged as if to say, ‘nothing to do with me,’ when it had everything to do with him.
They were in a tapas bar they used to come to regularly as a family, with an assortment of small plates between them and three portions of patatas bravas just for Aiden.
Cristy, unable to face food right now, refilled her glass with wine as Matthew said,
‘It’s not that long to wait …’
‘We shouldn’t have to wait at all,’ she snapped. ‘We want to know now if he’s the father, not after the baby’s born. And that,’ she added forcefully, ‘is still three months away, but OK, if you don’t think that’s long—’
‘I’m just saying,’ Matthew interrupted, ‘that we don’t get to call any shots here. She’s the one carrying the child so if she doesn’t want to subject it to a DNA test before the birth, there’s not much we can do about it.’
‘What do her parents say? Surely they want to know who the father is.’
‘If they do, it’s a conversation they’re having with her, not me.’
‘Have you actually spoken to them?’
Sighing, he said, ‘I’ve had an email saying they’re aware of the situation and, as regrettable as it is, they don’t feel any questions can be answered until Pearl is ready to do so.’
‘Jesus Christ. Who are these people?’ She glared at Aiden. ‘Have you met them?’
He shook his head, picked up another patata but clearly thought better of eating it when he caught his mother’s expression.
‘What about the other boys?’ she asked. ‘Surely they want to know if they’re going to be landed with a child they don’t want.’
‘Course,’ he agreed. ‘But like Dad said, we don’t get much of a say in it.’
Looking at Matthew again, Cristy snapped, ‘This is starting to feel like a game of Russian roulette.’
With no small irony, he said, ‘Except in this instance the last one standing gets a cigar and brandy instead of a bullet.’
As Aiden guffawed she cried, ‘It’s not funny, for God’s sake. In fact it’s so far from funny that I have to wonder at what point you two are going to see the seriousness of it all.’
‘I do,’ Matthew told her, ‘and so does Aiden, but right now we’re as incapable as you are of doing anything about it.’
‘Which you don’t seem to mind, whereas I’m not ready to give up just like that. We – he, our son – must have some rights, for God’s sake.’
‘Then name them. It’s too late for a termination, even if she was willing, and if we start pressuring her for a DNA test it could be seen as intimidation of a pregnant girl and that’s not a route we want to go down.’
‘What about the other boys’ parents? Maybe we should speak to them, see if we can act together in some way?’
‘Intimidation,’ he reminded her.
‘And they haven’t all fessed up yet,’ Aiden added, ‘so you have to back off for now, Mum. I know it’s against your nature …’
‘Oh shut up,’ she snapped at him.
Doing just that, he helped himself to a few more patatas and brazenly checked his phone for messages.
‘We need to meet the girl and her parents,’ Cristy said to Matthew. ‘No more emails. For all you know she’s sending them herself and … Aiden, are you listening?’
‘Sure,’ he answered, ‘it’s just there’s a text here from David saying he can’t get hold of you.’
Remembering she was supposed to have let him know her temporary number, while not wanting Matthew and Aiden to ask why she had one, she said, ‘Tell him I’m out of battery and I’ll call as soon as I get home.’
After sending the message, Aiden looked up as Cristy said, ‘Where do her parents live?’
‘I’m not sure. Siston, I think. Or out that way somewhere. But do you know what, Mum? I seriously think you should chill for a bit. I know you’re in shock and it’s kind of not ideal, but it is what it is …’
Wanting to throttle him, she looked at Matthew as he said, ‘We should still let the girl know we’d like to meet her. With any luck it might frighten her into …’
Cristy waited.
‘Something,’ he said lamely.
‘Like a miscarriage?’ Aiden suggested, with an anxious glance at his mother.
‘Well, I wasn’t exactly thinking that,’ Matthew responded, ‘but …’ Catching Cristy’s eye he quickly recalibrated and said instead, ‘It might persuade her to see how lucky she’d be if you are the father, to have us as grandparents, and your genes …’
Cristy gaped at him in disbelief, until, realizing he’d got himself all mixed up with trying to put a positive spin on things, she started to laugh. ‘I’m not sure you’re for real,’ she told him, as relief and confusion nudged him into laughter too.
‘But you know that came out wrong,’ he said, ‘and that’s what’s so wonderful about us. We always end up on the same page … Son, this isn’t a good time to be answering your phone.’
‘It’s David,’ Aiden told him and looked at Cristy as he clicked on. ‘Sure, I’m good thanks. Yeah, she’s right here, I’ll pass you over.’
Taking the phone and turning away from the others, she said quietly, ‘Hey, is everything OK?’
‘Say hi from me,’ Matthew called out.
‘I’ve just heard from Evie,’ David said gravely. ‘Something’s going on at the villa, so I’m heading over there.’
‘What do you mean? What’s happened?’
‘I don’t have any details yet. I just thought I should let you know. I’ll call again as soon as I have more news.’