33. Eva
Eva
I rummage around my SUV, which is parked in the driveway.
I didn’t have time to grab much when we left, but I did grab some linen.
Last night, I was a mess after speaking to Iris, and I’d let Archie sleep with me on the couch.
Tonight, I sure as hell wasn’t letting my baby boy sleep on the bare mattresses where we’d kept kids, or spend another night on the couch.
I locate the pile of sheets and Archie’s comfort blanket and pillow and carry it back inside.
‘What’s wrong, Mummy?’ Archie asks when he sees me walk past.
Of course he’s worried. He has no idea where we are and I have a permanent scowl etched on my face.
I place the sheets on the floor and crouch down in front of him. ‘Nothing, sweetheart.’ I press a kiss to his forehead. ‘Go wash up. Uncle Gregor is making dinner.’
Archie does as he’s asked and heads for the bathroom in the hallway. The basin is yellowing, and there’s mould at the bottom of the shower. I wonder if it’s technically washing up when you’re in a bathroom like that.
I take the sheets into the bedroom furthest from where Iris is locked away. I don’t want Archie hearing any more than he possibly already has.
I gag when I see the mattress on the floor with a big brown stain in the middle. I flip it and secure the pale blue sheet over it. I arrange the blanket and pillow and hope to God Archie sleeps okay here. It should only be for one more night.
In the kitchen, Gregor is preparing some food. We can’t risk heading to the supermarket, so we have to eat what’s been left in the pantry. Mostly cans of food we’d give to the kids before they were moved on to Melbourne.
‘Canned tuna and canned mixed vegetables,’ Gregor says when I enter the kitchen. ‘It’s a feast!’ He puts on the enthusiasm for Archie’s sake, and I appreciate that, but I know he’s pissed as hell.
We might be his best employees, brought him more money than he could have imagined, but he was safe, unknown, completely anonymous until now.
Archie’s face scrunches up, and I can’t help but smile. My little man loves food—steak, curries, avocado and eggs—you name it and he loves it. But a meal from a tin? Not so sure.
He ends up eating two bowls of the tuna, peas and corn concoction. I barely stomach more than a few mouthfuls. I’m not sure if it’s the taste or the fact the room is incredibly tense.
None of us will discuss anything in front of Archie but we all know our first call with Sam hadn’t gone to plan, and without him, we are screwed.
Matteas offers to put Archie to bed and I’m relieved at avoiding the inevitable struggle that will be putting him down in a foreign room on the floor. He’ll have more luck than I would though, Archie always behaves better for his dad.
‘Best give those leftovers to the woman,’ Gregor says. ‘We need her alive and relatively well.’
I nod and pour what’s left from the tins into a plastic bowl.
My phone rings before I can take the food to Iris and Sam’s number appears on the screen.
‘It’s him,’ I say, and Gregor waves a hand to say answer it.
I’m nervous to do this in front of him. He’ll be scrutinising my every word and I begin to sweat. I hit answer and put it on speaker.
‘Hello, Sergeant,’ I say, managing to mask the ever-growing nerves. ‘Have you reconsidered?’
Sam clears his throat. ‘You never actually let me answer.’
He’s right. I’d cut him off before he had a chance.
‘And?’ I ask.
‘I’d like to speak to my wife again.’
I glance up at Gregor, who is shaking his head and mouthing the word ‘no’. ‘Absolutely not.’
‘Eva, may I remind you we have hundreds of officers searching for you right now. We have your faces on every T.V screen and social media platform. You need me. And I need to speak to my wife.’
His voice wavers ever so slightly when he says wife and I’m transported back to when I thought I was going to lose Matteas.
The desperation I felt to keep the man I loved, it was intense.
After we took Archie, our relationship changed.
It grew even deeper, the three of us bonded by something wonderfully unique and special.
When I don’t answer, he continues. ‘By the way, where’s Archie? Is he okay?’
‘Why wouldn’t he be?’
‘I found some interesting information about Archie’s birth, Eva.’
My heart skips a beat, and goosebumps prickle my skin. He can’t know, it’s not possible.
I say nothing for a moment and then sigh, avoiding any eye contact with Gregor, who will absolutely not approve of what I’m about to do but I need to keep Sam on side. Not only to get us out of here but to keep Archie now too. ‘Fine.’
‘And it’ll be a video call.’
‘Don’t push it, Sergeant.’
I head down the hallway towards Iris’ room, ignoring the protests from Gregor.
‘Eva, there will be no deal until I see with my own eyes that she’s okay.’
I exhale loudly. I’m trapped. It’s risky for him to see any part of where we are but we need him.
I switch the call to video and narrow my eyes at him.
He looks different to the man who arrived on my doorstep the other night.
While he’d been stressed and flustered then, he’d still been in uniform and neatly shaven.
Now he has uneven patches of whiskers, dark circles around his eyes and wears a grey hoodie.
He looks broken. Good . We need him broken. Desperate.
‘Show me Iris,’ he says.
I unlock the door to Iris’ room and am shocked when I find she’s not lying down but pacing the small room. It puts me on edge. She’d been weak and pathetic when I left her. Where has this energy come from?
She looks at me and then at the phone in my hand.
I turn it to face Iris for a moment before bringing it back to my own face. ‘See, she’s fine. Up and walking around.’
Suddenly, my phone is ripped from my hands and tossed across the room.
‘Sam!’ she yells. ‘Check the police transcripts on my computer.’
I lunge at her, trying to place a hand over her mouth, but she sinks her teeth into my wrist, and I cry out. Footsteps pound down the hallway but not fast enough.
‘Password is Imogen2022. It’s a farmhou—’
Gregor’s fist smacks into the side of Iris’s head, and she blacks out.
I hiss at the pain in my wrist, teeth marks speckle my skin, but she hasn’t drawn blood.
I scramble to find the phone that’s landed on the other side of the mattress. The call is disconnected. Did it disconnect when she’d thrown it? Or had he heard everything?