Chapter Nine
‘I’m guessing you didn’t believe any of that shit,’ Connor remarked as he and Cristy returned to the car.
‘Not a word,’ she replied, and lowered her hood as she slipped into the passenger side. ‘You could tell he was getting off on it … All those naked cavortings, horns and phalluses …’ She shuddered. ‘In his dreams … I feel like I need a hot shower now.’
Backing out of the space next to the Ivorsons’ garage, Connor said, ‘I can’t believe Clove and Jacks didn’t see straight through him.’
‘It’s my guess they did and decided to share,’ Cristy said dryly.
‘To return the favour, we’ll get them to check with the local authority whether there were any similar complaints at the time.
That should be fun, trying to explain a satanic cult to a Gen Z connectivity specialist from the perspective of a local pervert. ’
Laughing, Connor said, ‘Connectivity specialist? Is that what they call telephone operators these days?’
‘Something like that.’ After checking her phone and finding Can’t wait from Kinsley, and a flurry of chat between her children on WhatsApp, Cristy closed her eyes and let her head drop back against the seat.
She felt so tired all of a sudden, so incredibly weary, as if everything in her was shutting down …
When she looked up again, they were minutes away from the studios.
‘You didn’t hear a word I said, did you?’ Connor challenged as he turned along the cobbled lane and into the car park.
Embarrassed that she’d dropped off, especially as her mouth had clearly fallen open, she straightened up too quickly and immediately felt dizzy. What the heck was wrong with her? Groaning inwardly as she recalled her fluctuating hormones, she said, ‘Sorry, I … What were you saying?’
‘I was telling you about my daughter’s latest teeth,’ he replied. ‘As her godmother, I thought you might be interested.’
‘I am. Definitely. Why, what’s happening to them?’
‘Well, they just keep showing up. She must have at least forty by now.’
Laughing, Cristy flipped his arm and climbed out of the car. ‘Looks like she’s here,’ she commented, spotting his wife’s car next to her own. ‘Were you expecting them?’
‘Not this early, but Jodi’s working later, so chances are she’s come to remind me that I’m in charge tonight. You could join us if you like. Me, you and Aurora. I’ll cook.’
‘While I do the nappies and bath-time? Count me in. I might ask Aiden if he wants to join us. Matthew’s in Davos this week, as is David actually, and the last I heard, they’re meeting for dinner tonight. Strange world, isn’t it?’
The instant they walked into the office, Aurora gave a shriek of delight and waved her little fists in the air as Cristy went to scoop her into her arms.
‘My angel,’ Cristy cooed into her silky soft baby neck, acutely aware of the two other babies whose images were on the whiteboard behind her. ‘It’s lovely to see you.’
‘Da, da, da, da,’ Aurora chortled, grabbing Cristy’s cheeks and blowing bubbles against her lips.
‘Lovely.’ Cristy laughed and held out an arm to hug Jodi as she came to join them, supermodel figure and glowing looks fully restored a year after giving birth. ‘I hear you’re leaving Daddy in charge tonight?’ she said.
‘I’ve got a meeting for a story in Weston,’ Jodi explained, dabbing drool from the baby’s chin. ‘Green shoots and new piers – don’t ask, but the contributor’s fantastic, a real eccentric the audience is going to love.’
‘For your pod or for a news insert?’ Cristy asked, trying to keep out of Aurora’s grasp.
She needed to remember that Jodi had returned to making her Happy pods now and loved what she did – right here in Bristol, her hometown.
What right did she, Cristy, have to try and tempt her husband into changing their world?
Where was it going to leave them if she, Cristy, bailed and left them to fend on their own?
Belatedly spotting Iz, their sponsorship liaison rep, watching and beaming from her little desk in the corner, Cristy handed the baby to Connor and shrugged off her coat. ‘Hi. I didn’t realize you were coming today, Iz. How are you?’
‘Yeah, I’m great thanks,’ Iz gushed, starting to get up, sitting back down, then finally launching herself awkwardly at Cristy for a hug.
‘I’ve missed you guys since the last series ended.
Now, with a real biggie in the works for the next, I thought I’d come and check out progress in person.
’ With her shiny round face, multicoloured hair and fast-blinking eyes, she was so guilelessly keen and desperate to be liked that Cristy hugged her twice.
Connor said, ‘We don’t need checking up on, Iz. We’ll call when we’re ready to discuss—’
‘Sorry,’ Iz broke in hastily, ‘I didn’t express myself well.
Not checking up, just touching base, and Clove and Jacks have been filling me in on what’s been happening since my initial chat with Cristy.
The Nicole Ivorson case, no less. Wow!’ She danced a little jig, shoulders hunched, fists pumping.
‘And you have history there, Cristy. This is going to be amazing – I know it. We’ll have sponsors falling over themselves …
Any thoughts on when you might start the uploads? ’
‘Give us a chance,’ Connor protested. ‘She only got out a week ago, and we’re still pretty scant on details of conditions etc, including where she is.’
‘And whether she’ll talk to us if we do find her,’ Cristy added, turning to Clove and Jacks. ‘Any news to share?’
Clove shook her head. ‘Still no official confirmation that there are leads on the whereabouts of the bodies,’ she replied. ‘I’ve been in touch with Julian Hargreaves’s office; his PA said they haven’t heard anything about it and advised that I shouldn’t believe everything I read online.’
‘Kind of her,’ Cristy retorted. ‘Is her boss still up for meeting on Thursday?’
‘Apparently yes.’
‘Great. Now, before we get into the delightful little sideshow you set up for us with Mervyn Wilson, you must surely have tracked down at least one of Maeve’s siblings by now?’
‘No actual phone details yet,’ Jacks replied, ‘but the sister – Bridget Hawkes – is over near Chippenham, so not millions of miles away, although not particularly close to the prison. No idea at this stage if Maeve and/or Nicole are there.’
‘But you’ve got an address?’
‘Sure, so we could – Clove and I – go stake the places out, see what’s going on and report back. Or we could—’
‘Put a couple of supersleuths to use,’ Iz interrupted excitedly, ‘and send them. We were just discussing it as you came in the door.’
Cristy turned to Connor. Although their back-up team of social media scrutineers, all of whom worked from home, were excellent at what they did, sending them out on field work was a different ask altogether.
They weren’t journalists or detectives, or in any way trained for surveillance.
However, the task could be time-consuming, and getting someone with the proper experience on board could take forever and a sizeable chunk of the budget.
Wouldn’t be a problem if they were being bankrolled by RK Media.
These sorts of rogue thoughts really weren’t helpful in spite of being true.
‘I reckon it’s such an obvious place for them to hide out,’ Connor said, ‘that they won’t be there, so no harm in sending a couple of supersleuths to check the place out.’
‘What we don’t want happening,’ Cristy said, ‘is Molly Terrance finding them first and signing them up for an exclusive. They don’t call her the Terrier for nothing, and she’ll have some big bucks to throw their way, so we need to stay focused on this.’
‘With the kind of sums the Terrier can call on,’ Clove said dubiously, ‘I don’t see how we can ever compete.’
Cristy sighed. ‘Then we definitely have to get there first, presuming we’re not already too late. You don’t need me to tell you that the Terrier is as loathsome as she is relentless, and no way can we let her snatch this from under our noses.’
‘She could have them holed up in luxury somewhere, even as we speak,’ Jacks pointed out.
‘God forbid,’ Connor growled, ‘but you’re right: money could already have changed hands, not only with Nicole but before that, with someone on the inside – a probation officer, maybe. Even her lawyers could have brokered a deal. We’re not frontline media – no one’s coming to us first.’
Would they, if Hindsight had a wider reach and a globally recognized name? Could she achieve that with Kinsley and Rathour? It was possible.
Turning to Iz, Cristy said, ‘We might need to make a counteroffer to get an exclusive with Maeve and Nicole, so if I send you some figures, can you work on it?’
‘I’ll do my best,’ Iz promised, ‘but I should probably remind you that some of our regular sponsors have interests in the big media outlets, so it could be tricky.’
Clove said, ‘If worst comes to worst, we could always interview the Terrier after she runs her exclusive, if she has one.’
‘Bollocks to that,’ Connor scoffed.
‘If she already had Nicole on board,’ Cristy said, ‘she’d be crowing about it by now, getting everyone worked up for the big splash. So let’s carry on as if we’re in with a chance, at least until we know we’re not. Have you received any archive material from my TV coverage?’ she asked Jacks.
‘Not yet,’ he replied. ‘I messaged Matthew to ask him to chase it.’
‘He promised to do that before he left.’ She grimaced.
‘Now that he’s hobnobbing with the superrich in Switzerland, I don’t expect he’s giving us a second thought.
I’ll put in a call myself and see how I get on.
Are you OK?’ she asked Jodi, noticing her staring at the whiteboard, seemingly oblivious to what was going on around her.
Jodi nodded. Her eyes were fixed on the twins. ‘They’re more or less the same age as Aurora in these shots,’ she said soberly.