“Dear God.”
“But we don’t know that. We don’t know anything at this point. But we will find out for certain. It will just take a little time.”
“Of course. Is there anything else I can do at this end? I’ll do anything. Go anywhere.” There was a desperate, ragged edge to my words. I couldn’t keep the terrible possibilities from my mind despite having claimed a moment ago I didn’t want to do just that.
“I don’t think so,” said Rosemary. “Something might come up later, but I can’t foresee anything at this point. If you’d feel better coming over to London, perhaps you’d better take the flight now.”
I nodded as though she could see me.
James wouldn’t be impressed that I was doing this. He was conservative, doing everything by the right paths. I’d thought I was conservative, too. But the things Kara had been involved with had sent me into a world of growing panic. When I’d told Rosemary I’d do anything she needed in order to find out more information, I meant it.
After finishing the conversation, I called the airport to book my flight.
31. Gray
WILLOW SKIPPED FROM HER DAYCARE ROOM. I’d left Lilly behind with Verity. I could tell that Willow was excited about something but trying to contain it. I watched her gaze sweeping the sea of mothers who’d come to collect their kids. Her expression fell when she saw me. I guessed she’d been hoping to see her mother. Each day, it was getting harder to explain to the girls why their mummy hadn’t come back.
I bent down to hug her. “Have a good day?”
She nodded against my shoulder, her hair smelling of crayons and ripe bananas and the sandbox. “I drew a picture and got a gold star! And the teachers put it on the wall!” Grabbing my hand, she took me into the room and pointed at her painting.
“A gold star, eh?” I studied the picture, turning my head from side to side. “Nice mountain, honey.”
“Dad, it’s a whale.”
“Just kidding,” I teased, winking at her.
Marla moved near us, gathering up her daughter’s cardigan and a gold shoe that looked way too fancy for day care. She startled as she noticed me. “Oh, Gray . . .”
“Hi.”
“I—” Looking down at Willow, she motioned towards the wide door that led to the playground. “Willow, would you mind helping Maribelle find her other shoe? She left it outside somewhere.”
“Can I, Dad?” asked Willow.
“Uh, sure. Go play,” I answered then turned back to Marla. Had she heard something, and why did she look so nervous?
“How’s Lilly?” she began. “I heard she was in hospital for a few days.”
“Yeah. She was pretty sick.” I wasn’t ready yet to start telling people what Lilly was diagnosed with. It was too new. A specialist had just made a definite diagnosis of cystic fibrosis.
“I hope she’s okay. If you need anything, I mean if you want me to mind Willow at any time, just call.”
“Evie’s mother’s staying with us. We’re okay, thanks.”
“Evie’s mum? God help you.”
“Not much choice,” I muttered.
She toyed with the glittery strap on her daughter’s shoe. “The police came around to have a chat with me. About Evie.”
“I know. I gave them your address.”
“I was frantic when I heard about her car.”
“Yeah, I have no idea what’s going on.”
“I’m scared for her.”
I bit down on my lip as a picture of Evie in that red dress flashed through my head.
Marla waited for a woman and her son to step past us then said in an almost whisper, “Aren’t you scared?”
“Of course I am.” My words came out louder than I meant them to.
The woman half turned back to glance at us. It was obvious this was no everyday conversation.
“The police officer was asking a lot of questions,” Marla continued. “About you and Evie . . . and your relationship.”
“Guess they’ve got to be thorough.”
“I didn’t know what to say. I had to tell her what Evie told me.”
“No problem. The note says it all anyway. She wanted a break.”
“Well, she did say a little more than that to me. People are starting to ask me questions, too. About everything. People saw the police turn up at my house. I’ve had to tell them why. I had no choice.”
“Wouldn’t want you to hold back.” I was done with this conversation. Marla didn’t have any news about Evie. She was just fishing for some gossip. She wanted to be the person who knew things that other people were desperate to know. No wonder I’d heard Verity refer to her as drama llama Marla years ago.