“Evie, are you still there?” Delima was beside herself. “Please tell me what’s been happening before I go crazy.” Evie quickly brought her up to speed.
Delima couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“Oh my God, Evie. Are you alright?”
“Aye, I’m fine, but Freya …” Evie’s voice broke. “It’s bad. The shock of it all brought on a stroke and she’s in hospital. I really need to go and check on Ola and Hari. I will call you as soon as I can.”
Delima whispered, “Don’t let her hurt my kids, Evie.” And hung up. Jack had never seen his wife so shaken and that made him full of dread.
She glared at him. “Jack, that hideous woman has fooled us all, she’s caused Freya to be taken to hospital and now she is with our babies,” said Delima, her voice trembling. “If anything happens to them, I will never forgive myself or you. We need to get back home right now.”
Jack felt sick. His mind had been so focused on the rescue, he simply hadn’t understood the seriousness of what Ross had been trying to tell him. He’d barely listened and now Ola and Hari might be in danger. How could he have been such an idiot?
He tried to stay positive but the thought of his children being in any sort of danger made him want to kneel in the sand and scream.
“We are stuck here, Delima. Even if they could spare us the fastest boat on the island, the others will get there long before we could. What are we going to do?”
He started pacing up and down, running his hands through his hair. Delima ignored him.
She was on her phone calling the landline at their house, then the sanctuary, and finally Caroline’s mobile, but there was no answer. Amelia ignored the persistent ringing in the house; meanwhile, Caroline was happily washing a baby seal, humming a Harry Styles tune. She couldn’t hear her phone. Delima turned to Jack in despair.
“There’s no answer at the house and I can’t get hold of Caroline. Anything could have happened.” She could feel her panic rising but then remembered something.
She grabbed Jack’s arm and asked him urgently, “Didn’t some of those Norwegian news guys arrive here by helicopter? The one the hospital uses sometimes?”
She didn’t wait for a reply but ran towards the big house by the shore which the kind owners had allowed to be used as a rescue headquarters. A fierce mother on a mission.
Chapter Fifty-One
Jack and Delima’s House
Andrzej was already in his van and on the way to Jack and Delima’s; Ross and Evie would get there around the same time. They’d decided Liv and Rab would stay at Freya’s in case there was any news.
Before Evie left, Liv mumbled to her, “Be careful, won’t you.” Evie caught her sister’s eye for a moment. She had never heard Liv say anything kind to her like that. She nodded: “I promise.”
They drove as fast as possible to Hoxa and parked up outside Jack and Delima’s house, noticing the lights were blazing downstairs. Andrzej pulled up behind their car, and the three of them let themselves in and went through to the kitchen, where Amelia was sitting in front of a roaring fire.
She had a tearful Hari in her lap and Ola was in her playpen. The little girl looked as though she had cried herself to sleep and was hiccupping plaintively, while clutching one of Maureen’s homemade blankets.
“Well, look who it is,” Amelia drawled. “I suppose you expect me to come with you quietly and not make a fuss.”
Evie said firmly, “I think that would be best, Amelia.”
“But I happen to be very comfortable here and I have no intention of going anywhere. But where are my manners, do sit down.”
The three of them stayed standing, wondering who would make the first move. Eventually, Evie broke the silence. “Why did you come after me now? Why wait so long to find out about your past?”
Amelia replied, “It was really all your fault, Evie. Your ego got the better of you. I saw a nauseating article all about your success and your fabulous life in Orkney. That’s how I was able to finally track you down. When it mentioned your mother’s name was Cara, I just knew it was the same person my stupid father was always going on about. And there you were. Living a perfect life with your happy family and friends.”
Evie shook her head in disbelief. Amelia had twisted reality into a warped fantasy. She had no idea of the kind of life Evie had led.
Amelia laughed scornfully at her, “Your senile old mother helped. I was able to track her down and she told me all sorts of things about you. Of course, it just confirmed what I already knew. And I fooled you and that ridiculous bunch of freaks you call your friends. You do realise that it wasn’t very hard to make them think the worst of you and the best of me.”
Amelia frowned and went on, “Although it wasn’t easy having to hear Kate’s boring plans to go back to university and to try and look interested in whatever drivel Freya was yapping on about. Posting those fake comments online about Freya helped though; I’ve never seen someone so upset. I knew she would even start questioning her beloved Evie when she felt so vulnerable and low.”
She gave Ross what she thought was a sultry look. “Although the sex with you wasn’t all that bad. A bit vanilla, but I could have worked on that.”
Ross looked at her in disgust as she turned to Andrzej. “Oh, and listening to you droning on and on about Orkney history.I thought I was going to scream. I never want to hear another word about this ghastly place.”
