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Half an hour later, after Natalia has taken over and made a fresh breakfast for the girls and then driven Amber to camp, and I’ve cruised around the neighbourhood several times looking for Belle, Rob and I sit together in the study – each of us weighed down by our own untruths.
‘Right, let’s prioritise…everything,’ he says. ‘Finding out where Belle is comes first.’
‘How can you be so fucking calm?’ I can’t sit still. I’m at the window again, peering out at the drive to see if the BMW is still there, that she hasn’t come back to fetch it. ‘She drove it, you know. That car. Without a bloody licence. That’s how she’s behaving now, after meetinghim. Reckless.’
‘Jesus,’ Rob says, thinking for a second. Then he taps away at his laptop. ‘What’s the registration number? he asks, and I look out of the window again, reciting it to him. Rob shakes his head. ‘She was lucky she wasn’t stopped or caught on a camera. That number plate belongs to a red Volkswagen.’ He swings his screen round to face me, showing me the government MOT website. ‘The BMW is probably stolen.’
‘It gets worse,’ I say, burying my face in my hands. ‘Belle convinced me that he’d got it all sorted, ready for her to take lessons. That he was doing all the insurance and stuff for her.’
‘Look, wherever she is,’ he says, ‘she’s not stupid. I’m sure she’ll be fine.’
‘You don’t know that,’ I reply. ‘And shehasbeen stupid. She’s been hoodwinked by that bastard, and so have we. I’m calling the police to report her missing.’ Suddenly, I don’t care about any repercussions or what happens to me or what they find out – I just want Belle safe and home. For eighteen years, I’ve protected her, but I took my eye off the ball and now I’ve failed her. My worst nightmare realised.
Rob’s expression changes as he sees me pull my phone from my pocket. He glances at his watch. ‘She’s only been gone two hours, Han. They’re not going to start looking for her yet.’
‘Rubbish,’ I tell him. ‘Of course they bloody will. And for all we know, she could have left the house last night, in which case she’s been missing for twelve hours or more.’
Rob pulls an exasperated face. ‘You realise that if we call the police, they’ll be all over us like a rash. The parents are always the first suspects, you know. With you already knowing Jack – or this Darren character – it doesn’t look good on you, that’s all I’m saying.’
‘Rob, I’m past caring about what happens to me now. Belle’s phone is switched off, or out of battery – I’ve rung it about a hundred times. She’s gone! Am I the only one who cares here?’
‘You know she’s been unreliable with her phone recently. That means nothing.’
‘Rob, this is my daughter we’re talking about! I’m sorry, but I’m calling them now and then I’m going to—’
‘Yourdaughter again, is she?’ He shakes his head, slumped back in his desk chair. ‘Why is it whenever we disagree about her, she’s suddenly yours? Am I not a good enough father? Have I not been there for her all these years just as much as you?’
‘Because sheismy daughter, Rob, and you’re not acting anything like her father right now.’ I open my phone.
‘I was the one who wanted to put an end to this Jack nonsense before it even started, if you remember. It was you who persuaded me not to punch his lights out.’
‘You don’t understand, Rob. You really,reallydon’t.’ I hang my head, my finger hovering over my phone screen.
‘And neither do you.’ Rob takes a deep breath. ‘When I went out earlier, that car was there again. It followed me.’
My head whips up. ‘What car?’
‘The one you pointed out when we went for a walk.’
‘Grant Webster?’
Rob nods. ‘Have you two got a thing going together, is that it?’
‘No!’ I say, shocked he’d even think that. ‘Don’t turn it round on me. Of course not. Like I said, he’s a man I met in…who helped me with my car.’
‘What was wrong with your car?’ His eyes narrow as he picks up on my wavering voice.
I swallow, not knowing what mechanical fault could possibly warrant a stranger stopping, helping me, getting my car going again and then giving me his phone number.
‘It just wouldn’t start. He helped me.’
Rob is silent for a moment, thinking.
‘Anyway,’ I go on. ‘If we were having an affair, for Christ’s sake, why would he be followingyou?’
‘I don’t know, Han,’ he says, shaking his head slowly. ‘I really don’t know.’
But the look on his face tells me that he does.
