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‘Okay, honey. Calm down. Do you have the address of the party?’
If the answer to that one was ‘no’ then I was calling 999 and to hell with the consequences.
‘I… I’m not sure. We got an Uber here.’
‘Was it your account or Dan’s?’ I asked urgently, pulling on my boots without even bothering to look for socks.
‘Mine.’
‘Great. Then the address will be in the ‘Your Trips’ section of the app. Screenshot it and send it to me.’
‘Maddie, I’m scared. I don’t want to come out of the bathroom.’
‘Don’t come out,’ I said so loudly it was practically a shout. I forced myself to speak in a softer tone because she was clearly already terrified. ‘Stay right where you are. Keep the door locked until I get there. I’m on my way.’
*
It would be wrong to say I didn’t think of calling Ryan the minute I hung up on our daughter. I gave the idea at least twenty seconds serious consideration before deciding it was too risky. There was a very good reason why Hope had phonedmefor help and not her parents. Ryan had always been slow to anger, but where Hope was concerned, and if he thought she was in danger, it was impossible to know how he’d react. If I was making a bad decision, then I’d worry about that later. Right now my priority was to reach Hope as quickly as possible, and as my driving licence still hadn’t been reinstated, I was going to need help.
Much later I would wonder why it wasMitch’snumber I’d instinctively dialled, instead of a cab company. He must be a really light sleeper, I thought distractedly, as he answered on the second ring, sounding instantly alert.
‘Maddie? Are you okay?’
‘I am, but Hope isn’t.’ I heard the rustle of bedcovers being thrown aside. ‘She’s at a party that’s got out of hand and I need to get there… like right now. Can you drive me?’ I heard a jangling noise that sounded blissfully like keys being plucked up.
‘Be with you in ten,’ he said. Neither of us bothered saying goodbye before hanging up.
I was standing outside in the street when he pulled up, determined to shave precious seconds off our ETA if I could. I should probably have taken a few of those seconds to grab a jacket to throw on, because by the time Mitch threw open the passenger door for me to jump in, I was shivering as if I had a fever. It was probably more nerves than cold, but I was still grateful when Mitch turned the heater on full blast.
I’m sure anyone else would have fired a barrage of questions at me after being rudely dragged out of their bed in the middle of the night, but that wasn’t Mitch’s style. He simply tossed his phone my way and instructed me to key in the address.
With our route mapped out, he took his eyes briefly from the road to give me a reassuring smile. ‘Teenagers,’ he said sympathetically, ‘can’t live with them, can’t lock ’em up.’
‘I’ve got a feeling Ryan and Chloe might be doing just that after tonight,’ I predicted darkly, as I pulled out my own phone and once again tried Hope’s number. It went straight to voicemail, as it had done every single time since that first call. My panic levels rose exponentially with each failed attempt to reach her.
‘She’ll be fine,’ Mitch said reassuringly, but I noticed his right foot pressing down even harder on the accelerator, taking us above the speed limit.
‘Do you think I should have called the police?’ I asked, chewing my bottom lip hard enough to make it bleed, and not even noticing. ‘Or maybe Ryan?’ I was suddenly afraid that my actions were so far removed from those of a sensible parent he’d probably never allow me to see Hope again.
‘We’re only five minutes away,’ Mitch said, his eyes flashing from the screen of his phone and then back to the road. ‘Let’s see what the situation is when we get there.’ He took one hand off the wheel and captured mine within it. ‘It’s going to be all right, Maddie. At least she had the good sense to call you.’
‘But not enough to know not to go out partying where there were drinks and drugs involved.’
‘Let’s just get her safely out of there, and then you and Chloe and Ryan can work out how many years she’s going to be grounded,’ he said. That at least brought me closer to a smile than anything else had done in the last half hour.
We didn’t need the automated voice on Mitch’s phone to tell us we’d ‘reached our destination’. It was evident from the throb of loud music coming from a house at the end of a cul-de-sac.
‘Why on earth haven’t the neighbours complained to the police?’ I asked, shaking my head in disbelief.
‘It’s mainly student rentals in this part of town,’ Mitch replied knowingly. ‘Half the street is probably at the party anyway.’
I looked through the windscreen and saw he could well be right. The three-storey house wasn’t big enough to contain all the partying youngsters. Some had spilled out onto the drive and overgrown front garden, while others were gathered in clusters on the pavements and the road.
I liked the way Mitch didn’t even bother looking for a parking space, but simply drew his oversized vehicle to a halt in the middle of the road. He didn’t turn off the Chevrolet’s headlights, and in their twin beams I saw several disgruntled faces turn our way at the intrusion.
‘I suppose there’s no hope at all of me asking you to stay in the car while I go and get her?’ he asked. But he was directing his question to an empty seat for I was already halfway out of the truck and heading towards the house.
Mitch caught up with me easily and the awareness that he was right there behind me felt like a protective coat of armour. I edged my way past the groups of teenagers on the drive, most of whom appeared to be happily inebriated. In my haste I caught someone’s elbow as I brushed past, sending their plastic beaker of drink flying.
