Janine shook her head. Connie had gone on to talk about her intention to take an evening course in business management. She had nannied while in Hong Kong but had always wanted to live in the UK. ‘It’s my favourite place,’ she declared. Janine liked her energy. With three kids and a baby, stamina was important. She just hoped Connie wouldn’t sail through her business course too quickly; she could just see her setting up her own nannying agency and making a go of it.
‘I can’t expect her to manage a baby all day long and then be on tap for babysitting.’ Janine told Pete.
‘Well, I’m on days,’ he offered, rising to get his coat.
‘And what about Tina?’ It still stung her to say the name though she hid it well.
‘Tina knows the score,’ he told her.
She was relieved. She knew just how crazy her hours might get and it would be impossible without Pete to call on. No need to show too much gratitude though. After all he was their father; his spending time here was good for them all.
As Janine headed upstairs, Eleanor pounced. ‘Mum, there’s a girl been knocked down at Tom’s school.’
‘I know,’ Janine said.
‘What happened?’ Eleanor’s eyes were bright with interest. ‘Did you see it, it was this morning?’
‘Yes. A car went straight over the crossing, and then they drove off.’
‘That’s awful. Is she going to be all right?’
‘No,’ Janine said quietly. She saw Eleanor’s face fall, her mouth part then close again. A tiny frown. ‘What?’
‘She died this afternoon.’
‘That’s awful,’ Eleanor repeated, a sudden glint of tears in her eyes. Any hint of morbid curiosity vanished.
Janine hugged her. ‘I don’t want you to say anything to Tom, OK?’
‘You’ve got to tell him; she was in his class.’
‘I know – but don’t say anything till I’ve had chance.’
‘Why didn’t they stop?’ Eleanor stepped back, an edge of outrage in her expression.
‘They didn’t want to take responsibility for what they’d done.’
‘Will you catch them?’
‘We’re trying. It was a stolen car so it’s a bit more complicated.’
‘That is so mean,’ Eleanor said, shaking her head, her face miserable. Janine nodded. You couldn’t protect children from the grim realities. Maybe they heard more than their fair share because of her job though she made it a habit not to bring home stories from work – or only the funny ones. But even if she hadn’t been in the job, the daily news was still saturated with examples of cruelty, inhumanity, death and strife. Most of the time people compartmentalised the two worlds: the safe, private, domestic one and the big bad place out there, where awful things happened to other people. But with something like Ann-Marie’s death the two spheres collided, the divisions dissolved. The wolf wasn’t at the door, he was in the house.
On cue Charlotte kicked off just as Janine sank into sleep, the baby’s cries jerking her awake. She felt the familiar lurching feeling: a combination of resentment at being woken and fear that her child was in distress. Picking her from the cot, she tried settling her with words, rubbing her back and feeling the tiny wings of shoulder blades beneath the babygro, circling the soft, downy head with her palm.
She tried her with a bottle but the baby didn’t seem interested, there was no sign that her nappy needed changing and Janine hadn’t the energy to go through the ritual of trying to resettle her in her cot. Without Pete there was always plenty of room in her bed. Opinion-makers couldn’t agree as to whether sleeping with a baby was a good thing or not: a rod for your own back, dangerous even, or a natural state of affairs. Janine knew she probably got more sleep sharing her bed than if she spent time getting up and down to Charlotte who regularly woke three times a night. On that particular night, in the light of the tragedy she had witnessed, it seemed a precious thing to be able to take the child into her bed and fall asleep aware of the small presence nestling beside her.
Chapter Six
First thing the next morning Janine went through to Tom’s room. Plastic dinosaurs, action-men figures and small soldiers littered the carpet. He slept on his bunk. His cheeks looked flushed; his arms were flung up behind his head.
‘Tom,’ she said gently.
He opened his eyes. Gave her a sunny grin. He scrambled out of his duvet and down the ladder, clutching a beanie-baby dragon.
Janine sat on the sofa-bed beneath his bunk and patted her knee. ‘Come here a minute.’
‘Why?’
‘I want to talk to you.’
He gave a small sigh and wriggled onto her lap.
‘You heard about Ann-Marie’s accident?’
He nodded, bounced the dragon on her leg and then his own.
‘Well, Ann-Marie was very badly hurt.’
‘Where?’ Tom was always literal, and curious.
‘Everywhere,’ Janine said. ‘And the doctors tried to make her better but she was too poorly.’ Janine paused a moment, trying to assess how direct to be. Tom put both his hands on the dragon and held it close.
‘It’s very sad,’ she went on, ‘you see Ann-Marie died. Everybody is going to be feeling very sad about it.’
Tom was very still. She gave him time but he said nothing. She put her arms round him pulling him back for a cuddle. ‘OK?’ she asked.
He murmured, stood up and stretched the dragon’s wings wide. ‘Mum?’
‘Yes,’ she steeled herself for difficult questions.
‘You know when I’m eight; for my party, can we go to Laser Quest?’
She bit down on the laughter rising in her throat. Bless him. ‘Yes,’ she said tightly, ‘course you can.’
He nodded and shot out of the room holding the dragon aloft.
Once she was dressed, Janine took Charlotte down and suspended her in the baby bouncer from the kitchen doorway. That gave Janine a chance to get on with the kids’ breakfasts. ‘Put those two slices in when you’ve got yours,’ she said to Michael who was hovering by the toaster. Eleanor and Tom were just finishing off their cereal and arguing about the puzzle on the back of the packet.
Charlotte pushed with her legs and whooped as the action sent her careering up and down and to and fro. ‘Lovely girl,’ Janine called to her.
‘Hello, everybody.’ Connie carefully held the elastic ropes of Charlotte’s bouncer to one side as she squeezed past.
‘Good show last night?’ Janine asked her.
‘Brilliant,’ Connie beamed. ‘I love the Royal Exchange.’
‘Ann-Marie Chinley got run over,’ Tom said to Connie. ‘And Mum’s going to under arrest them.’
Janine smiled.
‘Arrest,’ Eleanor corrected him. ‘Not under arrest.’
‘You are under arrest,’ Tom told his spoon. ‘You will, won’t you Mum?’
‘Going to try.’
‘She didn’t make it,’ Janine said sotto-voce to the nanny. ‘Oh, no,’ Connie said softly. Janine nodded. Charlotte squealed and swung wildly up and down. ‘I best make tracks,’ Janine said. ‘Their toast’s on.’ She left to a chorus of goodbye her thoughts already turning to the list of actions she needed to get underway when she briefed her teams.
‘Harper’s account checks out.’ Richard stepped into the canteen queue behind Janine. ‘Reported the car theft at ten. Cab from home to the Casino Royale in town, meal in the restaurant there.’
Janine took the plate from the woman dishing up the hot breakfasts. His account might check out but that didn’t signal the end of her interest in the man. Not by a long chalk. She pulled a face.
‘I was thinking,’ Richard said, taking his own plate, ‘Rosa: the lack of records, no known place of residence – either someone’s covering something up or she was here illegally?’