She was dog-tired and a bit hungover but she needed to stay awake for when Mina came back. She got some music going and put the kettle on for some coffee. She’d have to read her the riot act, of course, but then maybe she’d cook them both something nice. They could sit and eat together, watch some crap on the telly. Mina was obviously pissed off with her; fair enough, but she couldn’t act up like this. Sandy had to work, so they needed to find a way to deal with it. They’d work it out, find a way through, like they had been doing for eleven years. It wasn’t perfect, never had been, but they were both still here, weren’t they?
She wandered over to the fridge, but it was almost bare. She’d been going to do a Lidl shop on Monday when Frank’s lackey had called round, demanding the latest payment. She didn’t have it all, so she’d given him what cash she had. Which included the food money. She had last night’s wages from the bar, now, though. Perhaps they’d get a takeaway. Payday treat.
She was going to run a bath, then remembered that the immersion heater wasn’t working. She needed to ring the bastard landlords again. Where had she put that number? The time flashed up when she switched on her phone – just gone five. For fuck’s sake, they’d all have gone home. She felt a flash of temper at the thought of another night with no hot water. Jesus, this was a dump. What the hell had she done to deserve this?
Gone five, though … where was Mina? This was getting beyond a joke.
And then she heard the door knocker. She charged towards the door, ready to tear into Mina, but when she opened the door, it wasn’t her. It was the old bag from next door, standing there looking like a drowned rat. It took Sandy a while to take in what she was saying. Yes, she knew Mina wasn’t home yet. What about it? Then she twigged that the woman was telling her that she hadn’t heard Mina yesterday either.
Her mind started to race. She checked Mina’s bedroom again, even though she knew she wasn’t there. And it started to sink in. Mina was missing. She’d been missing for at least twenty-four hours. Her baby was gone.