By the Tuesday of the last working week before Christmas, Portway Biotech was awash with tinsel – the corridors, the offices and even the ladies’ washroom. And Clive Mason from the post room had started early on his mistletoe tour of the female staff. In response, Sophie and Viola had stuck a notice on the door:
MISTLETOE NOT ALLOWED.
GO AWAY CLIVE.
Sophie’s Special Christmas Edition of Biowise had been very well received and, as she flicked through the pages of inane anecdotes about the previous year, she cringed at the thought of all those people reading her words and at the waste of her time that those words represented. Viola suggested she come to lunch, just this once, and for once she did. But as soon as Sophie stepped into the crush in the Slug and Lettuce, she wished she hadn’t. She felt too old and troubled to be standing amongst all these not-necessarily-younger, apparently carefree people. She’d forgotten how to do all this.
Bella fought her way through to the bar for a bottle of Shiraz and Viola looked around for somewhere to sit. There was little hope of success but suddenly Sophie caught sight of Joanna, waving at her above the crowd. She was pointing at the people next to her, who were vacating their seats. Sophie forced her way through the crush – at least she hadn’t forgotten how to do that – and she and Viola waited for the people to leave then claimed their seats. Bella joined them with a bottle and three glasses and squashed in next to Viola. Suddenly Clive’s flaccid body was looming beside Sophie.
‘Fuck off, Clive,’ said Bella.
‘Oh, excuse me for living,’ said Clive, undeterred. ‘I’ve just come over to see Sophie. I’ve got something for her.’
Oh Christ, thought Sophie, not the mistletoe. But, instead of mistletoe, Clive handed her a white envelope. ‘What’s this?’ she said.
‘Christmas card I presume. This guy said he wanted you to have it straight away, so when I saw you heading this way, I grabbed it and brought it with me.’
‘What guy?’ said Sophie, pulling out a sparkly card.
‘Never seen him before. But, if you ask me, him and his mate looked like ruffians.’
Sophie opened the card: a single word, Rosemead, was written in an untidy hand, an all too familiar smiley face beside it. She frowned up at Clive. ‘There were two of them?’
‘Yeh, one of them was bald with a beard, really ugly. And the other one, he was also ugly, with, like, ginger hair.’
Sophie threw her hand against her chest.
‘What’s up, Soph?’ said Viola.
‘I’ve got to phone Sam!’ She pushed past Clive and forced her way to the street, pulled out her phone and dropped her bag on the ground. People stopped to stare at her. Joanna and Clive hurried out to join her, picked up her things and watched her prodding her phone, pressing the wrong number. Trying again. Sam picked up straight away. ‘Sam, those two thugs came to the office. I’m scared they’re going to take Laura.’
‘What?’
Joanna touched her arm but Sophie shook her away and tried to speak calmly. ‘The two gangsters. They delivered a card to the office. To me. It just had Rosemead written inside. And a smiley face. Sam, I think they’re going to go to the nursery. Maybe they’re there already. How can I get there before them?’
‘I’ll drive you there,’ interrupted Clive. ‘I’ll fetch the car. It’s just down the road.’
‘Who was that?’
‘Clive.’
‘Look, Sophie, try not to panic. I’ll phone the police. They’ll probably get there before me. Phone the nursery and warn them about the two men, right? I’ll ring off now, OK?’
She watched the call end. Joanna put her arm around her. Viola and Bella joined them on the pavement. Bella was still clutching the bottle of Shiraz. She told the gathering crowd to piss off and mind their own business; some guy called her a slag. Clive pulled up alongside them and Sophie hurried into the car. She looked at Clive, hoped he wasn’t in on the whole thing, with Bald Man and Mole Man, like he would have been if this was one of Sam’s detective novels. But he wasn’t in with them. He was just Clive.
Sophie gave directions, phoned and tried to control the tremor in her voice as she spoke to Mrs Bain, the Rosemead Manager, who understood her concern but assured her that the two men she described had not put in an appearance and that Rosemead’s security system would defy all attempts at entry other than with a battering ram. She would look out for the police and check their credentials before allowing them onto the premises. Sophie thanked her, rang off and looked at Clive. ‘She says she hasn’t seen anyone suspicious.’
‘Is it to do with your ex?’
‘Yes. He’s muddled up in something I never knew about. It’s the next on the left.’
By the time Clive pulled up in front of the nursery, a police car was already parked outside and a police officer was standing at the main entrance, talking to Mrs Bain. Sophie picked up her bag. ‘Thanks so much, Clive. Sam will be here soon. So, there’s no need to stay. I’m so grateful.’
‘Glad I could help. But I’d better hang around. Just in case they need me to make a statement about those two villains. And it’s a good excuse not to go back to the office. I’m sick of all those lovelorn women breaking into the post room to snog me.’
Sophie left Clive moving his car and hurried towards the nursery entrance.
‘This is Laura’s mother, Constable Banks,’ explained Mrs Bain.
The policeman turned. ‘Ms Denham? We’ve been informed that this is a situation that ought to be followed up with caution. Part of an existing investigation.’ Sophie noticed Mrs Bain’s look of disapproval. Perhaps she should have mentioned on Laura’s application that her father was a criminal sociopath. The officer continued. ‘I gather that two men delivered a note to your place of work this morning? And that it contained a reference to this nursery.’
‘Yes.’ Sophie handed over the card. ‘When the post guy described them to me, I recognised them as two men that had been threatening Laura’s father.’ Another look of disapproval from Mrs Bain. ‘Is Laura safe, Mrs Bain?’
‘Yes, of course, Miss Denham. The little ones are having their afternoon rest at the moment.’ She looked up as Clive approached. ‘And this is?’
‘This is my colleague, Clive Mason. He was kind enough to drive me here. It was Clive who alerted me to the two men. They gave him the card and asked him to give it to me.’
Mrs Bain acknowledged Clive with a brief nod of her head. ‘Perhaps we should continue this inside,’ she said.
‘I ought to wait outside until my partner gets here,’ said Sophie.
‘Isn’t that Sam now?’ said Clive. ‘In the Range Rover.’
They watched Sam pull in behind the patrol car, jump out and hurry towards them. ‘What’s the situation, Officer?’ he said, taking Sophie’s hand.
‘All seems to be well at the moment, sir,’ said Constable Banks. ‘No sign of the men in question. It was Mr Mason here who they approached.’
Yet another car pulled up. Sophie watched DI Blake and Officer Lane stepping out but, just as they did so, there was a screech of tyres and a car sped past on the opposite side of the road. ‘That’s them!’ shouted Clive.
Sam and Clive ran towards the road. Sam pulled a pen out of his pocket and wrote on his palm as he and Clive watched the low black saloon disappear. Sophie hurried over to join them.
‘Was that the two men?’ asked the inspector.
‘Yes,’ said Clive. ‘And that was a 2015 Ford Mustang 2.3 Fastback V8 with replacement alloys. Obviously, I’m in the wrong job.’
Sam held up his palm. ‘This is the licence.’
‘I’ll get that checked out,’ said Inspector Blake. He looked at Sophie. ‘We clearly arrived just in time, although it’s possible that this was just an attempt to frighten you.’
‘Well, they certainly achieved that,’ said Sophie.
‘It was most likely a nicked car.’
‘Quite so, Mr Barnes,’ said Inspector Blake. ‘But, for now, we’d better go and explain ourselves to that severe-looking lady standing in the entrance. If I were you, I’d take Ms Denham and her daughter home straight away and, perhaps, make alternative arrangements for her day care. No point in taking chances.’
They left Clive giving details to Officer Lane. Inspector Blake accompanied Sophie and Sam to Mrs Bain’s office where the atmosphere was decidedly unrelaxed. Essentially, Mrs Bain felt that the other parents would be most concerned when they learned about today’s crisis. And, not to put too fine a point on it, she thought that, for the time being, it might be safer for all concerned at the nursery if Laura ceased to attend. Sophie both understood Mrs Bain’s fears and loathed her for expressing them in such a way that suggested Laura was somehow to blame. ‘I wouldn’t feel safe sending her here after today, Mrs Bain.’
Mrs Bain bristled. ‘Our security system is top-drawer!’
‘As long as it’s never tested,’ said Sophie. ‘If I may collect my daughter, you will see no more of us. So, please, reassure the other parents accordingly. And please keep any overpayment as a contribution to the paddling pool fund.’
‘Miss Denham, we usually expect two months’ notice, so this amount will remain outstanding.’
‘Then sue me,’ said Sophie. ‘Sam, would you help me collect Laura’s things? Inspector Blake, if you need to speak to me further, please wait for me outside.’
Sam and Officer Blake clearly realised it would be wise to say nothing. Sophie followed Mrs Bain out of the room. Sam hurried along behind them and in no time at all, Laura was secured in her car seat and Sophie was in the passenger seat fuming. Sam got in beside her and Inspector Blake leaned low to speak to them. ‘Officer Lane has confirmed that the car the men were driving was stolen yesterday from a spa centre just outside Oxford. The two assailants, who we have previously identified from your security footage, are the recently unbearded Joseph Mann. And the redhead is a Russian called Kolya Sokolov, who seems to have developed a large melanoma since his last mugshot. I’m sure this episode was an attempt to scare you, Ms Denham.’
‘But, Inspector, why?’
‘Perhaps they believe that you know the whereabouts of – or, indeed, are in possession of – whatever it was that Mr Perrin was searching for last week, and that the kind of intimidation we have just witnessed will cause you to surrender it.’ He paused. ‘When questioned, following his discharge from the Royal Surrey Hospital, Mr Perrin was unable to explain last Friday’s damage to your property. I believe Social Services are arranging repairs.’
It was dark by the time they arrived home. Sam went through to update Jesse and Sophie carried Laura up to their rooms and fussed around getting her tea and trying to supress a burgeoning sense of dread. By the time Sam joined her, she was in tears, the kind of tears that spill out because your head’s so full of anxieties that it has to start bailing out. He tried to get her to talk about it but she couldn’t. The anxieties were too primal: pre-linguistic. She felt like a distressed ape in the days before language was invented. So, Sam just helped put Laura to bed and then they sat in silence. Eventually, Jesse and the boys joined them for supper, which meant Jesse carried a large venison casserole up two flights of stairs and placed it on Sam’s hob to reheat it, which was just as well since neither Sophie or Sam were inclined to open the fridge door to find food. The boys hurried over to sit beside Sophie.
‘Dad said we could stay up late and be with you,’ said Benz, ‘because our vile behaviour will take your mind off the shit storm.’
Jesse stopped what he was doing. ‘Benz, that’s disgusting language!’
‘You said it.’
‘That’s got nothing to do with it. If I hear you say that again, I’ll phone Father Christmas and tell him to take your parcels to some more deserving children.’
‘But, Dad, not my iPad,’ said Jake.
‘He doesn’t mean it,’ whispered Benz. He turned to Sophie. ‘He just doesn’t like us swearing. In case we do it in front of the teachers.’ He rolled his eyes. ‘But Jake and I are not stupid, are we, Jake?’
‘No way,’ said Jake.
Sleep did not come easy so, as the house settled, Sam reached for Coleridge.Sophie listened, but after only a few verses Sam placed the book back on his bedside table. ‘Soph, I don’t want you going back into work this side of New Year. I’ll phone and say you’re suffering from stress. It means we’re both free for the duration.’
‘OK. Sam, do you think Jonah’s in danger?’
‘I sincerely hope so.’