As usual Chloe had spent most of the afternoon closeted in her room. It wasn’t the room she had occupied when she’d last lived in the house – up until the age of two. Anna continued to use that room as her study, and the walls were still covered with photos taken before Chloe’s father abducted her. Anna had wanted to leave it be so that Chloe could see that her real mother had never stopped thinking about her … Or given up searching for her.
This bedroom was a work in progress, and Chloe had yet to put her own stamp on it. Many of the belongings she’d brought from her previous home were still in boxes, including books and posters and some of her clothes.
The door was ajar so Anna knocked lightly and then eased it open and stepped inside. Chloe was sitting on her bed with her back against the wall. Her knees were up and her precious photo album was resting against them. Anna had laid eyes on the album for the first time a month ago, and it had been a moving experience. It was her daughter’s link to the past, filled with ten years of memories that Anna hadn’t shared with her. And for Anna it was a painful reminder of what she had missed. All those Christmases and birthdays that made a child’s formative years such a joy. They were all there in the photos, but Anna found it hard to look at them without choking up.
‘Are you all right, sweetheart?’
Chloe looked up and smiled. It was a half-hearted smile, but Anna was used to that. She knew her daughter needed more time to embrace her new life. Things could only get better.
Anna crossed the room and sat on the edge of the bed. The fact that Chloe no longer flinched when she got close was the clearest sign yet that they had made significant progress in the short time they’d had together.
‘I’m afraid I have to go out to work,’ Anna said. ‘I know it’s sooner than expected but it can’t be helped.’
Chloe frowned. She seemed curious rather than alarmed. ‘Is it because of all the rioting?’ she asked.
Anna chose not to tell her about the boy in the cellar. It would only play on her mind and stir up painful memories of her own kidnap ordeal at the hands of a brutal villain.
‘It’s connected to the riots, yes,’ she said. ‘There’s been a serious crime and they need me to take charge of the investigation. But I’m going to call Tom to get him to come and stay with you.’
‘He doesn’t need to. I’ll be OK by myself.’
There was an edge to her voice, but there always was when the conversation turned to Anna’s boyfriend, Tom Bannerman. Chloe had convinced herself he wasn’t happy that she had entered their lives because it made it less likely that he would be allowed to move into the house in the near future.
For her part, Anna wasn’t sure what to believe, although it was undoubtedly true that it had placed a strain on their relationship. Tom had only stayed overnight on two occasions during the past month and in that time they hadn’t had sex or gone on a date.
‘There’s no way I’m leaving you here by yourself,’ Anna said. ‘A lot of bad things are going on out there and I want to be sure you’re safe.’
Chloe responded with a shrug, so Anna reached out and placed a hand on her knee.
‘I love you so much, sweetheart. You know that don’t you?’
Chloe hesitated, and for a fleeting moment Anna thought she was going to say that she loved her back for the first time. But instead, Chloe nodded and said, ‘I know you do, Mum.’
Anna was disappointed, but took comfort in the fact that at least her daughter was now calling her Mum. It was something Chloe had struggled with in the beginning. That was because the only mother she had ever really known had plunged to her death from a warehouse roof only four weeks ago.
‘I’ll get Tom to make you some dinner and I promise to come home as soon as I can,’ Anna said.
As Chloe shifted her gaze back to the photo album, Anna’s breath caught in her throat. She still found it hard to look at her daughter without feeling the swell of emotion. They’d been apart for so long and there had been times over the years when she thought she would never see Chloe again. There was still so much they didn’t know about each other, so many unresolved issues.
One of those issues was that her daughter did not like to be called Chloe. After her father ran off with her, he changed her name to Alice. Alice Miller. She said she preferred that name, which was why Anna referred to her as sweetheart most of the time. She didn’t want to make a big deal of it at this early stage because it was one less thing for her daughter to have to wrap her young mind around.
Anna knew she had to be patient. Indeed, the child counsellor appointed by social services had warned her that it would be a long, mentally challenging process. Not only was Chloe still shell-shocked from what had happened to her, she was also only weeks away from her thirteenth birthday, so hormones were flooding her developing body and she was facing a storm of social, physical and emotional pressures.
Not for the first time Anna found herself staring intently at Chloe’s face, mesmerised by the button nose, dimpled chin and bright blue eyes. She had retained most of her baby features and it was amazing how accurate the age progression image of her had turned out to be. Anna had commissioned it on the tenth anniversary of her disappearance and it had been instrumental in bringing her home. The only difference was her hair, which her adoptive mother had recently allowed her to have cut short and dyed blonde.
‘You’re doing it again,’ Chloe said, without moving her eyes from the album. ‘I told you I don’t like it when you stare at me.’
Anna laughed. ‘I know and I’m sorry. I just can’t get over the fact that I’ve got you back. And I’m terrified of losing you again.’
Chloe turned to face her. ‘I don’t want to lose you either,’ she said. ‘You’re all I’ve got.’
Anna stood up quickly to stop herself crying. Tears came easily these days, usually triggered by something Chloe said or did, or just because she was finding it increasingly difficult to control her feelings.
‘I’ll go and ring Tom and then get ready,’ she said. ‘Is there anything you want?’
‘No, thank you.’
Anna leaned over and kissed her daughter on the forehead.
‘I’m going to take good care of you, sweetheart,’ she said. ‘You’re my world now, and I promise I won’t let any more harm come to you.’
As she stepped back out of the room, Chloe was still turning the pages of her album, no doubt reliving some of the memories it contained of the times she’d spent with her father and the woman who’d brought her up from the age of two.