Her tears had dried up but inside she was still crying. It was causing her body to shake and her heart to beat so hard that she thought she could actually hear it thumping against her ribs.
She was still at the kitchen table and Wesley was sitting opposite her again. She couldn’t believe he was being so kind. He was like a different person now, and even his features were softer and less threatening.
She wasn’t sure if it was because he now knew that she was the girl who had been on the news, the one who had been missing for ten years. But she didn’t care anyway. He was making her feel safe, and she no longer thought that he was such a bad person.
‘Do you want another cup of tea?’ he asked her.
She nodded. She’d finished the first one and it had made her stomach gurgle. But it had also quenched her thirst and she felt better for it.
Wesley got up to reheat the water in the kettle and to get himself another beer from the fridge.
He had already tried to call Wandsworth police station to contact her mother but hadn’t been able to get through. He didn’t even get an answer when he dialled 999 again, and she could tell that it was making him anxious.
There was a clock on the worktop next to the toaster. It told Chloe that it was almost one a.m. on Saturday morning, which meant it’d be dark for at least another six hours. It made her wonder what state London would be in when the sun finally rose.
‘Are you hungry?’ Wesley asked as he placed a large round tin of biscuits on the table in front of her.
She shook her head. She didn’t think she would be able to keep anything down, not even a biscuit.
‘We’ll just have to sit it out for a while,’ he said. ‘I’ll keep trying to reach your mum, though. Try not to worry.’
But she couldn’t help worrying, or being scared. She had seen so many bad things in such a short time. First there was the attack on the old man who lived across the road from their house. Then Tom was dragged off by those men. Not long after that she almost fell victim to a pair of rapists. And she could still hear Ryan’s screams in her head as he fought against the flames that killed him.
Despite what Wesley had told her, Chloe was confused as well as fearful. She still did not understand why people like him thought that their actions were justified and that it was all right to turn on one another. And they were wrong to accuse the police of being the enemy. They were the ones who caught the murderers and thieves and gangsters and put them in prison. Without people like her mum nobody would be safe.
Wesley handed her another mug of tea and sat down opposite her again. His dark cheeks were damp, his eyes puffy.
‘This is really fucked up,’ he said. ‘I can’t remember the last time I cried. It must have been when I was about your age.’
‘I’ve cried every day for weeks,’ Chloe said, and the distress in her voice was evident. ‘Ever since that man pulled me into his van.’
‘I remember seeing it on the news,’ Wesley said. ‘Me and Ryan stayed in that night because we were babysitting his kid sister, Phoebe. They showed a picture of you and there was film of that warehouse. At least the sicko who took you there is dead. Shame about the woman, though. She didn’t deserve that.’
Chloe could feel the tears gathering in her eyes again so she picked up the mug and sipped at the tea.
‘You remind me of Phoebe,’ Wesley said. ‘You’re both very mature for your age. She’s taller and more streetwise, but I’m sure she’d find it just as hard to cope if she was in your shoes right now.’
Chloe put down the mug and said, ‘Will you try to get through to the police station again please?’
Wesley nodded and stood up to retrieve his phone from on top of the worktop. But just as he picked it up, it started to ring.
Chloe watched him check the caller ID and noticed how his nostrils flared suddenly.
‘This is what I’ve been dreading,’ he said. ‘It’s Ryan’s mum. She’ll be wanting to know why she can’t get through to him.’
‘Are you going to tell her?’ Chloe asked.
He shook his head. ‘I can’t. I’m not ready for that.’
He placed the phone back on the worktop and they both stared at it until the ringing stopped.
Wesley then turned back to Chloe. ‘You must think I’m a coward.’
Chloe wasn’t sure what to say so she didn’t reply. Instead, she swallowed some more tea and winced as it burned a track down the back of her throat.
‘I’ll go over to their place as soon as I get the chance,’ he said. ‘It’s best that the family hears it from me in person rather than over the phone.’
He remained standing with his eyes closed and his body stiff. Neither of them spoke for at least a minute.
Then Wesley opened his eyes, picked up the phone, and tried to get through to Wandsworth police station. But the line was still busy. He dialled 999 and got the same response.
This time it really got to him and he reacted angrily by throwing the phone across the kitchen. It smashed against the wall and dropped onto the floor.
Wesley rushed over to pick it up, but the phone was in pieces.
‘I don’t believe this,’ he said, his voice a low growl. ‘It’s the only phone I’ve got. How could I be so fucking stupid?’
Chloe felt her spirits plummet because she knew it meant that she wouldn’t be speaking to her mum any time soon.