It was almost two o’clock in the morning and at Wesley’s suggestion Chloe had moved from the kitchen to the front room. He’d told her that he wouldn’t be leaving the flat until it was light outside so she might as well make herself comfortable.
She was sitting on the sofa and he was slouched on the armchair opposite. They both had a view of the television, and Wesley kept switching between the news channels. He was no longer reacting to the pictures by shouting and swearing at the screen. Chloe thought that was probably because he had drunk too much alcohol. There were four empty beer bottles on the floor next to his chair and he was now drinking large amounts of vodka while smoking one cigarette after another.
He’d told Chloe to help herself to the cans of Coke in the fridge and she was on her second one. She was tired and uncomfortable, and even though Wesley had made her take a couple of painkillers, her head was still hurting. But she wasn’t complaining because what she saw on the telly made her realise how lucky she was not to be on the streets still.
More buildings were being set on fire and the lady reading the news was saying that four people had so far died in the riots. Chloe wondered if the figure included Ryan.
On screen a man in uniform, described as the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, stood in front of a Scotland Yard sign and said a decision had been taken to deploy the army in parts of London. Chloe assumed that he was the big boss of all the police and she wondered if her mum knew him.
The man also said that hundreds of people had been arrested and would face the full force of the law. Chloe took that to mean that they would be sent to prison, but Wesley didn’t appear to take it seriously.
‘That motherfucker is a prick,’ he said, slurring his words. ‘Most of them will be back on the streets by this time tomorrow.’
It worried Chloe that Wesley was getting so drunk. She was old enough to know that drink caused people to do silly things. And sometimes it made them violent.
‘This has got to be the biggest fucking wake-up call ever,’ he said. ‘From now on things will be different in this city, and that means Ryan won’t have died for nothing.’
Chloe wanted to tell him that he was wrong, but she didn’t dare because she feared it would provoke a nasty reaction.
If he hadn’t been drinking, she might have been brave enough. She would have told him that it wasn’t right that people had been killed, that buildings had been destroyed, and that her mum’s boyfriend had been treated like an animal.
She couldn’t stop thinking about Tom and what had happened to him. She was desperate to know if he was still alive. If not, then her mum was going to be heartbroken. If he was then she just hoped that he wasn’t lying seriously injured somewhere with nobody taking care of him.
It was one of the many tortured thoughts tearing through her mind, along with so many distressing images. It felt like she was trapped in a never-ending nightmare.
For the past month she’d been struggling with Sophie’s tragic death and the revelation that her real mum was still alive. Now she was struggling just to survive. And if she did, she had no idea what her life would be like in the future.
Her mind flashed on a long-forgotten memory from the years she spent growing up in Spain with Sophie and her dad.
The three of them were playing ball in the sea. The sun was shining and the white sandy beach was deserted. She recalled how much fun life was back then. Everything was so simple. And safe. But since moving to England it had been anything but. First her dad was murdered. Then Sophie sacrificed her own life to save her. And now she was sitting in the flat of a violent hooligan, knowing that he could turn on her at any minute.
‘… and it’s now been confirmed that a boy of ten died in the fire that swept through a derelict pub in Camberwell, South London, this afternoon. The blaze was started by a rioter who threw a petrol bomb.’
The words of the newsreader jolted Chloe out of her thoughts suddenly. There was an urgency in the woman’s voice that grabbed her attention.
‘The boy hasn’t been formally identified, but a police source has told us that the body found in the building is that of Jacob Rossi who’s been missing since Monday when it’s believed he was abducted.’ The newsreader continued speaking over a photo of the boy. ‘Jacob is the son of TV entertainer Mark Rossi. We understand that the Major Investigation Team has launched an inquiry led by Detective Chief Inspector Anna Tate.
‘Detective Tate is one of London’s most prominent police officers following several high-profile cases, including the kidnapping of nine children from a nursery school last month. She’s also been in the news because she was recently reunited with her own daughter who was missing for ten years after being taken away by her father.’
Chloe gasped as the photo of Jacob was replaced by one of her mother. She sat bolt upright and thrust a rigid finger at the screen.
‘There she is,’ she blurted out. ‘There’s my mum.’
But Wesley wasn’t listening or watching the TV. He was slumped back in the chair, his eyes closed and his mouth wide open.
The glass he’d been drinking from was resting on his stomach, and the vodka had spilled onto his jeans, making it look as though he had wet himself.
Chloe looked back at the screen. Her mum’s photo had gone, but it was still there in her mind, instilling her with renewed confidence. Knowing that she was OK and doing her job came as such a relief. But suddenly a thought made her wince: She obviously still doesn’t know what’s happened to Tom.
Chloe felt an unfamiliar sensation stir inside her and she realised, perhaps for the first time, just how much her mother meant to her. Since the truth about her real identity came out a month ago, Chloe had struggled with her feelings. It had been hard to accept that Anna had taken Sophie’s place. After all, Chloe was only two when her dad whisked her off to Spain and she couldn’t remember anything before then. Even the photos her father had kept of Anna hadn’t brought back any memories.
But now Chloe couldn’t bear the thought of losing her. And she didn’t want to see her suffer in any way. But if Tom was no longer alive, she was going to be devastated. And the thought of that made Chloe feel sick and brought on a flood of tears.
And she didn’t stop crying until she fell asleep.