I held Katie in my arms as we watched Sophie clinging to her mother’s neck being carried to a waiting car. This little girl looked completely different to the one who had stayed at my home for the past few weeks. Her mother turned and mouthed a thank you to me. I could see how like her Sophie was. Sophie waved with one hand, holding tightly onto the teddy Katie had given her with the other. I didn’t care that tears were running down my face as we waited for them to get into the car and drive away.
Henri went to speak to two of his ex-colleagues who had accompanied the mother on the plane. I hugged Katie, unsure how I would ever be brave enough to leave her at pre-school again.
‘She’s fine, darling,’ Mum said, reading my thoughts and stroking my arm. ‘And so is Sophie, now she’s back with her own mother.’
‘I can’t believe Dee could do such a thing.’ I swallowed the lump restricting my throat.
‘Or Leo, he covered for her all this time.’
‘We’ve been harbouring two fugitives and a kidnapped child.’ I choked on the last words. Thinking I was going to be sick, I handed Katie to Mum and I ran inside to the bathroom. I leant over the sink resting my forehead on the cool tiles behind, trying to come to terms with the fact that I’d inadvertently helped keep Sophie from her mother.
‘Sera, Sera,’ Henri called from the hallway. He must have heard me because the next thing I knew he was in the Ladies with me, hugging me tightly. ‘It’s okay now. Sophie is back with her mother and will be home soon.’
‘But I should have realised something was wrong. I knew she was withdrawn and unhappy, it just never occurred to me it could be because of something this horrendous.’
He held me close to him. ‘Chérie, you looked after her. Katie was her friend and you discovered the truth in the end. The child trusted you enough to confide in you, that is a good thing.’
I sniffed. ‘Her poor mother.’ He handed me a tissue and I blew my nose. ‘What about Dee and Leo?’
‘They are looking for them now. The police believe Dee became obsessed with the little girl after her own baby died.’
‘I can’t believe she did such a thing.’ As soon as I’d spoken, I couldn’t help hoping that Dee would manage to find some other way to cope with the loss of her own baby.
‘Maybe their past helped make them act this way.’ He placed a finger under my chin and lifted it slightly. ‘I will be prosecuting them now for what they did to my father, Sera.’
‘I know.’ I didn’t blame him at all.
‘Before, I assumed Papa’s death had been a tragic accident. These two people have proved how cruel they can be by taking the little girl, so now I am happy to press charges against them. The authorities are also checking out my theory that Leo started the fire at the barn.’
I couldn’t believe it. ‘But why would he do something like that?’
Henri shook his head. ‘I believe he started the fire to cover up any tracks left behind from the killing, when he realised he needed to hide Dee and Sophie at your home. He hoped to dispose of any evidence before bringing them.’
‘And in the process ended up causing Jack’s body to be discovered,’ I concluded, aware of the irony of his actions.
‘Yes.’
Did I ever know Leo at all? I wondered. ‘So you think he meant for me to see him that day in Southampton?’
Henri nodded. ‘Do you take the same route each time?’
‘Yes, several times a week, and usually at the same time, too.’ I thought about the plans Leo must have made to cover up what his sister had done, all the lies. ‘I’m pleased you’re prosecuting them for your father’s death,’ I said honestly. ‘Which reminds me.’ He watched silently as I pushed my hand into my back pocket to retrieve the picture. ‘I didn’t know whether to cut Hazel from this, or not, but your dad looks very happy and I didn’t want to ruin the picture. I’ll leave it up to you to decide.’
He took it from me as if I was handing him the most delicate trinket and stared silently at his father’s image. ‘Thank you, Sera,’ he whispered, looking down at the photo cupped in his hands.
‘I took it from Hazel’s house after they disappeared,’ I admitted. ‘It’s been hidden in my room since then.’
He smiled at me. ‘We have many of the answers now.’
‘Yes,’ I said. ‘Answers to questions we didn’t know we should be asking.’ It was all too surreal. ‘It’s going to take a long time for me to trust my instincts again. I thought I knew those people.’ I didn’t add I’d also thought I’d known my mother, but she’d turned out to be capable of far worse than anything I ever imagined. ‘How can we ever be certain we truly know the people closest to us?’
Henri hugged me tightly. Placing his right hand behind my head, he kissed me. My upset and fear caused by everything that had happened instantly dispersed. I kissed him back, confident that with him in my life everything was going to be all right.
He moved back slightly. ‘To answer your question, we can’t ever be sure who to trust,’ he said. ‘But we need to be brave and I promise you can trust me.’ He kissed me again as if to further reassure me. ‘Don’t let what happened change you, Sera. You have me. I will not let anything bad happen to you ever again. Be brave. Enjoy your life and the people in it.’
‘You know what, Henri?’ I said, finally free from my past. ‘I think I will.’