Racing from the pool enclosure towards her small sports car, clutching Isabella’s hand, Alice’s sole focus was on keeping Dave’s car in sight. She had to know where he and Ben were going and why. Too many secrets had been kept from her recently, and it was time to stop burying her head in the sand and hoping everything would turn out for the best.
In hindsight, dragging Isabella along for what was essentially a hare-brained chase wasn’t such a great idea, but she had no option but to bring her along for the ride.
‘Where are we going?’ Isabella was asking. ‘I don’t have any clothes on.’
Isabella paused for just a moment as she reached the passenger side door. Staring down at the skinny child, who had instinctively pulled her arms around her middle, Alice had to think fast. Wrapping the large beach towel around Isabella, Alice belted her into the back seat and hurried around to the driver’s side.
‘We’re going on an adventure,’ Alice said as she started the engine and pulled away. ‘Do you like adventures?’
Isabella’s anxiety immediately lifted, replaced by giddy excitement. ‘You mean like the Famous Five?’
Alice had never read the Enid Blyton books herself, but had heard of them. ‘Exactly like that,’ she said, beaming. ‘Okay? We need to find the car Uncle Ben is in. Did you see the car parked here when we got home?’
‘You mean Uncle Dave’s car?’
‘That’s right. Ben and Dave have gone off to hide and it’s up to us to find them. Like hide‑and‑seek but in cars. Does that sound good?’
Isabella put on her most serious face. ‘Do we get a prize if we find them?’
‘Absolutely!’ Alice declared as they neared the gates. ‘How does a burger and chips sound? We’ll stop at the drive-thru on the way home.’
‘Can I have a milkshake, too?’
‘Of course you can, sweetie.’
Alice had seen Dave’s car dart to the right and she copied the move, though there was no sign of him on the road immediately ahead of them. Accelerating forwards, knowing that they could have been going anywhere and that the chances of her finding them were virtually non-existent, Alice persevered.
The other properties soon disappeared into the distance as they hit a road with a 50 mph speed limit, but that ended too abruptly as they reached red traffic lights. Four cars separated her from the front of the queue, but she spotted the taillights of Dave’s Land Rover as it continued straight – the last car through before the lights had changed. At least it meant they were going the right way. The road would eventually lead to Romsey and beyond that the options were the M27 west to Portsmouth or the A31 east to Bournemouth. Her gut told her they’d head east, as that’s where Abdul lived, but it was all conjecture at this point.
The car’s stereo cut out as the Bluetooth system interrupted, announcing an incoming call. Hoping it was Ben, she flicked a switch on the steering wheel to answer it.
‘Ben?’
‘Um, no, it’s DC Hazelton,’ came the reply. ‘Is now a bad time?’
Alice looked at Isabella in the rear-view mirror. If Hazelton was phoning to give bad news about Faye, the last thing she needed was for Isabella to hear it from a stranger.
‘I’m driving,’ Alice said quickly. ‘I have Faye’s daughter, Isabella, in the car with me.’
‘Is Ben with you too?’
‘Ben? No, why?’
‘Can I come over? It would be better to tell you in person than over the phone. Are you near home?’
Alice couldn’t inform her of her present location or the reason why. The lights turned to green and the cars ploughed forwards.
‘No, won’t be home for a while yet. What do you need to speak to Ben about?’
Hazelton sighed, blowing loud air into the car’s speakers. ‘We’ve identified a second source of DNA on Kerry. Is Ben at home? Perhaps I could speak to him directly instead—’
‘No, he’s not home,’ Alice interrupted.
‘Ah, do you know when he’ll be back? I need to ask him some questions about that night.’
Alice pulled around the car in front, which had been barely hitting thirty, despite the national speed limit sign they’d passed a moment earlier. She cut back in before a lorry trundled past on the opposite side of the carriageway.
‘I’m not sure, sorry.’
In the circumstances it was better not to lie. The truth was she didn’t know when Ben would be back. All she was omitting was that she believed he was going to get himself into trouble and that she was hotfooting it after him.
‘I tried phoning him, but the answerphone cuts in every time. Do you know where he is?’
‘No, sorry.’ Alice thought again. ‘Um, what I mean is, I’m not sure what he’s up to. He said something about work, but I wasn’t really listening to be honest.’
‘Not to worry. I’ll keep trying his phone. If you see him before I’ve managed to make contact, can you ask him to give me a call urgently?’
‘Will do,’ Alice said, ending the call.
‘Who’s Kerry?’ Isabella asked, looking up at Alice’s reflection in the mirror.
Alice met her stare but didn’t know how to answer. Did the second DNA profile belong to Johnny? Is that why Hazelton hadn’t named the suspect, because she didn’t want Isabella to hear? Or was it because it belonged to someone Alice hadn’t considered? And whatever the answer, why did she want to speak to Ben about it?
Alice was tempted to pull over and phone Hazelton back to demand answers, even taking the call outside of the car so Isabella wouldn’t overhear, but as they reached the roundabout leading to the motorway, she spotted Dave’s Land Rover. It was heading clockwise around the roundabout, exiting at the slip road for the A31. They had to be heading towards Bournemouth or Poole, and she felt slightly relieved that it would be easier to keep track of them on the dual carriageway.
‘I’m hungry,’ Isabella whined. ‘When are we going to get food?’
‘Soon, sweetie,’ Alice replied absently as she pulled onto the roundabout, indicated and followed it around to the slip road. ‘See if you can spot Dave’s car again, and you might earn yourself a pudding as well. How does that sound?’
Alice settled into a spot three cars behind the Land Rover, on an unshakeable course to whatever destiny had in store.