26

 

The drive to Ben’s fish and chips would have been a delight under any other circumstances. The road meandered lazily along the coast, a single lane that dipped and curved, sea on the left and graceful trees sharing their shade on the right.

“Question for you?” Bel shot a sideways glance toward the passenger seat. The telltale signs of sleeplessness had etched themselves into the creases of Liam’s smile lines and the dark shadows under his eyes. He fidgeted nonstop, apparently not comfortable being driven.

He lifted his arm to test it, and flinched from pain. “Shoot.” He checked the rear view as she overtook a slow-moving truck.

“Why? Why are you championing our cause? And please don’t brush me off with lame excuses. Gut-level truth. Nothing less.”

He shrugged as if it didn’t really matter to him either way. “Your cause is my cause.”

“No, that’s not it.”

“It is, actually.” He shot her a glance that dared her to argue. “One of the babies stolen was mine.” The way he said it was so matter-of-fact.

“That’s not funny, Liam.”

He kept staring straight ahead, focussed on the truck in front of them. Something in the set of his jaw said he was not joking.

“You’re serious. I’m so sorry, Liam. How—”

“Courtney was my girlfriend for a few months. It just wasn’t working. I broke it off, not knowing that she was expecting my baby. When she came to me with this tiny boy in her arms, it was a complete shock. I didn’t have the luxury of nine months to get used to the idea. I decided it couldn’t possibly be mine. I wasn’t ready to take in some other man’s baby with a woman that I couldn’t live with.” He turned the air conditioner on.

The sun had climbed the sky and was blazing down, heat rose in waves from the road ahead.

“But I decided to have the DNA test done, just to settle the issue. The day the results came back was the day I found her dead in her home. The baby was gone.” Liam rubbed his tired eyes. “He’d be walking by now.”

Bel had no words. Cold reality wrapped around her. “This is not right.”

He reached over and she knew what was coming. Leaning across, he planted a kiss on her temple.

Finding fish and chips was a simple matter of hopscotching from neon sign to neon sign. A growing sense of dread had been building in Isobel with each passing minute. There was no more denying the facts.

Roric was a killer and he had Mia.

The last sign straddled the road, highlighting a turnoff to a parking lot buzzing with cars and people. The bus depot was off to the left behind a row of glass and metal booking offices. Each bus company had their own office, their signs competing for the business of the travelers.

Bel pulled into one of the few open spaces.

“Did he ever phone you?”

“Who, Roric? He did. Why?”

“Just wondering. Have you got your mobile on you?”

She checked her bag, a black miniature leather backpack. It was only just big enough for her phone, keys, wallet and a few tissues. “Right here.”

“Good. Let’s go.”

Isobel got out of the car, and the heat washed over her like dragon’s breath.

The place was a sprawling hive of buildings and people, covering many miles of ground. Finding Roric here would be impossible.

God, please.

Liam stretched out and took her hand. “Come. Let’s start by finding that fish and chip shop.”

“I don’t know, Liam. Surely he won’t take them out in public?”

“We have to start somewhere.”

They inched their way through the thick press of people.

She clung to his fingers like a lifeline.

He pulled her close to him and tucked her in under his good arm as they walked. Leaning close, he whispered in her ear, “We can’t let the girls see us yet. I don’t know what Roric would do if they started making a scene. I don’t trust him.”

Bel froze, staring at a sign hanging overhead. “That makes perfect sense.”

“Of course it does.” He stopped too, frowning at the wonder on her face. “Wait…what are you talking about?”

She pointed, “Look! A roadhouse. Of course!”

“Good thinking, girl. He can get food without being in amongst people.”

They ran through the narrow alley between shops. Vendors had set up makeshift stalls along the entire length of the walkway.

Bel dodged a kid on a rusty bike.

As they reached the other end, Liam pulled her flat against the wall.

The cars lined up in rows in front of them, waiters crisscrossing the hot tar, some carrying food, others taking orders to the kitchen.

Isobel spotted Roric’s car. It was second from the front in the queue closest to them but at a wrong angle for her to see if the kids were with him.

“Bel, give me your phone.”

She turned for Liam to dig it out of her backpack. Opening the logs folder, he found Roric’s number and dialled. They watched his car as he leaned forward and picked up his phone.

“Who is this?” Roric asked.

Liam arm tightened around Bel’s shoulders.

A pick-up truck pulled up to the drive-by, music pumping through the open windows.

Roric glanced at the truck, then at the phone in his hand.

Liam punched the end call button.

If Roric heard the music, he’d know they were close. Roric’s car started and began pulling out of the parking.

A waiter with a tray full of food came out of the kitchen, saw him taking off, and jogged after him awkwardly, shouting.

Liam and Bel ran to keep up.

He drove across the complex towards the train station on the right.

Bel and Liam dodged cars, weaving through the gaps. He was getting away.

Liam pulled Bel’s hand. “Shortcut.”

Taking the narrow path between the men’s and ladies’ ablution blocks, they cut diagonally across the centre, avoiding cars but not the people. They squeezed between the press of bodies, most of whom seemed to be going in the other direction.

They burst out of the tunnel to see Roric boarding a train. He had Lilly on his back in a baby carrier, a firm hand around the back of Ben’s neck. Mia was clinging to Ben, who was carrying her clutched tight to his chest, her face buried in his neck.

Elastic shock shot through Isobel at the sight of her baby.

Ben stepped onto the train without seeing them, but Roric turned towards them. His face blanched at the sight of Isobel, shock replaced by quick fury. He drew back the jacket he was wearing. He gestured to the gun tucked into a holster around his body, likely the same gun that had ripped Liam’s arm. He smiled at them, shaking his head as if to say, don’t follow me.

My Mia! Every instinct drove Isobel forward, but Liam grabbed her round the waist and pulled her back.

“Wait, love, stay here.”

Isobel fought his grip, turning to punch him.

He winced, face contorting in pain.

“Your arm! Oh grief, Liam. I’m so sorry. I can’t take this.”

He gasped through the pain. “We’re getting on that train.” He grabbed her hand with his good arm and they ran flat out across the hot tar.

They leapt into the last car, and the doors snapped shut behind them.

“Let Melindi know where we are.” He sank onto an open seat clutching his damaged arm, breathing heavily.

“Where is this train headed?”

“No idea.” A wrinkled man dressed in an olive sweater sat in the next booth, squinting at a crossword puzzle. Liam leaned over and tapped him on the shoulder, “Excuse me, sir, where is this train going?”

The man let his pencil hover over his puzzle as he squinted up at Liam as if his head were vacant. “Up towards Johannesburg.”

Isobel messaged Melindi and then sat next to Liam. “What now?”

“Should we go see if we can find them?”

“And then?”

“Stay one carriage back. Lie low. Keep an eye until they get off. We have to stay close.” Liam eased himself upright and together they crossed the carriage, staggering a little with the jerky pull of the train. They didn’t pay too much attention to the one they were in, moving through to the next.

Nothing.

With each added carriage that came up empty, the tension grew.

“Has to be this one, surely?” Isobel couldn’t take much more of this. She searched Liam’s eyes for reassurance. What she got was a kiss on the forehead. She swatted him away, feigning irritation. The truth was, his stolen kiss tickled something deep inside of her. There was no logic in why that should make her feel better, but it did.

The next carriage was not the one either. They kept going and each time came up empty handed. By the time they reached the first carriage—the one directly linked to the engine—they knew Roric had tricked them. They were on a train following him to Jo’burg, except that he was no longer on the train. He’d probably boarded the train, walked through to the other side, and climbed straight off.

Roric was gone. And he’d taken Ben, Lilly, and Mia with him.