Page 39 of The Stolen Child

Kevin continued, ‘I’d like to thank Inspector Ortega and the crew on Carousel, who helped search for Robert. And I want to plead with you all, anyone with information, anything, no matter how small the detail, to please come forward. Help us bring our little boy back to where he belongs.’ Jason licked his lips and breathed in deeply. ‘We have such a happy family. Robert sleeps in the room next door to mine and Kimberly’s, which he shares with his sister. He adores her. He only has to make a face, and Lily starts to giggle. Hearing them both laugh together is my favourite sound in the world. I wish I had a recording of it. I’d play it for you. It’s special . . .’ Jason broke off as a sob caught up with him. Cameras flashed again, and Kimberly saw the TV cameras zoom in closer to him. ‘Kimberly has asked me to say this. To whoever has Robert, I’m begging you, please bring him back to us. His only memories are of her – his loving mama – and Lily and me. He loves us all, as we love him. And keeping us from each other is cruel.’

Inspector Ortega handed Jason a tissue. Kimberly wanted desperately to go to her husband and comfort him, but she couldn’t move, the cameras terrifying her.

Jason looked up and directly faced the camera lens. ‘Please. I beg of you. Please. I’m not asking you to bring Robert back for me. I know you don’t owe us anything. But do it for our son. Do it for that little boy who must miss us all so much. I can’t bear to think how confused he must be . . . Please, please bring him back, I beg of you . . .’

Jason couldn’t continue any further. His heart was now laid bare, wide open for everyone to see.

Journalists began to shout questions. Inspector Ortega leaned in and whispered something to Jason, who nodded, keeping his head down as he wiped tears from his face. Then Jason got up and walked out of the packed room with his head low.

‘We can all see how difficult this has been for Jason and the Murphy family,’ Inspector Ortega shouted over the din. ‘I’ll take questions now. Yes, you in the front row . . .’

As Jason reached Kimberly’s side, she extended her arms to hold him, and he did the same, holding her tight. For days, they had pushed each other away, believing they didn’t deserve solace from anyone. But now they clung to each other like a life raft while they struggled to keep their heads above water. Kimberly wasn’t sure they could survive this, but for now all they could do was try not to drown . . .

THEN

July 1983

Kimberly

Hotel Miramar, Barcelona, Spain

As soon as she returned to the hotel after the press conference, Kimberly felt a shift in people’s moods. Their faces changed from suspicious to sympathetic. Strangers would call out their support, offer their love and tell her that Robert was in their prayers.

And that helped.

Over the next forty-eight hours, Jason’s interview was shared on all Spanish TV channels, but then disappeared from the headlines as new stories unfolded worldwide.

There were some further leads, with sightings of Robert in Alicante, seen in the arms of a dark-haired man, crying and distressed. A false alarm. Then, several sightings of a young blond boy in Barcelona matched Robert’s description. It was a rollercoaster as hope soared and fell; a lead was investigated each time, and it came to nothing.

Kimberly folded Lily’s clothes that she’d had laundered by the hotel into neat piles in the chest of drawers. Lily sat on a mat in front of the window, playing with a Fisher Price toy. A rap on the door made them both start. Kimberly opened it to Kevin, who stood with a newspaper in his hand.

‘I thought you were with Jason,’ she said to her father-in-law as he walked in.

‘He’s talking to a journalist from a local radio station in the lobby. Do you have a minute to chat?’

‘Sure,’ Kimberly said. They took a seat beside each other on the edge of the bed.

‘How are you?’ Kevin asked.

‘Okay.’

‘Jason says you’ve not been sleeping.’

Kimberly shrugged her shoulders. ‘It’s hard to switch off.’

‘I get that. For me too. Would you take one of your sleeping pills?’

Kimberly looked at Kevin sharply. Was he giving a dig? No, she didn’t think so. She only saw concern on his face.

‘I’ll never take one of those ever again,’ Kimberly said flatly.

‘Have you seen today’s newspapers?’ Kevin asked. He had an Irish tabloid in his hands.

Kimberly shook her head. ‘I don’t read the papers. It’s too hard to relive it constantly. Jason tells me if there’s anything I need to know.’

Kevin nodded, then flicked open the pages until he came to a two-page spread with several zoomed-in photographs of Kimberly and Jason in the lobby of the hotel, and of Jason at the press conference.

‘This paper paid a body-language expert to review footage of you both,’ Kevin said. His tone was cold, and Kimberly’s heart began to accelerate.