Page 7 of The Stolen Child

‘People think I had something to do with Robert’s disappearance. Do you have any idea what that does to a man?’

Lily bit back a sigh. ‘Yes, Dad, I do. I’ve been here, with a front-row seat to it all.’

Her dad’s eyes became glassy. ‘I’m sorry. But I can’t stop until we find him.’

They’d had this conversation so many times over the years. And each time she was met with this same resolute determination to continue on the same path. Lily wished that her father could leave a little of himself for the family members that were still here. But she didn’t say that to him. Instead she squashed her own feelings down, and tried for the umpteenth time to ease her father’s pain.

‘There will always be a few who believe the worst in people. But most know the truth. You’ve spent decades searching for Robert. If that’s not love, I don’t know what is.’

‘I did love him; I truly did. I never saw him as anything but my own.’ Jason’s eyes pleaded with Lily’s to understand.

‘I know. Please don’t upset yourself. Everything will be okay. I promise.’ Lily stood up and embraced her father, her gut wrenching at his obvious pain.

What happened to you, Robert? Where did you go?

If they knew the truth, maybe it would finally set them all free. Because Robert’s disappearance had changed them. Her father was locked in a world of constant questioning and doubt, trying to escape the lingering suspicion that he’d played a part in Robert’s disappearance. Her mother was trapped in a world of grief and pain, refusing to accept the truth of what had most likely happened to Robert, instead immersing herself in work.

As for Lily?

She had spent most of her life trapped in a cycle of feeling invisible, until Michael and Ben had come along – who both needed her, loved her. Saw her.

But even their love couldn’t stop Lily feeling confused about her position in the Murphy family. Because in moments like these, Lily felt that she might as well have disappeared alongside her brother forty years ago.

NOW

July 2023

Lily

Phibsborough, Dublin

Lily quickly ran down the hallway in their Edwardian house, picking up strewn toys and a laundry basket that belonged upstairs. She couldn’t deny that working from home had its benefits. For one thing, the commute was peachy. But its charms always faded on Monday mornings as she tried to hide family life from the communal area through which her clients passed.

However, as she tidied up, it gave Lily time to further process her father’s interview on IrelandAM Friday morning. The anniversary of Robert’s disappearance was always a problematic milestone for the Murphy family, but seeing their story on a forty-two-inch TV screen while eating breakfast was both surreal and heartbreaking. Lily had asked her mother if she wanted to join them to watch the interview. But she’d declined, saying she had no intention of tuning in and would be in the office by that time.

The presenters, Muireann and Tommy, had treated her dad with gentle respect as they asked him to relive the horror of Robert’s disappearance. Her dad had shaved at least, and looked smart, wearing a navy suit and an open-necked white shirt. He spoke eloquently and passionately about the importance of continuing to shine a light on stolen children, no matter how many years had passed. At the end of the interview, a short slideshow of family snaps, interspersed by various age-progression shots of Robert, was shown on screen.

‘A copy of Jason’s flyer is available to download from our website. Please share it, and who knows, maybe someone will recognise Robert.’ Tommy had said to the camera.

And then Muireann finished the interview by sadly adding, ‘What would life be like for the Murphy family if Robert had not gone missing forty years ago today?’

And that was the million-dollar question that Lily had asked herself for years. Would her parents have stayed together? Or were they doomed to fall apart at some point over the years, their differences waiting to be picked apart by life’s stresses? Would Lily and Robert have grown up to be close, each other’s ally and best friend? Robert now a doting uncle to little Ben?

Tomorrow was Ben’s third birthday, a milestone that they had not got to share with Robert. How would things play out tomorrow, when her parents came to help blow his birthday candles out? Would they be happy to be in their grandson’s company or allow the shadow of Robert to dampen their happiness? In fairness, Lily’s mother did spend a lot of time with Ben. He was the only person that could divert her attention from her phone and work.

The doorbell rang, pushing a blessed pause on the questions that raced through her mind. Lily looked at her watch, seeing that her first appointment was eight minutes early. She threw the laundry basket and toys inside the living room. Then, with a quick smoothing of her hair, she opened the front door.

‘Hello. Lily Coogan? I’m Zach Brady. I called on Friday. I’m a little early for our nine-thirty appointment. Should I wait outside?’ Zach said in a rush from underneath a large black umbrella, dripping with rainwater.

‘Not at all. You are welcome, Zach.’ Lily shook his hand after she’d ushered him inside.

As they walked into the consultation room, Lily ran through the notes she’d taken on Friday afternoon when Zach had made the appointment. He’d told her he had recently relocated to Ireland from New York. And that he had sleep issues. His accent wasn’t entirely American, though. Or, at least, she felt it had shades of somewhere European mixed in there too.

She glanced at him, quietly assessing him from veiled eyes. Her initial thought was that everything about this man was on trend. He had light-brown hair, cut short on the back and sides but wavy and longer on top. And a tight beard and moustache framed his broad chin and strong jaw. His features were angled. She couldn’t determine his eye colour because they were behind matt black round glasses. He had perfectly straight white teeth, the kind that always made her want to keep her own mouth closed, and make an appointment with the dental hygienist. Zach wore faded straight-leg jeans with navy runners and a white T-shirt peeped out from under a light-blue sweater. She’d hazard a guess it was cashmere. Her eyes finally rested on his hands, which were manicured. This man had money, and every inch of him announced that fact.

‘This is nice,’ Zach said, admiring the room with its high ceilings, white decorative coving and a picture rail that framed green embossed wallpaper, which reflected onto a polished wooden floor. ‘What a cool place to work and live.’

Lily glanced at him quickly. How did he know she lived here too? It was a lucky guess, she surmised.