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‘It has to be her brother.’

‘It was no brother that I saw that morning. No’ the way they were kissing each other.’

‘Why didn’t you tell us that in the first place?’

‘Because you wouldn’t have taken your wee girl home with you. That Shelley creature is no’ fit to be a mother.’

‘That was part of the reason I refused to leave Megan at home.’ Jason nodded. ‘She doesn’t know much about babies and she cares even less.’ He groaned. ‘I had a suspicion she might try and pull a stunt like this. We had an argument last night when her brother was backing her up and trying to intimidate me. They both went oddly quiet when I said we’d have to see what the courts had to say about custody.’

‘It’s my fault it happened.’

‘You were set up, Mackie. She must have plugged that basin and turned the taps on as soon as she saw Tim and Laura get called out. She had to know you’d go and see what was causing the flood. She was just waiting here long enough for us all to be out at the same time.’

‘What are we going to do?’ Laura said quietly.

‘We didn’t see any sign of them on the streets,’ Stick said unhappily.

‘What did your mate in the police force reckon, Jase?’ asked Bruce. ‘You did ring him, didn’t you?’

Jason let his breath out in a sigh. ‘He said that it wouldn’t be considered kidnapping and if there’s no evidence that she’s planning to harm the baby then there’s absolutely nothing they can do.’

‘She’s not going to leave town in a hurry.’ Stick gave Jason’s shoulder a comforting squeeze. ‘Let’s face it, mate. It’s you she wants, not the kid.’

‘But she can’t look after her. She only took her bottle and her blanket. She doesn’t even have any clean nappies.’

‘She’s a woman,’ Cliff said somewhat acidly. ‘She’ll find the shops.’

‘She must have looked after her for the first month of her life,’ someone from Red Watch added. ‘So she must have some idea what she’s doing.’

‘Ha!’ Both Jason and Mrs Mack made identical sounds of contempt.

‘She must be staying somewhere.’ Laura stood up. ‘Let’s get the phone book and start ringing motels.’

‘And backpackers’ hostels,’ Jason said. ‘Camping grounds, even. You’re right, Laura. They’re not going to be sleeping on the streets with a baby, even if they don’t have much money. We’ll find them.’

But they couldn’t. They spent hour after hour on the phone until it was so late the responses from motel managers became abusive and Laura finally agreed to go home and get some sleep.

‘You’ve got work starting at seven,’ Jason had reminded her.

‘So do you.’

‘I’ll see if I can get someone to cover for me. I need to be around in case Shelley decides to make contact.’

The next day was even worse.

When Laura got back from an afternoon job, he was feeling utterly bleak.

‘I’m not getting anywhere,’ he told her. ‘Most managers quite rightly refuse to give out any information on their clients.’

‘Then let’s go and talk to them in person. Even if they won’t tell us anything, we can keep our eyes open and even snoop around a bit. We should make a list of all the less expensive places and visit them tomorrow. I’ll help as soon as my shift finishes. Are you going home again now?’

‘No, I think I’ll stay here tonight. She left Megan here the last time she wanted to make a point.’

‘She might go back to the house.’

‘She didn’t last night. I’ll go home to get some clothes in the morning and check to see if she’s left any kind of message.’

* * *