‘As you know, the area’s secure, so he wasn’t able to take her, but he did talk to her through the railings. One of our assistants saw what was happening and ran over, but the man made off. Molly’s become very distressed. She won’t tell us what he said, but she’s been crying for you since. We’ve tried to calm her down …’

‘I’ll be there as soon as I can,’ I said, hanging up and lifting my bag.

My baby … Not my baby!

Chapter Thirty-Three

Rachel

Constable King agreed to drive me to the crèche. She’d been made aware of the call from the nursery staff and was also only too aware of the state I was in. If I thought running there would have got me there quicker, I’d have run. I’d have done anything to get to my daughter as soon as was humanly possible.

Who had been at her daycare? Why had they called her over? Did they know her name? All these thoughts, all these questions ran through my head and I didn’t know the answers. I just wanted to get to her, to soothe her and to make her safe. To keep her safe. Anyone who wanted could come after me, but to come after my child? My innocent little girl. Was it the person behind the flowers? The person who’d killed Clare? Was it not bad enough that they were coming after me? Why did they have to come after my baby, too?

‘Try to stay calm,’ Constable King said. ‘I know that’s very hard right now, but the main thing is that she’s safe and we’ll be with her soon.’

I nodded, a tear sliding down my cheek. My heart was beating so fast I was sure I’d be sick again.

My mind jumped to Beth, at home alone. Panicked, I told Constable King, who said she’d send a car around there to be sure everything was okay. I called Beth’s number, listened as it rang out. I swore. She’d been told to keep her phone with her at all times. She knew I was worried. I called her number again and listened to it ring out, go to voicemail.

‘Beth, where are you?’ I shouted into the phone. ‘Call me as soon as you get this. Straight away! The police are on their way round to the house now. Let them in. Beth, please, call me back.’

I hung up, stared at my phone, felt my worry rise. My girls. I called Beth’s number again and again, until I could feel tears falling down my cheeks. I tried the landline, but she didn’t answer that either. My family was being ripped apart. My husband had been lying. My eldest child wouldn’t answer her phone and my baby was terrified. And me? I could hardly breathe.