‘GOOD! I’LL HELP YOU PACK!’ Helen screeched back, and they made a lunge at each other just as Sean came running into the kitchen and stood between them.

‘What in God’s name is going on?’ he bellowed. ‘I could hear you through my headphones!’

‘Dad!’ wailed Alice, tears now streaming down her face, ‘Helen’s being such a bitch! You said she didn’t blame me for Frankie, but she does! She just screamed at me for no reason and said she does blame me!’

‘I didn’t say that, I just asked what she was doing that night. Perfectly reasonable question, I’d have thought.’ Helen made a monumental effort to regain control, not wanting Sean to see her lose it in front of Alice. She walked over to the sink and picked up the blue sponge, wiping up the spilled coffee on the table with shaking hands. Sean folded his daughter in his arms, and she collapsed into his chest, sobbing dramatically. Helen gritted her teeth.

The phone rang, and she rushed into the hall to answer it, desperate to get away from both of them. When she picked up she immediately wished she hadn’t – it was Eileen. The last person she needed to speak to. But when she managed to decipher what her mother-in-law was saying, she felt all the blood rush from her head and she had to cling on to the wall to stop herself fainting.

‘I’m round Margaret’s.’ Margaret was a woman who lived nearby whom Eileen had befriended. ‘Have you seen it, Helen, on TV? It’s on the news, turn it on, quick, there’s a siege, they’re saying the kidnapped kids are there, it’s only up the road from you in Richmond, oh my goodness, Frankie’s there, somebody’s holding them hostage . . .’

Helen dropped the phone and ran back into the kitchen, all her rage gone. ‘They’ve found her! She’s in a house in Richmond, quick, let’s go, Alice – bring the iPad and let’s find out where they are on the way, we have to go now, they’re saying that she and Liam McConnell are both there being held hostage – oh God, oh God, please let her be OK – come on, please, please . . .’

Chapter 25

Chapter 25
Patrick – Day 4