Joe didn’t answer. He wasn’t about to disclose anything about Sarah he didn’t need to.
‘She told me she did,’ Jameson went on, confirming that he knew anyway. ‘I’ll tell you what I told her. She needs to keep him away from Laura. She’s dangerous.’
‘You have reason to think so, presumably?’ Joe asked, making sure to keep any inflection from his voice, despite his growing unease.
‘And some,’ Jameson said shortly. He looked him over cautiously again, and then appeared to back down. ‘She was obsessed with my son. I don’t mean she tried to compensate for the fact that she wasn’t his real mother. It was more than that. She took over care of him completely. She seemed to love him immediately …’ Pausing, he laughed wryly. ‘More than she did me, that soon became clear.’
‘So why was that a problem?’ Joe urged him.
‘It wasn’t,’ the guy said, ‘at first. But then she started banging on about Liam being in danger, about her having to keep him safe. Christ only knew what from. She started to smother him. Wouldn’t let him out of her sight. She called him Jacob a few times. I guessed that was something to do with the kid brother she lost. To me, it seemed as if she was substituting Liam for Jacob, as if she thought he was him. I don’t know. It sounds a bit nuts, but I began to think that maybe she was trying to re-create history out of some sense of guilt.’
‘I see.’ Joe felt the hairs rise over his skin.
‘She wrapped him in cotton wool,’ Jameson continued, a despairing edge to his voice. ‘Liam couldn’t go anywhere in the end without her shadowing him. It wasn’t healthy. He wasn’t happy.’
‘And the crunch point?’ Joe asked. ‘I’m assuming there was one?’
Jameson tugged in a breath. ‘She took him swimming. Liam couldn’t swim, but she took him anyway. Afterwards, she said she was trying to teach him.’
Joe looked at him, puzzled. ‘Isn’t that a fairly normal activity for a parent to undertake with their child?’
‘In an outdoor pool at midnight?’ Jameson eyed him wearily. ‘We were on holiday. Liam couldn’t swim because he was scared of the water. He gets that from me, I’m aware of that.’ Running a hand over his neck, he looked away. ‘His mother drowned.’ After a second, he locked haunted eyes back on Joe’s. ‘At a Norfolk seaside resort, can you believe?’
‘Jesus.’ Joe was taken completely aback. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said, silently cursing himself for not familiarising himself with the man’s history.
‘Yeah, me too.’ Jameson smiled regretfully. ‘She went in to try to save a boy who was in trouble. She hadn’t realised there were rip tides. I’d taken Liam for ice cream. He was too young to remember it – at least I hope he was – but he saw it all. The thing is, Laura didn’t seem to be aware of what she’d done. As in, completely unaware. She was sleepwalking, I think. She did that, wandering about in the dead of night. I found her outside several times. Anyway, that was the final straw. She refused to get help, and I’d had enough. That’s when I realised just how dangerous she was. I made myself a promise that she would never see him again.’
Forty-Five
Sarah
Sarah double-checked with Becky that she was okay to pick Ollie up from nursery and then drove to the hospice. She wanted to talk to Laura face to face, without Steve around and certainly without Ollie. She had no patience left for half-truths and lies. She wanted the whole truth – and she wanted to look Laura in the eye and know she was telling it.
Parked outside the hospice, she’d almost given up waiting, thinking Laura must have left early and she’d missed her, when she saw her come out. She was chatting to a colleague, so didn’t see her until Sarah had climbed out of her car and was walking towards her. ‘Laura, hi,’ she said. ‘Do you think we could have a quick word?’
There was a flicker of uncertainty in Laura’s eyes, and then she quickly arranged her face into a smile. ‘Sure, no problem,’ she said. ‘See you tomorrow, Marie.’
Giving her friend a wave, she veered off towards Sarah. ‘Do you fancy grabbing a coffee? If we walk up to the main road, there’s a Costa. Or we could go to a pub if you—’
‘No.’ Sarah stopped her. ‘I have to go and pick Ollie up from my friend’s,