into labour, wasn’t it? I wasn’t due for another two weeks. But how could I notify Sheridan when I couldn’t use the lift? I couldn’t believe I had the plane ticket, which I clutched to my chest each night. From listening at the air vent, I gathered that Daniel had left. I had not seen him since our evening together, and he had neglected to say goodbye. Trying to second-guess the couple above me was driving me insane. Sheridan’s need for my baby was still strong. I could see it in the way she looked at me, how she monitored my kick chart, scrutinised each and every test.
The pain in my stomach ebbed away. It was as powerful as a rising tide. Daniel leaving always felt like a prequel to something bad – I was vulnerable when he wasn’t around. From what I’d heard above me, I had figured out he’d gone on a work trip. Sheridan had kept her voice low as she said her goodbyes.
‘Everything will be sorted by the time you get back,’ she’d told him, as Daniel said something about Mike. The mention of his name had sent me into a tailspin. This was the man who had dug up Kelly’s corpse as if it meant nothing to him. Were they finally disposing of her body? The thoughts of her lying in the room next door had kept me awake for weeks. Kelly was the reason I found it hard to accept that Sheridan was letting me go. If only I hadn’t seen her. What possessed me to blow my only chance of escape? I imagined her mother, still looking at her front door, waiting for her daughter to walk in. That could be my mother soon.
The hot-water pipes rattled into life, making me jump. If I managed to get back home, I would call the police and tell them about Kelly. She deserved a decent burial and her family needed peace. I was not the type of person who could let that go. The trouble was, Sheridan knew that. Would they really jeopardise everything by setting me free?
‘Ashling,’ I said to my bump. ‘Your name is Ashling.’
By naming my baby I was making her real. She was mine, and I needed to hold on to that with both hands. Nothing was separating us, and nobody was taking her away.
My stomach tightened as another band of pain wrapped itself around me. The pain was worsening. Why did it feel like a clock ticking down?
Was that what it had been like for Kelly? Thoughts of that poor girl going through a traumatic birth upset me even more. Sheridan had buried her under the floorboards and a few years later, started the process all over again. What sort of person did that? Not the sort to let me go.
‘Ow,’ I winced, as the pain grew in strength, delivering a warm trickle of release between my legs. These were no Braxton Hicks. This was labour, and my waters had broken.
I opened my mouth to call Sheridan, but fear of Mike stemmed my words. When Mike was around, bad things happened. He was a dangerous man. Staggering to the lift, I jabbed the button, swearing under my breath as it failed to activate without the needed security pass. No surprise there. Low backache kicked in as the band of pain grew. Moaning, I tried the side door, but as I guessed, it was locked tight. Breathe, I reminded myself, pushing my panic down. I made my way to the bed, digging my fingers into the duvet as I leaned over the side. Pressing my face into the material, I moaned, soft and low. Nobody was coming to help me. I was completely alone.
CHAPTER SIXTY
DYMPNA
‘Sit down, stay there and don’t say a word.’ Dympna’s father’s voice was firm as he escorted her to the plastic chair. They were in the building of 1 Police Plaza in Lower Manhattan, the headquarters of the NYPD. The exterior of the fourteenth-floor building looked like an ugly brown box, with row upon row of uniform square windows. The security area felt tense as she emptied her pockets into a tray, and her face reddened as she was rushed through by an armed officer standing at her side. She felt like a little girl as her father did all the talking and met their contact, who escorted them to the office of the Major Case Squad.
The fact she was nervous in a New York police station