you go,’ John said after a few minutes, gently depositing Ashling in Roz’s arms. ‘I didn’t know about the baby.’ He turned to Dympna. ‘Not until you told me.’
‘What about Mam?’ Dympna wondered how she was going to look her mother in the eye.
‘She knows. We’ve been having issues for a long time now. Why do you think I’ve been spending so much time at work?’
Dympna stiffened. ‘So you thought you’d sleep with my best friend?’
‘You must have known we were having problems. Roz and I . . . it wasn’t planned.’
Dympna drove her fingers through her long red hair, pushing it back from her face. ‘Does she know about the baby? What about Diarmuid?’ she said, referring to her brother. ‘What’s going to happen now?’
John lay a hand on Dympna’s shoulder. ‘We’re going to work through it. Keep the family together.’
‘Can you see why I had to leave?’ Roz looked from John to Dympna. ‘The last thing I wanted was to split your family apart. I’m sorry. You must hate me right now.’
‘Well, you’re not winning any prizes for friend of the year!’
A whine rose from the bundle in the blanket and Dympna felt a pang of guilt. Roz and her baby had been through enough. She didn’t deserve to lose her best friend, too. The truth was, a part of her was pleased about having a little sister. It was something she had dreamt of, ever since she was a girl. She just hoped her mother would be OK.
‘I’ll get over it.’ Dympna offered Roz a hesitant smile. ‘I’m glad you’re both all right.’ She did not want her sister’s earliest memories to be of her having a hissy fit. ‘Here,’ she offered. ‘Why don’t I take her so you can get some sleep?’
‘Sleep would be good,’ Roz replied, fixing her baby’s blanket and giving her forehead a kiss. A sudden flash of anxiety crossed her face. ‘Where’s Mike? He’s not here, is he?’
‘No,’ John replied. ‘He’s under armed guard.’
Roz’s shoulders dropped an inch as she relaxed back into the bed. ‘Don’t leave, will you? If I fall asleep . . . don’t go.’
Dympna had no idea what her friend had experienced, but she knew her father had been talking to the police.
‘I’m going nowhere, chick,’ she said, gazing into Ashling’s eyes. Usually, babies were kept in the nursery, but her father had explained the circumstances and Ashling was being allowed to stay next to Roz’s bed.
Dympna gave her father a look. He had a lot of explaining to do.
‘Have the police told you what happened?’ Dympna asked as both Roz and Ashling lay asleep. Giving her a sideways nod, John directed Dympna towards the window, out of Roz’s earshot.
‘Roz isn’t the first woman they’ve kept in that basement. They’ve got witnesses. There’s a reporter. She’s been investigating Sheridan for years.’
‘Was Kelly Blunt involved?’ Dympna said. Her father’s expression was all the answer she needed. For the first time, she felt truly vindicated.
‘I don’t know how you figured that out, but you were spot on.’
In the corridor a trolley rattled past, cups clinking against saucers as hot refreshments were served.
‘The timings matched up,’ Dympna said, grateful Kelly’s family would find closure. ‘She looked like Roz and fitted the profile, too. She met a celebrity couple online, spoke about New York and LA, and she was a big fan of Sheridan and Daniel, which is why she was so blown away.’
‘Apparently one of the photographers from Celeb Goss magazine thought they caught sight of her at Sheridan’s apartment. That’s when that journalist, Alex Santana, went in undercover. She must have got the shock of her life when she came face to face with Roz.’
Dympna stole a glance into Ashling’s cot, grateful her new sister was safe. ‘I told you Roz was in danger as soon as the baby was born.’ But the expression on her father’s face relayed it was much worse than that. ‘What?’ Dympna said.
John’s lips thinned as he gazed out the window. ‘I shouldn’t be sharing details of the case with you.’
‘It’s a bit late for that,’ Dympna replied tartly. ‘What happened?’
‘They put a gun to her head while she was in labour. Roz and her baby could have died.’
‘You’re not serious,’ Dympna exclaimed in a harsh whisper, her hand planted on her chest. ‘Why?’ How anyone could kill an innocent baby and their mother was beyond her understanding.
‘Who knows?’ John shrugged.
‘And here was me, giving her the third degree.’ Dympna delivered a sigh laden with