stray hair behind my ear. As he withdrew his hand, his finger brushed against the delicate skin there and I shivered. I pushed the corners of my mouth into an encouraging smile. I wasn’t sure of his plan, but I needed to make him trust me and if that involved him believing his feelings were reciprocated, then so be it. I figured that if I could get him to drop his guard even a little, I might be able to take my chance and steal the boy away.
‘Jenny kept him hidden for a good few weeks before Keith found out.’ He gulped at his whisky and rested his glass on his thigh. ‘He hadn’t seen or heard from her in a while and she wasn’t returning his calls, so he went to the house. There was no answer at the front door, so he went the round the back. There they were, her and the kid, painting collages at the kitchen table. There’d been so much news coverage. Keith recognised him immediately.’ He shifted on his haunches, trying to get comfortable. ‘Keith’s first instinct was to give him back, no matter what the consequences for Jenny. It was the right thing to do. Jenny agreed but begged for a last night alone with the kid, so she could say goodbye. Keith went home. But then something happened.’
He traced his finger around the rim of his glass and I sensed we were coming to a part of the story he would rather forget.
‘The next day Jenny’s social worker called. Her case had been reviewed and, after years in foster care, Kimberley and Jake were going to be returned.’
He waved his glass in my face and nodded at the bottle of whisky on the cabinet. I did as he asked, making sure to pour him an extra-large measure. I had no idea how well he could or couldn’t hold his booze but, at the very least, I hoped it would compromise his reaction times.
I was about to return to the sofa when I noticed my handbag on the floor. I must have dropped it when he dragged me into the room. Most of the contents, including my mobile, had spilled out onto the carpet, not far from where I stood. I looked at my phone. It was inches away from my left foot. Jason was the last person I’d called. All I needed to do was reach down, press a button and it would start ringing. Once the line was open Jason would be able to listen in on everything Tommy said. If I could find a way to mention our location and make him realise what was going on, he could raise the alarm.
It was a bit of a hit-and-miss plan but, right now, it was all I had. The only problem was how to get near the phone without Tommy realising what I was up to.
On the wall in front of me was a framed watercolour. In its glass I could see Tommy’s outline on the sofa. I looked to my far right, to where Barney was sitting on the other side of the room. If Tommy caught me in the act, who knew what he might do to me or the child? But then, what was the alternative? Do nothing and wait for him to hurt us anyway? I had no choice. I had to try.
My heart thudding, I moved forward, as though I was about to lift his glass off the cabinet. At the same time, I used the back of my hand to flick the top of the whisky bottle onto the floor. Tutting at my own clumsiness, I got down on my knees. While I retrieved the bottle top, I used my other hand to reach for my phone.
Tommy was on his feet in an instant.
‘What are you doing?’
My phone was underneath me. As long as I stayed like this it would be shielded from his view. I had to find a way to hide it, but where? I had no long sleeves to slip it into and its rectangular shape was too large to hide in my fist. My only option was to secrete it under the cabinet to my right. But there was only a thin gap between it and the carpet. Would it fit in such a small space? Inching my knee forward, I gave it a sharp shove towards the gap and, to disguise the movement, simultaneously lifted my hand in the