will kill her. Who will make her disappear.
I stay with the boys while Tara collects Noah from school. When they return, I go upstairs to the spare bedroom and call Gilbourne again but his phone is still going straight to voicemail. Dizzy is curled up on one of my jumpers at the end of the bed, one eye opening as I sit down next to him. The sound of the TV in the lounge floats up the stairs and a few minutes later Tara appears in the doorway, a cup of tea in each hand. I’m just about finished packing the few clothes that I have into my overnight bag.
‘What are you doing?’ she says.
I take one of the teas from her, steam curling from the mug.
‘I need to go, Tara.’
‘Where? What are you talking about?’
‘It’s not right, me staying here. I’m putting you and your family in danger. I shouldn’t have come,’ I say. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘There’s nothing to be sorry for.’
‘I hadn’t realised before, but I can see it now.’
‘But . . . your house is still a mess, isn’t it? I thought they wanted you to leave it until they could check for fingerprints or whatever?’
‘I’m going to a hotel for a few days. I know Noah was OK earlier but just the thought of him, you know, of something happening to him . . . I couldn’t bear it.’
She nods, pulls me into a hug.
‘Dave’s on his way back from work early,’ she says. ‘I’m glad it’s the weekend. I might keep them off school and nursery next week. Keep them here with me.’
‘I’ll tell the inspector what Dominic said today, maybe they can send someone to keep an eye on the house, get a patrol car to drive by or something.’
‘How long will you be in the hotel?’
‘Just for a few days I think, until the house is sorted out.’ I want to say until this is over. ‘Until . . . everything is back to normal.’
She releases me from the hug but keeps her hands on my shoulders.
‘Are you sure about this? I don’t think you should be on your own, Ellen.’
‘It’s only a mile down the road. Not far.’
‘I’m worried about you.’
‘It’ll be all right. The boys have to be your priority.’
I put my jacket on and carry my bags downstairs into the hall, retrieving the cat box from the cupboard under the stairs and whistling for Dizzy. It’s nearly food time so it’s only a moment before his little face appears at the top of the stairs and he begins descending, keeping a cautious eye on the nearest small boy as he gets to the bottom.
‘Where are you going with the cat box?’ Tara says.
‘I need to take this young man to the cattery.’
‘Rubbish, he can stay with us. The boys love him, don’t you boys?’
Noah gives a double thumbs-up. ‘Can we keep him forever?’ he says.
‘Not forever, Noah,’ Tara says gently. ‘Just a few days.’
I give Dizzy a scratch on the top of his big solid head. ‘Be good,’ I say to him.
He blinks up at me, purring his deep rumbling purr. I crouch down to Tara’s eldest son.
‘Noah, I need you to do something for me, OK? I need you to look after Dizzy until I can take him back to my house. Make sure everyone is nice to him. Can you do that?’
‘Doesn’t he want to go with you?’
‘Yes, but I’m going to stay in a hotel for a few days, and cats aren’t allowed. I need someone to make sure he has two sachets of his food every day and a little dry food for lunch. Will you remind your mum to give him his lunch?’
‘OK.’
‘Promise?’
He nods solemnly, eyes wide behind his red and black Spiderman glasses. ‘Cross my heart,’ he traces a shape over his little chest, ‘and hope to die.’
‘Thank you, Noah. You’re a good boy.’
I kiss the top of his head and stand up. At the front door, Tara puts a hand on my arm, her face still full of concern.
‘Are you sure about this?’
‘It’s the way it has to be, Tara.’
‘Text me when you get settled in.’
‘Will do.’
‘Hey, I nearly forgot,’ Tara says, lowering her voice and checking that her boys are safely out of earshot. ‘While I was waiting at the school gates, I had a call back from my guy at the Daily Mail. Bit of a sleazebag but he’s got some good contacts in the Met. He was rather cryptic on the