Elisabeth Carpenter - Only a Mother

He tries Helen’s mobile, but it goes straight to voicemail. His hands feel too clumsy as he searches for Amelia’s number.

‘Hello?’

‘Hi, Amelia, it’s Luke – Helen’s husband. I was wondering if she was there.’

‘I… what time is it?’

‘Sorry, it’s early, and I know you were probably up late…’

‘No… I went to bed about ten… I’ve been off sick for two days.’

‘Oh, OK.’ He’s talking in his work voice. ‘Sorry to wake you… hope you feel better soon.’

Adrenaline and suspicion course through Luke’s body. He looks out of the lounge window. His car’s on the drive – she’s not asleep on the back seat.

‘Where’s Mummy?’ says a little voice behind him.

It’s Alice, holding Ted by the arm so he dangles at her side.

‘She’s staying at a friend from work’s house.’

Yes, that must be it, thinks Luke. She’ll have been too drunk to type properly – the predictive text got the wrong name. It always happens to Luke.

‘Like a sleepover,’ says Alice.

‘Yes. Exactly like that. Let’s get you some breakfast. Is your sister up yet?’

‘Yes,’ says Alice. ‘She’s having a poo.’

‘Nice,’ he says. ‘Glad you’re keeping me informed.’

Unlike his wife.

He gets the Rice Krispies from the cupboard and pours some into two bowls. Alice hops on to one of the dining chairs as he gets out the milk.

‘Can I pour my own today, Daddy? Megan never lets me do my own.’

Luke opens his phone’s messages – ‘Yes, yes. Go on…’ – and types a few lines to another of Helen’s colleagues, Simon. He always got on with Simon – well, he used to. Luke hasn’t been out for a pint with him for ages.

He stares at his phone, waiting for Delivered to turn to Read , but it doesn’t.

It doesn’t change after the kids have eaten their breakfast and gone upstairs to get dressed.

If he still hasn’t heard from Helen after the school run, then he’ll ring Simon, then Helen’s work to see if he can find out about this night out. He doesn’t want to come across as some jealous husband. He’ll tell them that a man’s been following them and he’s afraid something terrible might have happened to his wife.

Megan wouldn’t stop talking about Helen all the way to school.

‘Mummy said last night that she was taking us this morning.’

‘I doubt she said that,’ said Luke. ‘Not if she knew she was going to a work party.’

‘She never told me she was going to a party.’

‘She probably forgot.’

But Helen never forgets things. The calendar on the kitchen wall is what she lives by. Her shifts are marked with colour-coded sticky dots on the relevant days. Nights out and day trips are planned at least four weeks in advance. Luke looked this morning and there was no entry for anything yesterday.

By the time he gets to his desk, there’s been no reply from Helen or Simon.

‘What’s wrong with you?’ says Amanda. ‘You’ve been standing there, staring into space with your coat on.’

‘Helen didn’t come home last night.’

‘From work?’

‘No. She went to someone’s leaving do.’

‘She’s probably at a friend’s. I do it all the time.’

‘Yeah, but you haven’t got two kids to take to school. And it was a Tuesday night.’

‘I… No. You’re right. It does sound odd for Helen. She’s usually so sensible.’

‘Her phone’s dead. It must’ve run out of battery.’ Luke puts his phone on his desk, not taking his eyes from it as he takes off his coat. ‘I’ll ring the hospital – see if I can get hold of one of her colleagues.’

He uses the phone on his desk and gets put through to the ward.

‘Staff nurse, Ward 19.’

‘Hello. It’s Luke, Helen’s husband. Who’s that?’

‘Hi, Luke. It’s Ivy. Is everything all right with Helen? She’s hasn’t got that awful bug that’s going round, has she?’

‘No, she’s fine. Actually, no. I don’t know. Did you go to that leaving do last night?’

‘Yeah, I only stayed for one – early shift today.’

‘Oh, I see.’

‘Did Helen make it back OK?’

‘No, she hasn’t come home yet.’

‘Really?’ She pauses for a few moments. ‘That’s strange.’

‘Did she drink a lot last night?’

‘No more than the rest of them, but I left early. If we’ve had a bad day here, we can certainly go for it in the pub.’

‘Do you have any contact details for anyone else that went out?’

‘I can’t really give that information out. Leave it with me. I’ll do some asking around and I’ll call you.’

‘Thanks, Ivy.’

‘And try not to worry. She’ll turn up. I expect it happens all the time.’

Amanda looks up as he replaces the handset.

‘No joy, then?’ she says, not disguising the fact she was listening to his conversation.

‘I’m really worried. It’s not like her.’ Luke falls on to his chair. ‘What if it’s something to do with Craig Wright? He might have followed her to work… watched her leave the pub. She’ll have been vulnerable… everyone is when they’re pissed.’

‘Didn’t she contact you at all last night?’

Luke picks up his mobile and hands it to Amanda.

Hey Lukey buoy going for after party at Amelia’s buck ltr loadsa luv.

‘Right,’ she says, handing it back. ‘Does she always text like that?’

‘No, but she hasn’t been on a big night out for a while. I guess some of her texts in the past have been as dubious as that.’

Luke paces up and down along the bank of desks.

‘It’ll be fine, Luke,’ says Amanda. ‘She’ll turn up – she’ll ring you when she gets home and charges her phone.’

‘I’ve got a horrible feeling about this. Seeing Craig outside the kids’ school and now Helen’s gone missing.’

Luke can’t keep still. It seems wrong to sit when something could’ve happened to his wife. He looks around the newsroom. It’s silent; everyone looks down quickly.

His desk phone rings, making him jump. He doesn’t recognise the number on the display. Please let it be Helen, he thinks. He almost doesn’t want to answer it. So long as it’s ringing, he can cling to the hope that it’s her calling.

He grabs the handset.

‘Helen?’

‘Excuse me?’ A man’s voice.

Luke’s shoulders slump. He shouldn’t have picked up the phone.

‘Sorry. Luke Simmons, the Chronicle .’

‘Thought I’d dialled the wrong number, then.’ His voice is deep with a broad Chorley accent. ‘You say that’s Luke Simmons?’

‘It is.’

Luke keeps his eye on his mobile, flicking from the last message he sent to Helen and the one he sent to Simon. Neither has been read – only Simon’s has been delivered.

‘It’s Brian here. I’ve never telephoned a newspaper before. I got your number from my wife.’

‘Brian?’

‘Brian Sharpe.’

Luke hesitates for a second. Lucy’s father is the last person he’d have expected to hear from.

‘Of course. How can I help?’

‘I don’t need anything… I thought I could help you ,’ he speaks quickly, with confidence. ‘I know this sounds odd, but I’ve been keeping tabs on Craig Wright since he left prison. Not stalking, like. Just had my eye out for him when he’s been out and about. Saw him talking to that young girl, though I didn’t see where they took her. Bit pissed off with myself for that, to tell the truth.’

‘Have you seen him since the girl went missing?’

‘Yes. My wife Gillian says I’m getting a bit fixated about it all… but it’s given me a reason to get up and out in the morning. I need to stop him before he does it again – and he will, if he hasn’t already. The boy has no fear; he’ll do anything he wants. Nobody can see that but me. He shouldn’t have been let out. Everyone knows that he killed Jenna Threlfall, too. If he’d been convicted of that, he might not have been released.’