D. E. White - The Forgotten Child

They had always been a funny pair, her and her brother – striking, with their totally different looks. She was so dark, with her skin and hair colour a legacy from her mother, and he was so blonde and green-eyed. Donnie had been blonde of course, and when Jayden had been her dad’s golden boy, doing as he was told, it had all seemed perfect. Donnie had a son to take over the business, and that was all he cared about. But father and son had been estranged for years by the time Jayden died. Donnie hadn’t even bothered to come to the candlelit memorial Lydia had arranged when, seven years after they last saw him, Jayden Hughes was officially declared dead.

The police officers waited patiently, as she got a hold of herself, pushing through memories. ‘ You lot told me he was dead! I saw what they did to Larissa and the baby, so I had no reason to assume otherwise. You said Jay’s blood was in the room, and his footprints, and then when that dealer said he’d helped get rid of his body …’ Holly was getting agitated again now, fighting her emotions, trying to stay in control. For the first time in ages, despite the recent dramas, she felt like she needed to fight. The sweet release of tension, the sweat and the pain in her muscles, and the high of victory that beat anything drugs could offer.

DS Harlow passed her a box of tissues, and she grabbed one, wiping away the tears in annoyance. She wasn’t generally a crier, but the last few months she seemed to have spent her whole time bursting into tears.

‘It’s okay to be upset and you don’t have to hide it. I’d be in total shock if it was me. This was eleven years ago, wasn’t it? Can you talk us through the last time you saw your brother?’ DS Harlow said gently. She was taking notes on a pad, chewing the end of her pen, whilst her colleague tapped away on her iPad.

‘You must have it all on file. You know all about it, and bloody DI Harper was there!’ It came out defensively, but DC Marriot just nodded. ‘Holly, I’m not going to lie to you, this is an oddball case. That’s why we are trying to get as much background as possible. Naturally DI Harper has provided us with the previous case files, and we know all the officers involved believed Jayden to be dead, even before he was legally declared so. There was never any mention of another child, though. We just think it might help to go over the details from your point of view again, which may in turn tell us why the boy is here.’

‘It won’t help me,’ Holly muttered, scrubbing at her flushed and wet cheeks with another tissue. What the hell was going on?

DC Marriot propped her chin on one hand, studying her iPad, eyes flicking from Holly to her screen. ‘There are other options, of course …’

‘Let’s go with the theory that this is Jayden’s son, to start off with,’ DS Harlow said, with a quick glance at her colleague.

Holly took a deep breath and waited another long moment. She found she was flexing her fingers, feeling a tremor that rippled along her biceps, instinctively clenching her fists. ‘I saw Jayden the week before Larissa was killed. He’d cleared off eighteen months previous and we thought that he’d moved right out the area. But he was waiting outside the gym late one night. I’d been teaching a class, and suddenly there he was, just the same as ever, asking for money. He asked for ten thousand pounds to pay off the dealer he owed. He knew I didn’t have that kind of money, but he said he was desperate. We’d been there before. I’d lent him money, my mum lent him money before she died, my aunt, everyone … I was … shocked to see him. Angry too. I thought he’d gone for good, and maybe finally sorted himself out.’

‘And your dad? Did he lend him money?’

‘No. He did to start with, when he thought Jay was going to be useful in the business. You know, dealing and that, but when Mum died he told Jay to fuck off, quit using the merchandise and sort his life out, so instead Jay worked mainly either dealing for the Balintas or helping out Gareth Nicholls on deliveries. You know, Nicholls Transport?’

‘We know it,’ DC Marriot said dryly, exchanging a quick, loaded glance with her colleague.

‘Joey and Gareth were pretty young when they first came down to the Seaview, and my dad always said they wanted to be the top dogs. They pretended to be happy with a three-way territory split with my dad, and Mason Balinta, but I know they started paying Alexi Mancini to do them favours, give them contacts, right after they arrived,’ Holly found she was rambling now, with Dev’s cheeky grin all mixed up with the horrors of the trial. But there were happy memories further back. All of them as kids, her and her best mate Cath beating the boys at basketball, and her discovery that she was good at boxing. Bloody good. She was soon competing for the local club, progressing to the NABC Boxing Championships, and it had escalated from there: the agent, the professional photos … It was a long time ago now.

‘Anyway, I haven’t seen my dad properly for years, and he’s only met Milo once. This is ancient history and it doesn’t change the fact that my brother was officially declared dead. When he died, I didn’t know he had one baby, let alone another child. If he survived though, and had a child to take care of, he would have contacted me, or Lydia.’ Or would he? Perhaps he knew what she had done, the betrayal of trust, of family ties and everything she had grown up with.

‘Go on. Humour me, Holly. The DI wants to help, and he knows we’re talking to you about this. He’d be here himself if he didn’t have another case running alongside this one.’ DC Marriot paused almost imperceptibly. ‘If there is a chance your brother is alive and back in the area, added to the fact that Niko and Devril are back in Westbourne, it would be a strange coincidence. As you say, the older generation of your families were once in business together, weren’t they?’

Holly ignored her question. What was going on? It would do no good to be chippy and defensive with the police though, not with something this important. She didn’t trust them, and years of prejudice didn’t vanish overnight. She forced her mind back eleven years, picturing her blonde, skinny brother, with his pointed chin, and hazel-flecked green eyes. His breath had been like white smoke in the wintry darkness outside the gym. She had still been in her kit, sweaty hair pulled back, hoodie thrown over her Lycra top. Her brother’s appearance, his pleading for money, had made her furious. ‘I told Jayden to fuck off. It was his usual form to beg for money. He would always say he was in danger, and as soon as he was bailed out, he’d get back into debt.’

‘He was an addict?’

‘For a while, yes, but he refused any help. Once, we got him into the rehab place in Panfield, but he walked out after a couple of days.’ Holly was drifting through her thoughts. They stabbed sharply, needles in her heart, and the helpless frustration she had felt then was bubbling back up in her belly. ‘Like I said, when he vanished the first time, it was almost a relief. We were worried, of course, that he might have got into worse trouble, or wound up dead. But we knew Mason and his heavies hadn’t found him, because we had the whole Balinta family on our backs wanting money to settle debts Jayden had run up when he was meant to be dealing for them. Lydia didn’t tell me at the time, but Jayden sent her an occasional text to say he was safe. And my dad, well, he gave out that he didn’t give a shit but I reckon he was glad Jayden had gone, so he didn’t embarrass him anymore. It was tough for us all after Mum died. I was thirteen when she was killed, and Jay was fifteen. It was the worst thing ever, and Jayden never got over it. I thought he’d OD or something, it was that bad for a while. He couldn’t think of anything except his next hit.’