D. E. White - The Forgotten Child

‘Nothing,’ Holly told her quickly. ‘We can’t do anything because we don’t know if he is alive.’

‘You said before that the police went on about Niko and Devril?’ Cath was frowning. She lifted her glass to her mouth but put it down again without drinking, and sloshed wine all over her fingers. ‘I can’t believe this.’

‘Yeah, me either. Do you think there’s something going on? Niko’s out, Devril is hanging around again, and then Jayden shows up with his kid?’

‘I really don’t know, but if they’re planning some kind of business takeover they can forget it. The Nicholls have everything sewn up round here, and nobody asks any questions. Rohan, you know he’s one of Joey’s sons, and he is fit , well he came over a few months ago asking about Niko. I think they were checking him out, because it was before he got released.’

‘Why would they do that?’

‘To see if he was worth talking to? I dunno. I told you, Niko had always said he had some money stashed. When we were together he used to go on about it and how we could move house and all that. Am I a mug or what?’

‘You’re not, even if I really can’t see how you could have sex with Niko, let alone have a kid with him,’ Holly told her. ‘Not that I can talk, but your taste in men is terrible!’

Cath flicked her a V-sign, and continued, ‘And the Mancinis are doing a lot of the driving and a lot of the dealing now, so they’re well happy being part of the Nicholls’ operation. Mason’s about to croak, your dad won’t give a shit who’s doing what … I dunno. My family just do their thing no matter who’s in charge, whether it’s legal or not, as long as they get paid.’ She thought for a moment. ‘Except my mum, but she’s got the chippie, hasn’t she? Anyway, Dev would never hurt you, Holly, whatever’s going on. Did you know he’s a journo now though? Freelance and does a bit for all the red tops. Lots of dramz and uncovering juicy stories.’

‘No! Since when? I knew he was a writer but I never thought of journalist.’ A journalist – Devril had chosen a profession that they had all hated ever since Larissa’s death. It was almost as bad as joining the police. Holly bit her lip, swallowing hard. Her experience of journalists, from Jay’s trial to the present interest surrounding Jay’s son, wasn’t good. They were tricky bastards, and they wrote whatever they wanted, no matter what you said. ‘You never said!’

‘You never asked. Actually it was only the day before you had the car accident that I found out, so there hasn’t exactly been a good moment to tell you. I heard a bit of gossip, and I’m a nosy cow, aren’t I? Hell, you know what this place is like, but I googled him and for once the old bags are right. The word is he’s come back to get a story on Niko’s release, but I’m sure that’s a load of crap. Niko’s hardly the most interesting crim, is he? But Jayden, fuck me, my mind is totally blown …’ Cath shook her head, blue eyes suspiciously bright as she chattered away. ‘We need to change the subject for a bit, so I can get my head around this. Talk to me, Holly. How’s Tom behaving? Any more bitchy texts? I bet he’s absolutely loving all this drama. It proves he was right all along about your dodgy past.’

Holly was still thinking about Devril’s career change. It wasn’t mentioned on his social media pages. She had supposed he must be a copywriter or something. It had never crossed her mind he would be a reporter. Had he been following her? What story could he hope to get out of her? ‘Tom’s still an arsehole. He also thinks the accident proves I’m an unfit mother and he accused me of sleeping around. Actually, since I asked him about the texts they’ve stopped coming. He told me I was going crazy and I must have sent them to myself.’

Cath rolled her eyes, seizing her sandwich and taking a huge bite, as Holly continued, ‘He popped round with another massive gift for Milo, and pissed off back to his fancy lecture tour. Total bastard. What about Liam?’ Cath’s most recent ex had left her with another child and more heartbreak.

Her friend swallowed hard and ran a long bubble-gum-pink nail across her lips before she answered. ‘Total bastard. Hasn’t paid any child support for the last three months now, and he’s shacked up with some other girl in Panfield. It’s like history repeating itself. They can all fuck off, the whole lot of them!’ Suddenly she was crying and laughing at the same time, tears streaming down her cheeks, and spluttering crumbs and spit. ‘Oh fuck, Holly, what are we going to do? I’m not sure I can handle this. Jay’s been dead for a long time now, and I’m not sure I want to deal with all that stuff again. And what are you going to do about his kid? I really, really want to feel like I’ve moved on, but we never can, can we, if this is true?’

Holly moved across to sit next to her best friend and wrapped her arms around her skinny body. ‘I know, I don’t think I can take any more either, not with the divorce and everything. Hey, did you get a new necklace? That’s cute.’

Cath rested her head on her friend’s shoulder, her voice muffled as she spoke into Holly’s navy jumper. ‘Got it on sale. We should be glad if Jay’s not dead. If only he could see us now, he’d be gutted we’re not dancing on the table and opening another bottle of Prosecco.’

‘Depends why he’s back. Depends why they’re all back, doesn’t it really?’ Holly murmured, half to herself. They clung together for a moment, before the baby monitor flickered and emitted a high-pitched wail.

When the babies were settled comfortably on Holly and Cath’s laps with their bottles, Cath continued, ‘Remember when you and Dev used to go to the gym together? Niko never believed you were actually training, until you started competing.’

Holly smiled, shifting the baby to her other arm, revelling in the warm scents of baby skin and hair. It was a sharp reminder of the child Larissa had lost. She would have held her like this, comforted her when she cried … and the boy too. ‘Niko was too lazy to imagine anyone going to the gym to work out. He just used to pose with weights at Shoey’s because he couldn’t actually lift them.’

Cath giggled. ‘Looked all right though. And he had a good body considering he didn’t do anything.’

Holly scrunched up her nose. It was weird, having a perfectly normal conversation, whilst there were all these electric undercurrents floating beneath their banal words. She and Dev had been part of the gang, but as the kids started to pair off in their teens, it was always Cath and Jay, and her and Dev.

It was funny she and Cath had stayed friends. Tom hated Cath, and the feeling was mutual. When Holly got pregnant, her best friend had sat her down and told her exactly what she thought of Tom, and suggested Holly move in with Lydia and raise Milo on her own.

Cath was watching her, straightening her baby’s clothes with gentle fingers. ‘You two always wanted to get out of the Seaview, didn’t you?’

‘I suppose.’

‘You did. Dev would always talk about getting away from his uncle and setting up on his own, and you were super clever at school. You wanted to be a vet once, do you remember?’

‘Yeah,’ Holly sighed. After she walked out the evening after the trial, she’d gone to stay with a friend in town. She had been a savvy teen, and it hadn’t taken long to sort out accommodation, to set herself up away from her past. The fact that she’d got good grades seemed to be a sign, and she drifted along, reinventing herself. At nineteen, studying English Literature had seemed like a good idea, but then so did dating Tom, her tutor. ‘I think I thought I’d go into teaching after my degree.’