Barbara Taylor Bradford - Unexpected Blessings

‘Is this Mrs Hilary Longden?’

‘Yes, this is she.’

‘Good evening, Mrs Longden. My name’s Jack Figg. I phoned earlier but you were out. You don’t know me, Mrs Longden, but you do know my employer, Mrs Paula O’Neill.’

‘Well, of course. Tessa’s mother. Have we met, Mr Figg?’ she asked, her curiosity apparent in her tone, her voice pleasant.

‘Briefly. At Tessa’s marriage to Mark. But to get to the point, we have a problem, Mrs Longden. I’m here at Pennistone Royal with Tessa, and the reason I’m here is because Adele, your granddaughter, disappeared around eleven o’clock this morning and she still hasn’t been found.’

‘Oh my God! How terrible! Tessa and Mark must be out of their minds with worry. Oh dear, oh dear, why haven’t they found her? Surely she’s somewhere on the estate? Oh, my poor little Adele, she must be so frightened . This is very upsetting, just awful. Can I speak to my son? And Tessa?’ Her voice had risen an octave or two, had become shrill, and it was obvious she was genuinely distressed. ‘How can I be of help, Mr Figg?’ she asked.

‘By telling me where your son is, Mrs Longden,’ Jack answered in a voice echoing with cold determination.

‘ Mark ? Do you mean he’s not there with Tessa?’ She was obviously startled by this fact.

‘No, he’s not. I have reason to believe that it’s Mark who took Adele without informing Tessa,’ Jack announced. ‘I believe he has abducted her, and I must put certain things into oper –’

‘Mark would never abduct Adele!’ she cut in peremptorily and with great indignation. ‘That’s ridiculous! Preposterous! He’s her father … what on earth are you suggesting? Going on about in this way, Mr Figg?’

‘An abduction. Which will be construed as a kidnapping by the police and the law. Kidnappers get tough sentences, you know. And I will have to go to the police within the next few minutes. I can’t put it off any longer. We’ve been unable to find Adele on the estate after several searches, nor can we locate Mark. He, too, has disappeared. So I have no alternative but to bring in law enforcement and also the Harte media companies. They can help by issuing news bulletins on television and the radio. We must find Adele as quickly as possible. It’s imperative .’

‘You’re serious, aren’t you, Mr Figg?’ She sounded shaken, frightened.

‘Very, very serious, Mrs Longden.’

‘B-b-b-but I don’t understand,’ she began, stuttering, obviously more unhinged than before. ‘Why would Mark take Adele without telling Tessa? I’m not following this.’

Intuitively, Jack knew the woman was telling him the truth, and he modulated his voice slightly, made it softer, as he explained. ‘Because of the divorce. It’s becoming extremely bitter, he’s trying to use Adele as a weapon against Tessa.’

‘ Divorce! They’re getting a divorce! But I don’t know anything about that. Oh, this is so absurd, Mark would have told me. My son tells me everything. It just can’t be,’ she asserted.

‘Oh it’s true right enough,’ Jack answered. ‘Would you like to speak to your daughter-in-law now?’

‘Y-y-y-yes please.’ The stuttering had started again.

‘Just a moment.’ Jack beckoned to Tessa, who was by his side in a flash. Covering the mouthpiece, he said softly, ‘Be careful what you say. We need her.’

Taking the receiver from him, Tessa murmured, ‘Hello, Mrs Longden.’ She was trying hard to keep a rein on her emotions, willing herself to be controlled, even though she was shaking inside. ‘Jack is correct. Mark has taken Adele. There is no other explanation for her disappearance. She must be so upset and confused, not understanding what’s going on, poor little thing.’

‘Yes, yes, I know, you’re right. But is it true about the divorce?’

‘Yes, it is. I’ve tried hard with Mark, tried to keep the marriage together, but it’s not been working between us. We’ve been separated since June.’

‘Mark never told me!’ Hilary Longden cried, tears in her voice. ‘How could Mark do that to me?’

‘I don’t know, but he did. And we do need to find Mark,’ Tessa repeated tensely. ‘And Adele.’

‘I don’t know where he is, and I am telling you the truth!’

‘Would Mr Longden know?’ Tessa probed.

‘No, no, of course not. Mark’s not a little boy, he doesn’t check in with us, you know that, Tessa.’

Tessa looked at Jack, made a facial grimace and handed the phone to him without a word.

‘Jack Figg again, Mrs Longden. Since you have no knowledge of Mark’s whereabouts I shall call in the North Yorkshire police. I do know Mark was in Yorkshire over the last few days, including last night, and I’m quite certain they’ll find him fast enough. It’s a pity, really, that I have to resort to this. And then there’s going to be all the nasty publicity. That can’t possibly do his reputation much good. Well, thanks for your courtesy, for hearing me out, Mrs Longden. Good night.’

‘Mr Figg, please, don’t hang up! I promise you I have no idea where Mark is, nor do I know anything about Adele’s disappearance. However, I do have a mobile phone number which Mark gave me last week. I think it might be a new one.’

‘Please give it to me.’

‘Just a minute. I have to find it. Hold on, it’s somewhere on this desk.’ A split second later she was reciting the number to him and extracting a promise from him to keep her abreast of the situation.

Jack hung up and said to Tessa, ‘Do you know this mobile number?’ As he spoke he showed her the pad he had written it on.

She shook her head. ‘His mother’s right. I think it’s a new one.’

Jack lifted the phone and dialled.

It was answered within a split second. ‘Hello?’

‘Mark?’

‘Yes.’ There was a hesitancy in the voice, wariness.

‘If you cut me off I will immediately ask the North Yorkshire police to go into action. And I’ll tell the media about your abduction of Adele.’

‘What?’ Mark exploded.

‘Don’t start with me, Mark. We know you have Adele. You’ve been spotted.’

‘Who the hell is this?’ he demanded, anger in the tone.

‘Jack Figg here. I work for Paula O’Neill. I’m with Tessa at Pennistone Royal. We want Adele returned. At once .’

‘I don’t have her. It’s the first I’ve heard about an abduction.’

‘You don’t sound too upset about your daughter’s sudden disappearance today. Which means that you know exactly where she is. She’s with you . How do charges of kidnapping sound, Mark? Should help your career and your reputation no end, eh?’

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ he cried.

Tessa came to Jack, gave him a hard stare and motioned to the phone. He handed it over at once.

‘Mark, this is Tessa. Please bring Adele back.’

‘Why am I being accused in this way?’ he demanded, anger echoing again.

‘Because you took her this morning. We know you did. Wiggs saw you. Please, please bring her back to me. For the child’s sake.’

‘I told you, I don’t have her!’

‘Yes, you do. Don’t play games with me, Mark.’

There was a silence and she wondered if she had lost him, been cut off, when he suddenly spoke again.

He said, ‘You won’t get her back until you meet my terms.’

‘Anything you want,’ she said swiftly, relief flooding through her. Obviously, he did have Adele.

‘Joint custody, for starters,’ Mark intoned.

‘The solicitors will work all that out. But you can have the house in Hampstead, the cars, a financial settlement, as you wanted.’