“Of course you do. Sorry, I didn’t mean to imply that you didn’t.”
I smiled thinly. “You probably didn’t. I’m just sensitive.”
“I’m not surprised. You’re a strong woman to be getting through all this. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”
“I screamed at those reporters.”
She sipped her tea and chuckled. “They’ve heard worse.”
“Oh God, poor Jake. Alone at the station. I should go, but I can’t take Aiden there. Not with all those reporters out there.” I chewed on my bottom lip and wondered whether I could send someone else to meet him. We had a solicitor, but maybe that would send the wrong signal. I could ask Sonya or Josie, but Jake had never been as close with Josie as I had, and Sonya was Rob’s mother so that could be uncomfortable. Jake didn’t really have any male friends. He hadn’t even bothered with a stag do before the wedding. “Can you call and ask how long he’ll be there for? Can I talk to him over the phone?”
Before Denise could answer, my mobile phone started to ring. I dug it out of the bottom of my bag and frowned in disappointment. I had been hoping it would be Jake calling from the police station but it was Rob.
“Hi.”
“Emma, I heard they took Jake in for questioning. What’s going on?” he said.
“They just want to ask him some more questions about the day Aiden was taken. It’s nothing, Rob. I mean, they’ve had you in for questioning too. They’ve had half the town in.”
“No, this is different.” I heard him moving around as he spoke. There was a breathlessness to his voice, as though he couldn’t stand still. I imagined his energy seeping out in nervous tics. I could see him pacing in my mind’s eye. “The press has caught onto this like it’s a big deal. They’ve not done this before.”
“They’ll latch onto anything, Rob,” I argued.
There was a pause.
“You don’t really believe that Jake took Aiden, do you? And then fooled me for ten years. How would he do that, Rob? How? How would he have my son locked away all these years while romancing me and marrying me and getting me pregnant? Don’t you think I would know?”
“Em—”
“Don’t you trust me to know?”
“Emma.” His voice was calmer now. The deep tone caught my attention and my body reacted in a physical way. I shook my head, passing it off as leftover feelings from when we were teenagers. I’d always loved Rob’s deep, velvety voice. “I do trust you. You’re one of the few people in this world I’d trust with my life.”
“Why do I sense a ‘but’ coming on?”
“I don’t think you see him the way others see him. Don’t you remember how at school some of the girls called him ‘perv’ because of the way he looked at them?”
“What? No! And how would that—”
“Emma, listen to me. This isn’t coming from a place of jealousy. I swear it. God knows I hate him because you love him, but this is me thinking rationally for a change. It’s possible. I know you don’t want to accept that, but if he doesn’t have a watertight alibi for the time Aiden disappeared it’s possible that he did this. Do you know where he is twenty-four hours a day?”
“No, but—”
“Then it’s possible.”
“You’re forgetting one thing, Rob.”
“What’s that?”
“Aiden. He was afraid when we went to Rough, which means he’s afraid of the place he was held captive, right?”
“I guess so.”
“With that logic, he must also be afraid of the person who kidnapped him.”
Rob sighed.
“Aiden and Jake have lived in the house for days now. He’s never shown any fear towards Jake. The first night here they set the table together. In fact, Aiden seems to really like Jake. He’ll follow him around doing everything he says.”
“Emma, don’t you see how that’s strange? If Aiden has more of an attachment to Jake than anyone else then that’s fucking weird on its own. Look, this is really hard to say but I’m just going to say it.”
“What?”
“Aiden was with this person for ten years. We don’t know what happened between the two of them. I’ve been reading up about Stockholm syndrome and all that stuff. Abusers and victims have a complicated relationship—”
“No. This isn’t like that. No.” I shook my head. I was on my feet now, clenching and unclenching one hand. Denise watched me carefully so I turned my back on her.
“There’s a chance that Aiden hasn’t seen anyone apart from the person who took him. Like that girl in Germany or wherever. There’s a chance that the only person Aiden remembers from his childhood is the monster who took him, and there’s a chance that Aiden has developed a fondness for his attacker.”
“Fuck off, Rob. I can’t—”
“I think you should come and stay with me.”
“No. It’s not him.” I was crying now. Fat tears rolled down my cheeks.
“I don’t think the two of you are safe there. Stay with me. Please, Emma.”
“It’s not him.”
“You don’t know that. What if it is?”