The landline rang and I rose, immediately tensing at the thought of Stephen asking about Zoe’s whereabouts again.
‘Hello?’ I answered coolly.
‘Oh hi, it’s Keira.’
‘Hi, Keira,’ I said, frowning, irritation flooding my body, at the sound of her voice. I wished I could be fonder of Keira, but I’d always blamed her for leading Zoe astray.
But then, as quickly, I realised that Keira was phoning for Zoe, which meant Zoe couldn’t be with her.
‘Is Zoe there?’
‘No,’ I said, guilt beginning to eat away at my conscience, a fluttering of anxiety starting at the base of my throat. ‘I thought she was with you?’
‘She’s not.’ Keira hesitated. ‘We were going into Oxford today and I wondered what time she wanted to meet.’
‘Didn’t Zoe stay with you last night?’
‘No, why?’
‘We spoke yesterday on the phone and she said she was going to stay overnight with you,’ I lied again.
‘Oh.’ Keira hesitated. ‘We didn’t even see each other yesterday.’
‘What?’ Panic cloyed at me. ‘What do you mean? You saw her at college, didn’t you? Don’t you have film studies together on a Friday?’
My mind was running at speed.
‘Yeah, but she didn’t turn up. I texted her and she said she was ill.’
My stomach grew queasy and I gripped the kitchen counter, my knuckles turning white.
‘Keira, she wasn’t ill yesterday. Or, at least, she wasn’t at home.’ Of course, I couldn’t be sure about this but if this was one of Keira’s silly little games, I needed to nip it in the bud now.
‘How would you know?’ I heard the accusatory tone in Keira’s voice. This, I thought, was why I had never liked Keira. ‘Zoe told me you’re barely at home these days, always getting to work early or staying late.’
‘Keira.’
‘Well, Mrs Hall, she didn’t stay with me last night and she’s not answering my texts.’
I picked up my mobile, praying it would show one unread message from my daughter, but there was nothing.
‘Keira,’ I said quickly, ‘can you ring around your friends, maybe look in places you’d ordinarily go to?’ I paused. ‘When did you last see Zoe?’
‘Thursday. We had a study day to do coursework.’
‘So you guys were at college?’
‘Not exactly.’ She sounded hesitant.
‘Keira, come on, I need to know if you’ve got Zoe into trouble again.’
‘Not being funny, but I just rang to speak to Zoe, not to get an earful from you, Mrs Hall.’
I tried to keep my voice level but it was hard; Keira was holding out on me. As ever, I had a feeling she had led my daughter down the wrong path. ‘I just need you to tell me as much as possible. We need to track Zoe down.’
‘We went to that farm up the road.’ She paused. ‘We were just hanging out. That’s it.’ She sounded sheepish, ‘Anyway, that was the last I saw of her.’
My mind pictured the dilapidated bungalow and surrounding fields: Rook Farm. Why on earth would they be hanging around up there? It struck me as odd that they would go back up there after what had happened only months ago. When they were younger, they used to play the game Truth or Dare, and it was only recently that I discovered they still played it, only now the truths and the dares were no longer innocent childhood fun and, because of their film course, they would often video themselves. I was still resolute in my certainty that Keira had led Zoe astray.
‘I don’t believe Zoe would have chosen to go there, Keira. Not after what happened. So what were you doing there?’
‘It was just for a laugh,’ Keira said, her voice growing defensive, immediately alerting me to something being wrong, ‘but we didn’t do anything. Just spoke to that weird farmer guy. Zoe reckons he’s…’ She stopped herself. ‘Oh, never mind.’
‘He’s what?’
‘He’s hot,’ she muttered. ‘That’s all I was going to say. No big deal.’
My stomach did a somersault. Zoe had told me months ago that Jerry Wyre, the farmer, had made a pass at her. So why on earth would she have gone back? No, I decided, it was Keira once again making out that Zoe was to blame. I knew, without a flicker of doubt, that Zoe had been dragged back there by Keira.
Suddenly, I heard the letter slot open and snap shut, and I jumped, my nerves frayed. I walked quickly to the hall. The mail lay on the mat. I didn’t know why but I pulled the door open and walked outside; there was no sign of anyone, except the postman walking away and the neighbour’s cat sunning itself on the lawn. So why did I feel like I was being watched? My skin crawled with unease.
‘Keira, I’m going to have to go,’ I said hurriedly into the phone.
‘Will you let me know what’s going on?’
I thought about Zoe, about Keira not knowing where she was, and my stomach knotted with fear once again. Something wasn’t right. My breathing came hard and fast as if my lungs were being crushed.
‘Mrs Hall?’
My knees started to buckle and I knew I needed to hang up on Keira. What if something had happened to Zoe? ‘Yes, I’ll be in touch.’
‘Okay.’ Keira sounded less sure of herself now. ‘Is it going to be okay?’
‘Yes, Keira,’ I said with more defiance than I felt. ‘It’s going to be fine.’
I cut the call, dropped the phone on the hall console and walked through to the kitchen, sitting quickly at the table, my legs shaking uncontrollably. Just as quickly, I rose and popped another pill in my mouth, cupping my hand under the tap to wash it down. I took another and it immediately caused my stomach to cramp but I needed to numb the tide of panic building inside. My breathing grew increasingly shallow as my mind grew dark with the realisation that Zoe might be missing.
I couldn’t shrug off the feeling that I was being watched. Or was I being paranoid? Had I taken one too many pills? My gaze flitted about the kitchen as I drank in the familiar sights of the house. I shook my head, my eyes taking a moment to adjust back to my surroundings. No, I decided, it must have been the pills and my worry over Zoe making me think irrational thoughts.
Minutes passed and I willed Zoe to ring the house phone, ring me on my mobile. When my mobile buzzed in my hand, I jumped. It was an unknown number.
‘Hello?’ I said, fighting my nerves.
‘Freya?’ It was Stephen. ‘I’m phoning from the hotel room. I’ve just had a look at Zoe’s profile on Facebook and Keira’s asking if anyone’s seen her.’ His voice was shrill and I swallowed deeply. ‘What’s going on?’
‘Keira phoned here about five minutes ago asking for Zoe.’
‘And?’
‘She’s not here and apparently she didn’t stay with Keira last night.’ I paused. ‘I asked her to get in touch with people they know to see if anyone’s seen her.’ Warm tears began to stream down my cheeks. ‘I had no idea she would message everyone using Facebook.’
‘Freya,’ Stephen cut in, ‘why the hell didn’t you phone me?’
‘Give me a break, Stephen. I’ve literally only just found out myself.’
‘Shit,’ I could hear him