Perhaps Angela was genuinely ill, who knows?’
‘I very much doubt it, but I’ll get to the bottom of it if it kills me. Go on, love, you shoot off. Thanks for coming round and thanks for being honest with me.’
Pam found Stephanie’s address book. She was relieved when the cab firm only quoted her ten minutes, as she couldn’t wait to ring Angela and give her a piece of her mind.
Barry chatted away politely as he finished the rest of his beer. He had given Pam his phone number and she had promised to contact him personally the moment she
had some news, whether it be good or bad. ‘Do you know what, Pam? You’re a lovely lady and I’d give my right arm to have a mother like you. I hope your Stephanie realizes how lucky she is.’
Pam forced a smile. Considering that Barry had been reared by the horrendous Marlene, he had certainly turned into a lovely lad. He was handsome, polite, honest and charming, and for the first time ever, Pam wished he hadn’t moved to Spain all them years ago, and it was he that Stephanie was planning to marry rather than Wayne.
Within seconds of returning from the park with the kids, Stephanie knew that something had happened. She knew her mother like the back of her hand and could tell that Pam was hiding something. Not wanting to create a scene in front of the children, Steph put the McDonald’s they had begged for onto three plastic plates and ordered them to eat it in the lounge.
‘Right, what’s going on?’ she said to her mother as she shut the kitchen door.
Pam didn’t know if she was coming or going. She had tried to ring Angela, but her mobile phone was switched off and she had no home number for her. Cathy, who she would usually ask for advice, was at Bingo, so that was a no-go. Then, in pure desperation, Pam had rung Linda, and there had been no answer from her either. Not wanting to make a mountain out of a molehill in case Wayne walked in at any second, Pam decided to lie. ‘Nothing’s wrong apart from the obvious. You got any more wine, love? I could kill another glass.’
Stephanie went into the conservatory, grabbed a bottle of Chardonnay and poured the majority of it into two large glasses. ‘Why did Barry go before I got back? Did he say something that upset you?’ Steph probed, her voice full of suspicion.
‘No, of course not! Barry left because his mother is creating havoc, I think. How an old slapper like that ever gave birth to a decent lad like Barry, I shall never know.’
Looking at the clock on the kitchen wall, Stephanie shook her head in despair. It was nearly five p.m. now and would soon be dark outside. Waiting until the morning to ring the police was ridiculous. The sooner she rang them and reported Wayne missing, the better. ‘I’m gonna ring the Old Bill now, Mum, I have to. No matter how drunk Wayne was last night, he would have definitely rung me by now if he was OK. Something’s happened to him, I just know it has, and at least if I report him missing, the police can check the hospitals and stuff.’
‘No, don’t ring them yet,’ Pam said, alarmed. She hadn’t worked out how to break Barry’s news to Stephanie yet and she didn’t want to send her daughter over the edge. ‘Barry’s right. The police will laugh at you if you ring them now and say Wayne hasn’t come home from his stag night yet.’
Stephanie had tried to be strong all day, but couldn’t hold the tears back any longer. ‘What am I gonna do if we can’t find him, Mum? How long am I meant to leave it until I cancel the wedding and ring all the guests?’
Pam held her sobbing daughter in her arms. If Wayne didn’t arrive home to sort out this mess very soon, she would personally fucking strangle him.
Barry Franklin had no intention of going to visit his mother. Marge had rung him, but only to inform him that his mother was ‘sorry for what she had said’ and had asked ‘could he please send her clothes home from Spain?’
Strolling into the boozer in a side road just off Brentwood High Street, Barry queued up at the bar. Today had gone to perfection for somebody as desperate for revenge as he was: it was the stuff that dreams were made of. Not only was Wayne on the missing-persons list and thought to be with Angela, he also had Pam eating out of his hand, which was a proper added bonus.
The young dark-haired barmaid smiled at Barry. He had been in a few evenings recently and, unlike most of her other punters, was always generous in offering her a drink. ‘A bottle of Bud, is it?’ she asked.
Barry grinned. ‘Nah, I fancy something different tonight. Give us a bottle of champagne, sweetheart.’ Barry laughed. ‘I’m in the mood for celebrating.’
By nine p.m., Stephanie had become rather hysterical and Pam knew she couldn’t hold her secret piece of knowledge back much longer. ‘Come and sit down, darling,’ she said sadly, as Steph trawled through the Yellow Pages to try to find out phone numbers of local hospitals.
‘I can’t fucking sit down. I’ve got to do something.’
‘Sssh. The kids probably aren’t asleep yet. You don’t want to worry them, do you?’ Pam said, sensibly. It was less than half an hour since she had tucked the poor little mites up in bed and Pam was positive that Dannielle had sensed that something was amiss when she had asked if she was ‘still going to be a bridesmaid next week?’
Deflated, Stephanie sat down on the armchair opposite her mother. She had been trying to call Tammy all evening to ask her advice. Her best friend’s sister was a policewoman and Stephanie was sure that she could be of some help, if only Tammy would switch her bloody phone on.
‘Who’s that you’re trying to phone – Tammy again?’ Pam asked.
Stephanie nodded. ‘She’s taken Richard back to the airport, Mum. She rarely has her mobile on when she isn’t at work, but she did say she would call me once she’d dropped him off. Look, I’m sick of waiting for people to switch their fucking phones on. I don’t care if the Old Bill laugh at me. I’m gonna ring ’em now, Mum.’
As Stephanie began dialling 999, Pam snatched the phone out of her daughter’s hand.
‘What you doing?’ Steph yelled.
Knowing that awful time had come when she had to break Stephanie’s heart, Pam urged her to sit down again.
‘What’s a matter?’ Steph asked, fearfully.
Pam sat next to her daughter on the sofa, and with tears in her eyes said the sentence she had been dreading disclosing. ‘I’m so sorry, Steph, but I think Wayne might have run off with our Angela.’
Letting out one almighty scream, Stephanie grabbed the framed photo of her and Wayne off the wall and threw it across the room. Aware of the sound of breaking glass, she then sank to her knees and sobbed like a baby.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Stephanie felt like a zombie when Tammy arrived the following morning. She had been unable to sleep a wink and had spent all night tossing, turning, and crying. The more she thought about it, Wayne being with Angela just didn’t ring true. Her partner had always hated her sister, ever since their teenage fling, so why would he suddenly run away with her?
‘I’m so sorry you couldn’t get hold of me last night, mate. I was going to ring you after I’d dropped Richard off, but my battery went dead. What’s been happening? Have you rung the police yet?’ Tammy asked, sitting next to Stephanie on the sofa.
‘Come on kids, let’s go and play in the garden,’ Pam suggested to her grandchildren. They knew something was wrong. Dannielle had been crying earlier, and Pam wanted to shield them from the awful truth for as long as she could.
‘Me wan weeties,’ Tyler screamed, pummelling his little fists against the carpet in temper as Pam tried to lift him up.
‘Walk ’em down the shops and get them some sweets, Mum. Take the money out of my purse.’
When the front door slammed, Steph breathed a sigh of relief.
‘So,