Justin didn’t pause.
‘For God’s sake, man, climb in!’ Taylor yelled. ‘We’ll get to the hospital a lot quicker with blue lights.’
Justin stopped. His breath short, his chest thudding, he watched Taylor spill out, yanking the back door open and gesturing him inside. Nodding shortly, Justin made up his mind, turning towards the car to ease Sophie carefully into it and then climb in beside her.
Taylor threw himself into the front passenger seat, slamming the door closed behind him. ‘Go!’ He turned to the driver and then twisted to face Justin. ‘Is she all right?’ he asked, glancing at Sophie as Justin slid across, wrapping an arm around her as she burrowed again into his shoulder.
No, she’s very much not all right. He looked down at her. ‘She will be. We’ll all be, hey, Pumpkin? Together.’
A slight nod told him Sophie was hearing him. She understood his meaning. He was her father. He would always be there for her.
Radley. His mind went to him, briefly. Should he just leave him? If the police presence here was anything to do with him, wouldn’t they already be up there, rather than here? Justin shut it down. Not now. He needed to focus on his family. ‘Alicia,’ he said gruffly. ‘I need to call her.’
Guessing he couldn’t access his phone in his pocket, Taylor nodded, twisted back around and pulled out his own mobile. ‘Number?’ he asked him, keying it in as Justin reeled it off. ‘Alicia?’ he said a second later. ‘I have Justin with me. He has Sophie.’
Turning back, he handed the phone to Justin.
‘Sophie?’ Alicia asked, incredulous, her voice choked, as if she was squeezing the word out through all the pain she’d been holding in.
‘She’s here,’ Justin assured her. ‘She’s—’
Hearing the wretched sob that escaped her, he stopped and waited. ‘She’s all right, Alicia,’ he said softly, after a second. ‘She’s right here.’
Sophie eased her head up as he spoke. ‘Mum?’ she asked, her beautiful chestnut eyes, dulled by drugs, seeming, at last, to focus.
Justin nodded. ‘Hold on,’ he said. ‘Alicia, she wants to speak to you.’
Cradling Sophie, he held the phone gently to her ear.
‘Mum?’ Sophie said, and caught her breath. ‘Mum? I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I didn’t get it. I still don’t get all of it, but—’
‘Hey, hey.’ Justin squeezed her closer as she, too, broke off with a sob. ‘No apologies, Pumpkin. They’re not necessary. We’ll get through this. I promise you we will.’
Pressing the phone back to his own ear, he spoke to Alicia. ‘We’re on our way to the hospital,’ he said. ‘Just to check Sophie over,’ he added quickly. ‘She’s okay, I promise. I’ll meet you there.’
‘Okay,’ Alicia managed emotionally. ‘How?’ she asked. ‘How did you know where she was?’
Justin hesitated, his gaze flicking towards Taylor. ‘Jessica gave me his address. I went there to talk to him,’ he said, hoping it sounded feasible to Taylor. Whatever happened, he wanted to keep Alicia, and the fact that she was supposed to be seeing Radley, as far out of this as possible.
Taylor held his gaze for a long, hard minute, the look in his eyes dubious at best. ‘Strange coincidence, that,’ he said. ‘We were just about to pay a visit to Mr Radley’s apartment too. We had a 999 call from this geographical location. Cut short, unfortunately,’ he went on, as Justin eyed him questioningly.
‘Me,’ Sophie said. ‘That was me.’
‘Ah.’ Taylor nodded and smiled – for Sophie’s benefit, Justin guessed. ‘Well, that clears up the mystery. Don’t worry, Sophie, we can have a chat later, when you’re feeling better. We’ll be having words with Mr Radley in the meantime. I have officers on their way there now.’
Shit! Justin squeezed his arm around Sophie a fraction tighter.
Seventy-Five
SOPHIE
Finally at home – her real home – Sophie sat on her bed, not quite able to believe she was here. Everything was exactly as it was when she’d left. Normal. The bedroom, which her mum and dad had decorated, knowing who she was, was hers. She was an individual, with a mind of her own. The only thing out of place was her notebook. She couldn’t remember where she’d left that. In her drawer, she’d thought, but certainly not neatly placed on the dressing table. Her dad had done that. Not her mum. Her mum rarely touched her things. She’d once said she’d hate her to think she’d been snooping. Though she doubted her dad had been snooping. More likely it had been pulled out by that freak when he’d come in here, touching her things.
An involuntary shudder running through her, Sophie pulled her knees up to her chest, closed her eyes and rested her head. And then she snapped her eyes open as her mind conjured up an image of him, the look in his eyes changing from fondness to fury like the flick of a switch.
Sliding off the bed, she walked across to her mirror, her arms wrapped about herself as she examined her reflection. She couldn’t believe how stupid she’d been. How utterly naive. How badly she’d misjudged people. She hadn’t listened to her mum or her dad, just made assumptions and then charged off to nurse her own wounds. She’d listened to Paul Radley instead, been impressed by him, completely taken in by him. She wasn’t sure she could ever trust herself again. She’d acted like a moody, selfish brat. And there she’d been yelling at her mum and dad because she’d wanted to be treated like an adult.
‘Knock, knock,’ her mum said behind her, tapping on the open door. ‘Penny for them?’ she asked, coming to place an arm around her shoulders.
‘Just thinking.’ Sophie shrugged.
Her mum eyed her warily. ‘About?’
Sophie hesitated, and then decided that maybe getting through this together meant being truthful with each other whatever. ‘That maybe I’m not as mature as I thought I was.’
Her mum moved around her. ‘We go through life growing up, Sophie, trust me. Learning from our mistakes. And we all make them. My gran used to say something, I don’t think I really got it until I’d suffered true loss, but when I was young, crying over something or other, she used to say, “Beautiful things make life worth living. Pain and sorrow turns to wisdom in time.” I think she was right. If you’re beating yourself up because you’re imagining any of what happened is your fault, then don’t. You have nothing to reproach yourself for.’ She locked her eyes firmly on hers. ‘You’re fine just the way you are: individual, quirky, caring and beautiful. You make my life worth living. Okay?’
Sophie’s mouth twitched into a smile. ‘You forgot the super-intelligent and hugely talented bit.’
‘And that.’ Smiling back, her mum took hold of her shoulders. ‘You’re okay, Sophie. A normal, well-balanced teenager.’
‘Apart from the odd moody moment,’ Sophie pointed out.
‘Um, well, there are those.’ Her mum furrowed her brow and then laughed. ‘They’re normal, Sophie. Allowed. It’s called being human. Trust me, you’re an extremely loving and much loved person,’ she said forcefully. ‘I’ve loved you from the second I felt you growing inside me. I love everything that you are. And what you are is good, through and through. No one can take that away from you. The only thing people can rob you of, if you let them, is your confidence. Don’t let him do that, Sophie.’
Sophie nodded, but dropped her gaze. She was trying, but she just didn’t feel confident any more. Her mum had done it though. Somehow, she’d managed to find the strength to move on with her life, despite what had happened to her at the freak’s hands. She hadn’t been honest with Justin, something she clearly bitterly regretted, but she’d always been there for him. For her, too. Maybe her great-gran’s saying was right. Her mum had learned from her mistakes. Sophie would do the same. She would certainly be wiser in future and value those people who really did love her.
‘Did he mention your surprise?’ her mum asked her.
Sophie looked back up at her curiously.