Kimberley Chambers 3-Book Collection: The Schemer, The Trap, Payback. Kimberley Chambers

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      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, have you rung the police?’ Tammy asked again.

      ‘I rang them about an hour ago and they said that they would send someone round, but they haven’t yet. They asked where Wayne had been and when I said he had been out on his stag night, I’m sure they were laughing at me.’

      ‘What about Angie? Have you got an address for her yet?’ Tammy asked. Steph had told her on the phone what Barry had said to Pam.

      ‘No. My mum’s been trying to ring her all morning, but Angie’s phone is still switched off. We don’t have an address for her or a home number, but Mum reckons the police will be able to trace her because she must have registered her mobile phone at her new address. What about your sister, Tam? Can’t you ring her and see if she can help us? I’m at my wits’ end, I really am.’

      Tammy’s sister and brother-in-law were both in the police force, but had recently moved to Colchester. ‘Worse comes to the worst, I’ll give my sister a bell, but I doubt that she will be able to do much, mate, as she is working at a station out in Essex now. See what the Old Bill say when they come round, but I don’t believe for a minute that your Wayne would run off with Angela. I reckon Barry’s got something to do with his disappearance, you mark my words.’

      Steph put her distraught head in her hands. ‘But why would Barry have agreed to come to the wedding if he hated Wayne’s guts? And why would he turn up round here yesterday and be so helpful and nice?’

      ‘Because he is bloody clever, Steph. I never liked Barry Franklin that much, even when we were at school, and I wouldn’t trust the bastard as far as I could throw him now.’

      ‘You never said you didn’t like him at school,’ Stephanie replied. Her mind was all over the place and she really didn’t know what to think any more. Her mum seemed to think that the sun shone out of Barry’s arse, and she was rarely ever wrong about anyone.

      After buying the children a bag of goodies, Pam stopped at the nearest phone box. ‘Hold Tyler’s hand and go and play on that bit of green with him,’ she ordered Dannielle and Aidan. Pam rang Cathy first, explained what had happened, and was relieved when her friend said that she was on her way over. Pam then rang Linda and explained Wayne’s disappearance to her.

      ‘I’m gonna kill that fucking Angela. Don’t you dare have no more to do with her after this, sis. I think me and Keith should come over. Steph will need her family around her.’

      ‘OK,’ Pam said. She ended the call, then tried Angela again. She was surprised when her daughter actually answered. ‘Where the hell is Wayne?’ Pam screamed psychotically.

      ‘How the hell should I know where Wayne is? I take it you’ve heard that he came to my club, then?’

      ‘This ain’t funny, Angela, so don’t you dare lie to me. If Wayne is there with you, you have to tell me now because Stephanie has just called the police.’

      ‘Called the police! What the fuck you on about, Mum? Wayne ain’t with me. I saw him at the club, briefly, and that was it.’

      Pam sighed. Her youngest daughter had always been an extremely convincing liar, and Pam could never tell if she was pulling a fast one or not. ‘If you are telling the truth, Angie – and with your track record, I very much doubt it – then you’d best get yourself round to your sister’s house and tell her and the police exactly what happened.’

      ‘What do you mean, what happened? All I did was go to work, felt ill, and came back home. Yes, Wayne was there on his stag do, but I barely spoke to the bloke for more than five minutes.’

      With the pips going, Pam quickly stuffed some more coins into the slot. ‘Barry said you chatted to Wayne for ages, and he said that you and Wayne disappeared at the same time. СКАЧАТЬ