They sat there, silent. And Pip could hear something hiding beneath the silence, an imperceptible hum in her ears.
Nothing they’d found could disprove it.
Stanley mentioned being twenty-five in an article about house prices four years ago for the Kilton Mail, placing him right within the correct age range. He didn’t seem to have any personal social media profiles, which ticked another box. And something else Pip recalled, from last Sunday morning:
‘He doesn’t always recognize his own name. I said “Stanley” last week and he didn’t react. His colleague says he does it all the time, has selective hearing. But maybe it’s because he hasn’t had this name long, not as long as he lived with his original name.’
And they’d agreed; there were too many signs, too many coincidences for it not to be true. Stanley Forbes was Child Brunswick. He’d told his friend, Howie Bowers, who then turned on him, used the secret to extort money from him. Howie told his new cell mate, who told his cousin, who told his friend, who then put the rumour on the internet. And that’s how Layla Mead, whoever she was, whatever she wanted, found out that Child Brunswick was living in Little Kilton.
‘So, what does this mean?’ Connor said, opening a tear through the thickening silence.
‘If Layla had narrowed her Child Brunswick suspects down to two,’ Ravi said, talking with his fingers, ‘and sent Jamie to confront them both that night, that means Stanley was the one Jamie met at the farmhouse where he disappeared. Meaning . . .’
‘Meaning Stanley knows what happened to Jamie. He’s the one who did it,’ Pip said.
‘But why is Jamie involved in all of this?’ Connor asked. ‘This is crazy.’
‘We don’t know that, and right now it’s not important.’ Pip stood, and the fizzing nervous energy dripped down into her legs too. ‘What’s important is finding Jamie, and Stanley Forbes is how we do that.’
‘What’s the plan?’ Ravi said, standing too, the bones in his knees cracking.
‘Should we call the police?’ Connor also stood up.
‘I don’t trust them,’ Pip said. And she never would again, not after all of this, not after Max. They didn’t get to be the only ones who decided right or wrong. ‘We need to get into Stanley’s house,’ she said. ‘If he took Jamie, or
. . .’ she glanced at Connor, ‘or hurt him, the clues to where Jamie is will be in that house. We need to get Stanley out so we can get in. Tonight.’
‘How?’ Connor asked.
And the idea was already there, like it had only been waiting for Pip to find her way. ‘We are going to be Layla Mead,’ she said. ‘I have another sim card I can put in my phone, so Stanley won’t recognize my number. We text him, as Layla, telling him to meet us at the farmhouse later tonight. Just like she must have messaged him last week, but instead it was Jamie he saw there. I’m sure Stanley wants the chance to meet the real Layla, to find out who knows his identity and what she wants. He’ll come. I know he will.’
‘You’re gonna need your own Andie Bell burner phone one of these days,’ Ravi said. ‘OK, lure him out to the farmhouse and then we all break in while he’s gone, look for anything that leads us to Jamie.’
Connor was nodding along.
‘No,’ Pip said, stalling them, drawing their attention back to her. ‘Not all of us. One person needs to run lead on the distraction at the farmhouse, keep Stanley out long enough to give the others a chance to look. Let them know when he’s on the way back.’ She met Ravi’s eyes. ‘That will be me.’
‘Pip, b—’ he began.
‘Yes,’ she cut across him. ‘I will be lookout at the farmhouse, and you two will be the ones to go to Stanley’s house. He’s two doors down from Ant on Acres End, right?’ She turned the question to Connor.
‘Yeah, I know where he lives.’ ‘Pip,’ Ravi said again.
‘My mum will be home soon.’ She closed her fingers around Ravi’s arm. ‘So you need to go. I’ll tell my parents I’m going to yours for the evening. Let’s all meet halfway down Wyvil at nine, give us time to send the message and get ready.’
‘OK.’ Connor blinked pointedly at her, then stepped out of the room. ‘Don’t tell your mum,’ Pip called after him. ‘Not yet. We keep this a
closed circle, just the three of us.’
‘Got it.’ He took another step. ‘Come on Ravi.’
‘Er, just give me two seconds.’ Ravi nodded his chin up at Connor, signalling for him to carry on down the hall.
‘What?’ Pip looked up at Ravi as he stepped in close, his breath in her hair.
‘What are you doing?’ he said, gently, flicking his gaze between her eyes. ‘Why are you volunteering for lookout duty? I’ll do it. You should be the one who goes into Stanley’s house.’
‘No, I shouldn’t,’ she said and her cheeks felt warm, standing this close to him. ‘Connor needs to be there, it’s his brother. But so do you. Your second chance, remember?’ She brushed away a strand of hair caught in his eyelashes, and Ravi held her hand, pressing it against his face. ‘I want it to be you. You find him, Ravi. You find Jamie, OK?’
He smiled at her, interlocking his fingers with hers for a long moment, outside of time. ‘Are you sure? You’ll be on your own –’
‘I’ll be fine,’ she said. ‘I’m just the lookout.’
‘OK.’ He dropped their hands and pressed his forehead against hers. ‘We’re going to find him,’ he whispered. ‘It’s going to be OK.’
And Pip, for a moment, dared to believe him
It’s Layla.
Meet me at the farmhouse at 11
: )
Read 10:18
I’ll be there.
