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

      CHAPTER THIRTY

      As the weeks turned into a month and there was still no news of Wayne’s whereabouts, Stephanie began to lose all hope of finding her fiancé alive. The police had sent one of their trained counsellors around to speak to her and prepare her for the worst, but Steph had found the experience extremely upsetting and had refused to have any more to do with the counsellor afterwards. In Stephanie’s eyes, the constabulary had not pushed the boat out as much as they could have to find Wayne. They had appealed for information via a local newspaper, put posters up around Soho, and had interviewed Wayne’s employees, friends and family numerous times, but other than that they had done very little else. Stephanie wasn’t stupid and she knew what the police thought had happened. Wayne had told numerous friends and his grandparents of the debt he had got himself into, and the police had already insinuated that they believed the pressure of losing his business and the cost of the wedding might have tipped Wayne over the edge – so much so that he had taken his own life. Wayne’s GP had also verified that Wayne had been to visit him twice in the month before his disappearance and he had been extremely anxious and depressed. His GP had also said that Wayne had spoken about having suicidal thoughts, which in the eyes of the police made their theory more probable than ever.

      Stephanie had learned the art of holding her emotions within herself. Smashing and ripping things up was not going to make Wayne walk back through the door and she had needed to get her act together for the sake of the kids. Her doctor had prescribed her some sleeping pills, and since Steph had been taking them she had behaved much more rationally. This had obviously rubbed off on Dannielle, as her daughter now seemed brighter and far less clingy. As for Tyler, he was in a little world of his own, and since Steph had been taking him to the park on a regular basis, he hadn’t mentioned his father at all.

      Tammy still insisted that Wayne’s disappearance had something to do with Barry Franklin, but Stephanie didn’t believe so. Since her mum had gone back to live at her own house just over a fortnight ago, Barry had become Stephanie’s rock. Every day he popped round to help her with the kids and give her some moral support, and Steph didn’t believe his kindnesses were the actions of a guilty man. Tammy, on the other hand, had been of little help. She was so busy working and planning her new life in Spain with Richard, that Stephanie had barely seen her best friend. Tonight, however, they were going out for a farewell meal together. Tammy was moving abroad next week, so it would be the last get-together they would have for God knows how long. In a way, Steph was pleased that she and Tammy had drifted apart over the past six months or so. Tammy’s high-flying career, then meeting Richard, had spelt an end to their regular routine of spending lots of time together, and in a way it kind of made Tammy’s departure easier for Stephanie to deal with.

      Hearing the phone ringing, Stephanie dashed into the lounge to answer it. When Wayne had first gone missing, her heart had leapt every time the bloody thing had rung, but as the weeks had passed, Steph refused to build her hopes up any more.

      ‘All right, darling? How are you today? I bet you’re looking forward to your night out with Tammy, aren’t you?’ Pam asked her daughter.

      ‘Not really, Mum. It’s another person I’m losing and I know it’s gonna be sad.’

      ‘Now don’t think of it like that, love. I’m sure Tammy will want you to visit her regularly in Spain, and a couple of holidays a year in the sunshine will do you the world of bloody good.’

      ‘What am I meant to travel out there with, Mum? Shirt buttons? Apart from the few grand that I have in my bank account, I’m penniless, and I’ve only got three months left in this place until I’m turfed out. I can’t work because of Tyler, so it looks like I’ll be going cap in hand to the council and the social soon, unless a miracle happens,’ Stephanie reminded her mother. Wayne had paid the first six months’ rent up front for their house in Chigwell, but after that she was in shit street.

      Pam sighed. Being a loving mother, it was her duty to help her children in any crisis which might befall them in life, but for once she was stumped on how to help Steph. The mystery of Wayne’s disappearance had ripped the heart out of her beautiful daughter’s life, and for once there was sod all that Pam could do to rectify the situation. ‘What time you dropping the kids over to me, love? And don’t be worrying about picking ’em up early tomorrow – I’ll cook a nice roast dinner for ’em. I can do you a little dinner if you want as well?’

      ‘Don’t worry about cooking for me, Mum, but it’d be great if you can keep the kids until late afternoon tomorrow. Barry’s gonna take me out for lunch. He said it will cheer me up after saying goodbye to Tammy tonight.’

      ‘Aw, that’s kind of him.’

      ‘I’ll bring the kids over as soon as the police have been and gone. They’re popping round in a minute to drop the bits off they took from the house,’ Steph told Pam. The police had taken several pieces of paperwork and Wayne’s mobile phone to see if they could find any clues as to what might have happened to him.

      ‘Will you be OK speaking to the police on your own? Or is Barry gonna be there with you?’ Pam asked, worriedly.

      ‘Barry’s going over to Dagenham to see Wayne’s grandparents again. He said they’re a crafty pair of old sods and might know more than they’re letting on. He reckons they must know where Wayne’s dad is in Greece, but there’s no way that Wayne can have gone there as he never had his passport with him. Anyway, he would never just leave me and the kids in the lurch. Even the police said that Wayne had told everybody they had spoken to how much he loved his family.’

      Pam didn’t know what to think. Barry had spoken to her on the quiet and he believed that there was no way in the world that Wayne would take his own life. ‘Between me and you, I reckon he’s done a runner,’ Barry had said.

      ‘I’d better go now, love. Aidan’ll be here soon and I want to get me housework done first. I’ll see you later on.’

      Barry walked up to the bar to buy Wayne’s grandparents another drink. He had known Doris and Bill since he was a kid, and rather liked them, therefore had delivered his ‘concerned friend’ act with absolute precision. Barry hadn’t asked all the questions he had told Stephanie he was going to but, over lunch with her tomorrow, he would pretend that he had. Barry put the two pints of Guinness down on the table, then shook Bill’s hand and kissed Doris politely on the cheek.

      ‘Ain’t you having another one, son?’ Bill asked.

      ‘Nah, I can’t. My lunatic of a mother, who has barely spoken to me for weeks, has demanded that I take her and her pal out for dinner. Bloody dreading it, I am.’

      Doris chuckled. Her and Bill had lived in Bethnal Green for years before they had moved to Dagenham and knew Marlene well.

      Bill stood up and shook Barry’s hand. ‘Well, thanks for coming to see us again, lad. Me and Doll were saying what a good bloody mate you’ve been to our Wayne, searching for him and taking care of his family like you have. We’d have liked to have got more involved, but me and Doll have never got on brilliantly with that Stephanie. Between us and the kitchen sink, we’ve never