Page 95 of What's the time, Mr. Wolfe
I walked upstairs to the bedrooms. As Sebastian had said, both were en-suit. One was a shower room, the other had a bath. In the larger of the two bedrooms, was a super king-sized bed with an ornate frame. I opened a wardrobe to see some of Sebastian’s clothes. I pulled out a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt. I’d wear those after I’d had a bath, I decided.
I held his clothes to my nose, there was a faint hint of him still on them. Tears pricked at my eyes.
“Only you,” I said to myself.
Only I could fall in love with someone as complicated as Sebastian.
My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I pulled it out.
“Hi, Monica,” I said, when I answered.
“Hi. Is everything okay? I had a call from the agency who said they couldn’t get access to collect the bed and things.”
“Oh, Jesus, yes.”
I told her what had happened. I didn’t tell her about Sebastian wanting to kill him, of course.
“He just showed up?”
“Yeah. Totally out of the blue. I sent him packing but I didn’t want to stay there in case her came back.”
“Where are you now?”
“I’m in Sebastian’s flat at the moment.”
“Is he with you? I’d hate you being on your own,” she said.
“No, he’s at his house. Monica, there’s a little more. I can’t tell you everything, but Sebastian knows him. They met when Sebastian was in prison, a juvenile place. He was involved in kidnapping children andsellingthem on.”
“Who? Sebastian?”
“No. My... him.” I wouldn’t use the word,father.
“What? Bloody hell, Ruby. Are you sure?”
I sighed. “Yes. I saw a folder on him, and his photograph was on the front. I... I don’t know how to process this right now, which is why I came here.”
“Do you want company?” she asked.
“I’m fine. I’m going to have a bath, and just chill out. I’ll order in a takeaway.”
“I can’t believe this.”
“Neither can I. I don’t know if my parents were even my parents,” I said, quietly.
“Oh, Ruby. Oh, baby girl. Please let me come over.”
“Honestly, I think I need to be on my own and process this,” I said. “What if I was one of the kidnapped kids?”
“I don’t know, Ruby. I mean, we can do DNA testing, I guess. You’d need something from your grandmother, I’d assume.”
I hadn’t thought about that, and it was a good idea. Or was it? Did I want to open that can of worms?
We said goodbye and I promised I’d call her if anything happened overnight, and that we’d speak the following day.
I pulled up a food delivery app and then realised, I had no idea of the postcode. I texted Sebastian.
Hi, I’m sorry to bother you. I need the full address here; I want to order some food in for tonight. I’m going to take a bath. I found some of your clothes that I’m going to wear. They still smell of you, and I’m glad. I miss you already. I’ve also had a thought. I don’t know how to go about this, but I need to get something from Grandma to see ifI’m a DNA match. Will you help me? Ruby xxx
