Page 8 of Her Hidden Shadow

Lauren adjusted her hospital gown and nodded. ‘Yes.’

‘Can you tell me what happened in your own words?’

‘Sienna is my best friend and by best friend, I mean we went to school together and she was like the sister I never had.’ Lauren paused. ‘I came home and got into bed in the dark. I thought Robbie was in bed but when I moved to be closer to him, I felt wetness and she was so cold. I didn’t know it was her at that point. Then I heard some noise coming from the living room, and I thought the killer was in my home. I’ve never been so scared in my whole life.’ Lauren’s teeth chattered and Gina could see her fingers trembling as she gripped the edge of the sheets too tightly.

‘Where was Robbie? You live with Robbie Shields, don’t you?’

‘Yes, and I don’t know. I thought he was at home. He said he was staying in all night while I was out. Did he come home? Can I see him? I need to see him.’

Gina swallowed. ‘We don’t know where he is, and we need to find him. Do you know where he might go? Does he have parents close by, or any friends he might be with?’

She shook her head. ‘No, he should have been at home. His car was on the drive.’

‘Would he have walked?’

‘No, Robbie never walks anywhere. Something’s happened to him.’ She gasped for a breath and sobbed. Gina passed her the box of tissues that were on the bedside cabinet.

‘Can you tell me about earlier in the evening, just before you left to go out? Was Robbie at home then?’

She sniffed and cleared her throat. ‘He stayed in the bedroom, watching TV. My friends turned up as we were all going from my place. We had a couple of drinks in the kitchen and got into a taxi about nine.’

‘Which taxi firm did you use?’

She shrugged. ‘I don’t know. Robbie booked it for me. He was going to drive us, but he said he fancied a drink instead and he would never drive after a drink.’

Great, Gina couldn’t even ask Robbie about the taxi. ‘How did he seem when you left him?’

She shrugged. ‘I don’t know. Normal, I guess. I went into the bedroom; gave him a kiss goodbye and he seemed fine. He told me to have a good time and that he’d see me later.’

Gina needed to know more about the taxi driver. ‘Tell me what happened next. How was your journey?’

‘Okay. We got there with no problems.’

‘Did the driver speak to you?’

She nodded. ‘He asked where we were going and if it was a special occasion. He said we all looked lovely and made small talk.’

‘Who else was with you?’

‘Dee and Maxine. I work with them at Hoopers. It’s a beauty outlet on the retail park. It’s a department store type shop. We all work different departments.’ Lauren stared into her hands.

Gina made a mental note to ask Lauren’s friends if they’d seen Robbie, given that he was already in bed, and she wondered if Sienna was already dead at this point. Had Sienna come over to see Robbie, thinking that Lauren had already left and had Lauren attacked her with the nail file? And what happened after? She shook that thought away for the time being. There were too many variables to make such a deduction and with Robbie Shields missing, she couldn’t ask him about the evening either. She glanced at Jacob and noticed that he was biting his bottom lip. ‘How did your night go? Did you call Robbie from the club?’

‘No, I didn’t call him. I don’t have to check in with him.’

‘I wasn’t suggesting that you did.’ For a moment Lauren looked annoyed. ‘I’m just trying to establish what happened,’ Gina added.

‘We all danced and drank a lot. It was a good night until I got home.’

‘A neighbour says that you told the taxi driver to get off you, do you remember?’

Lauren shrugged. ‘Sort of. It’s all a bit hazy. I fell asleep in the taxi and when I woke up, Dee and Maxine had already been dropped off, so it was just me in the car. I think he was trying to pull me out and I got angry with him for leaning into the passenger side to drag me. It doesn’t matter because I left him and went into the house.’

‘Your neighbour said the taxi driver pulled up a little way down the road.’

A confused look washed over Lauren’s face. She scrunched her nose. ‘I can’t properly remember. Maybe he did. I went in and I didn’t think any more of it.’

‘She said that he got out of the taxi, went up your path and was there for a short while. He then left. Do you know why he might have gone back to your bungalow?’

---