Blood Ties by Sam Hayes Page B

part of the package, he accepted, but adopting a teenager was something he’d never bargained on. It was a hard task, a thankless one sometimes, but he was committed to them both forever. He dialled Erin’s number.
    ‘Fresh As A Daisy. Erin speaking.’
    Robert felt himself unfurl inside when he heard his wife’s voice. It was natural, he told himself, for suspicion to reign, even dimly, after what he’d been through with Jenna. Louisa had been right, although he’d not wanted to admit it. He had moved too fast, although if he hadn’t made a move on Erin, if he hadn’t gone back for his umbrella . . .
    ‘Hi, babe. It’s me. Can you talk?’
    ‘Yes, the shop’s clear at the moment. What’s up?’
    ‘Just run by Ruby’s year and place of birth again. The birth certificate people are having trouble finding her entry and she needs a passport to go to Vienna.’ Robert opened Tanya’s desk drawer and took out a pen. He pressed the phone to his shoulder and waited to write. ‘Erin?’
    ‘Not that again, Rob. I thought we decided we weren’t going to bother with the school trip.’
    Robert glanced at Tanya and smiled. He hadn’t meant to be so hard on her. She was a loyal employee and always willing to please. She returned his grin and began tapping away at her computer.
    ‘Bother?’ he replied in a low voice although he would have preferred to raise the volume. ‘How can you not want to bother with anything to do with your own daughter?’
    ‘Exactly,’ she said swiftly. ‘ My daughter.’
    Robert sighed. He wasn’t going into battle in front of Tanya. ‘Can you at least confirm that her birth was registered in the name of Lucas at Northampton Register Office? You said she was born there, right? School trip or not, she needs a passport. Unless you’re planning on not having a holiday ever again.’
    ‘Robert, I’ve got to go. There’s a customer. Bye.’ Erin gave a little kiss before the line went dead.
     
    Jed Bowman didn’t return to Mason & Knight. Robert spent the time he had allotted to the case reading over the sordid file. It was dragging on. He should have had this all wrapped up by now. It was textbook stuff, albeit in reverse to the usual glut of custody cases.
    Man wants sole residency rights of his two children. Wife is an alcoholic, a drug addict and clearly mistreats the children, who haven’t even been consulted about what they want. Man now has home of own and is in employment. End of story.
    ‘Yes, end of story, all right,’ Robert said to himself, leaning back. ‘If it wasn’t for bloody Jed Bowman.’ He felt stupid when he saw Tanya standing in the doorway.
    ‘There’s someone here to see you, Mr Knight. Mary Bowman.’
    Robert slid swiftly from behind his desk and shut the door. ‘Mary Bowman, as in Jed’s soon-to-be ex?’
    ‘The very one.’ Tanya looked rather proud. She enjoyed a fuss.
    ‘Did she say what she wanted?’
    ‘Just that she had to see you. Shall I show her in?’
    Robert hesitated. Den wasn’t back from his meeting yet and if Tanya wanted to keep her job then she knew to keep quiet. Robert was fully aware of the ethics involved, especially without Jed present. But off the record, as a compassionate human being who sensed that something was very amiss, where children and their future happiness were at stake, Robert was compelled to hear what Mary Bowman had to say. Fleetingly, he thought of Ruby.
    ‘Bring her in.’
    Mary was small. Five foot three at most. She was wearing an old-fashioned beige and blue crimplene dress. Robert recalled his mother in something similar, which added about twenty years, Robert reckoned, to her three and a half decades.
    Mary’s small face was mostly obscured by a pair of large black sunglasses, also outdated in style, and a frame of mousy, shoulder-length hair of no particular cut. She had obviously tried to dress up for the occasion but the overall effect was that of a woman who had little money, little self-esteem