Read Online No Child of Mine by Susan Lewis - Free Book Online Page B

apparently she’s a bit of a nutter who tried to cause trouble for him at his previous school. He was pretty upset, actually, because he thought he’d managed to shake her off by moving here, but it seems she’s managed to track him down again.’
    As Alex moved away, back to her desk, Tommy said to Ben, ‘Well, just make sure you do everything by the book, you can never be too careful,’ and waving him on he went after Alex. ‘Polly Prince,’ he said, returning her to the subject. ‘I’d go with you myself if I wasn’t going to be on this training course for the next two weeks.’
    Alex looked stricken. ‘You’re away for two whole weeks?’ she protested.
    ‘Tell me that’s not true!’ Saffy Dyer piped up from the next desk. ‘Tommy, you can’t abandon us for that long, we’ll be in chaos by the time you get back. Or jail, if Wendy’s planning on running things.’
    ‘Ssh,’ Tommy warned, glancing over his shoulder as several others laughed. ‘She’s in there,’ he told Saffy, keeping his voice down.
    ‘Let it rip,’ Alex advised Saffy. ‘Anyway, it’s me she’s always got it in for, and this proves it, landing me with the Princes.’
    ‘Oh, bad luck,’ Saffy sympathised.
    ‘Sort someone out to go with you,’ Tommy told her.
    ‘Hang on, before you go, has the doctor told the family that he’s been in touch with us again?’ Alex asked.
    ‘He knows the procedure, so I’m sure he has.’
    ‘Great,’ Alex muttered. ‘So when I drive on to the estate to take Daniel home, if any of the Princes see me they’re going to think I’m about to make an unannounced visit and probably rip my car to bits before I can even get out of it.’
    Not denying the possibility, Tommy said, ‘The best way round that is to set-up an appointment with them beforeyou go to get Daniel. That way, if they do see you today, they won’t be expecting you to drop in on them.’
    ‘Oh, that makes me feel so much safer,’ she retorted drily. ‘So who’s up for coming with me?’ she asked, looking around, and gave a splutter of laughter as everyone ducked.
    As Ben came walking back with his tea, Alex’s eyes went to Tommy.
    He was smiling blandly.
    ‘Don’t even think it,’ she warned. ‘You sent him with me the other day ...’
    ‘There wasn’t anyone else,’ he murmured, pressing down on her shoulder to stop her going off like a firework.
    Since Tommy was fully aware of what a liability Ben could be in certain situations, not to mention how he always managed to get out of the paperwork, Alex felt reasonably confident Tommy wouldn’t inflict him on her again, at least not for a while. ‘I have to go,’ she said, starting to pack her bag.
    ‘OK, don’t forget we’ve got a core meeting this afternoon for Hamish Gingell,’ Tommy reminded her as he started back to his office. ‘Ben, have you entered that call in the log, the one about the kid on North Hill?’
    ‘Just doing it,’ Ben shouted back impatiently.
    ‘Are either of Hamish’s parents going to be there?’ Alex called out before Tommy could disappear.
    ‘The mother, apparently. Dad’s gone AWOL again.’
    Not especially surprised to hear that, since Hamish Gingell’s father was a long-distance lorry driver who had at least five other children around the country, each of them known to social services for one reason or another, Alex scrunched back her hair, made a quick check of her mobile phone and started for the door. The chances of Hamish being returned to his mother in the near future were not looking good, since he had not yet shown any signs of abandoning a longfelt desire to reunite his little sister with her Maker.
    On reaching the door she suddenly remembered she needed to set-up a visit to the Princes’ home, so with aquick pirouette she was back at her desk, searching the computer for a number.
    ‘Hello, is that Mrs Prince?’ she asked politely when a female voice answered the phone.
    ‘Who wants to know?’ came the