they found Stevie?’
‘Yes, I’ve got to collect him from the police station.’
‘I’ll come with you.’
‘No, you have work tomorrow.’
‘I’m coming, Mum. I won’t sleep,’ he said firmly. ‘I’ll get dressed and de-ice the car.’
‘Thanks, love. I’ll leave a note for Lucy and Paula.’
I took a sheet of writing paper from a drawer downstairs and wrote in black marker pen: Adrian and Mum have gone to collect Stevie xx. I propped it on the landing where the girls would see it if they came out of their rooms. They were sure to text or phone if they did.
Adrian appeared from his room, having thrown on jeans and a jumper, and was smoothing his hair flat. Downstairs we put on our coats and braced ourselves for the cold night air. We made as little noise as possible as we scraped the frost from the windows of the car, trying not to disturb the neighbours. Once the windscreen was clear, I started the engine and drove quietly from the house. The police station where Stevie had been taken was about a ten-minute drive away. The roads were virtually empty and as I drove I told Adrian where Stevie had been found and that to begin with he hadn’t wanted to return to us, but the only other option had been to go to a carer out of the county.
‘So what have we done wrong?’ Adrian asked in a deadpan voice.
‘No idea, love. But I’m sure it will come out in time.’ When a placement ends abruptly like this was going to, there is usually a placement disruption meeting to try to see if any lessons can be learnt. Sometimes carers feel it’s a witch-hunt, with the carer being targeted.
‘Perhaps it’s not us,’ Adrian said presently. ‘Perhaps Stevie’s got a guilty conscience, like he had before with those photographs.’ Stevie had told Adrian, Paula and Lucy what had happened with Joey.
‘It crossed my mind,’ I said, ‘but I would have hoped he could have told me as he did before.’
‘Unless it’s something much worse.’
I shivered, but not from the cold. ‘Like what?’ I asked, glancing at him. ‘Stevie never goes out apart from going to school and seeing his grandparents. And I’m sure he wouldn’t make the same mistake twice online.’
Adrian shrugged. ‘Unless it was something he did before he came to us and he’s only just been found out.’
How true those words would turn out to be.
Chapter Thirteen
The police station I had to collect Stevie from was open twenty-four hours, and even at 4 a.m. there were two people in the waiting area. Adrian and I went up to the counter where the duty officer was standing behind a computer screen. Adrian gave our names and said we were here to collect Stevie.
‘I’m his foster carer and this is my son,’ I added.
The duty officer tapped the keyboard of his computer and then told us to take a seat and that an officer would bring Stevie to us. The other two waiting looked as though they’d been there a while, but we’d only just sat down when a door opened and Stevie appeared with a female police officer. Dressed in his school uniform and with his head hung low, he looked guilty and remorseful. Adrian and I stood and went over.
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