Page 22

My heart is hammering in my chest as Nolan leaves the room. I have no idea who he’s calling.

“Who’s Puff?” Mrs Sinclair asks.

“My neighbour at the caravan park.”

“What an unusual name,” she says.

Mr Sinclair speaks next, “You live in a caravan park?”

“Yes, I do,” I answer, shuffling in my seat. “And her real name is Mabel. Nolan and I busted her leaning out the window of my van, smoking while she was watching Jonah, and your son gave her the nickname Puff the Magic Dragon.”

Mrs Sinclair clutches her non-existent pearls. “She was smoking around the baby?”

“It all makes sense now,” Bennett mumbles to himself.

“What does?” I ask because I have no idea where any of this is going.

Are they going to surrender me to the police?

Will I be forced to go back to Queensland?

Is Jason going to take Jonah away from me?

Bennett’s eyes meet mine. “Nolan was going on about Puff the Magic Dragon and marshmallow hands this morning. I thought he was high.”

“Nolan would never take drugs,” his mother says, coming to his defence.

“He gives everyone nicknames,” Poppy adds.

My head spins as I begin to internally spiral. Mrs Sinclair must notice because she reaches over and gently places her hand on top of my bandaged one. “Are you okay, sweetheart? You look like you’re about to pass out.”

“I-I.”

As I try to string two words together, Nolan re-enters the room, and I turn towards him, desperate for answers. “I’ve received a notification from the camera at my front door. The detectives just left my place.”

“Did Mabel tell them I was staying with you?”

“No. I’m guessing something flagged in the system when we did our statements together at the station earlier.”

“Can somebody explain to me what’s going on?” Mr Sinclair asks as Nolan retakes his seat beside me.

He opens his mouth to reply, but I place my bandaged hand on top of his. “Let me,” I say.

I don’t owe these people an explanation, but if I tell them about my past and the whole sorted mess, they may not turn me in.

“I’m gathering from what you’ve said, you don’t want to be found,” Bennett voices as he leans forward in his chair and steeples his fingers.

“No, I don’t. Jason didn’t even want Jonah; he’s just using him to get at me.”

He nods. “You can’t go back to Nolan’s then. The police may show up again.”

“She can stay here,” Mrs Sinclair offers.

“They might come here looking for her next, especially since they believe she’s with Nolan,” Bennett says.

“Good point,” Mr Sinclair admits. “We need to think this through properly. The last thing we want is to put Daisy and Jonah somewhere they can be found.”

“We can put them up at my grandparents’ house,” Poppy says. “Nobody is going to look for them there.”