Free Promise by Sarah Armstrong Page A

Charlie.
    ‘Just close your eyes and have a little nap, then.’
    She followed the truck through the traffic lights. She may well look back on these moments and regret not turning around, but this was the only way she knew to make sure Charlie didn’t end up like that little boy in Newcastle. If she thought about that little boy, it wasn’t so hard to keep driving. She just had to find somewhere safe for her and Charlie to be for a few days, just long enough to draw attention to Charlie’s case. Anna would be in the shit, but Charlie would be alive.

Chapter Eight
    O nce she got onto the M5, she’d have a straight shot west out of the city. She pulled up at another set of lights, and glanced in the mirror for Harlan’s black ute.
    Her phone rang. It was Dave. She let it ring. She shouldn’t talk to him. But she wanted to hear his voice.
    ‘Hi,’ she said.
    ‘Hey, darling. How are things over there?’ He’d only just started calling her darling. He had jazz on in the background.
    The light turned green and she accelerated. If she told him what she was doing, he’d have to report it, surely. She should hang up.
    ‘Are you driving?’ he asked.
    ‘Yeah . . . I’m leaving town for a while.’
    ‘What do you mean?’
    She turned to check on Charlie, who was fast asleep on her side, her mouth open and slack.
    ‘Well, I have the little girl from next door in my car. This afternoon the stepfather was hanging her upside-down and shaking her really hard. And she told me that he put her head down the toilet and flushed it, that night we went over.’
    ‘He did that the night we went over?’
    ‘Yeah. That’s why she had a towel on her head. And he threatened me today. He threatened you too, for calling the cops. And FACS are
bloody
useless.’
    Tears filled her eyes. ‘I was so scared, Dave. I thought he was going to hurt me. And I called FACS just now, and I called them last night as well, and
nothing happens
.’
    She was talking too loudly, and glanced back to make sure she hadn’t woken Charlie. ‘I’m afraid she’ll be killed. I really am. You saw the guy.’ She tried not to let Dave hear that she was crying.
    He exhaled slowly and she felt him measuring his words.
    ‘Yeah. I saw him. And you’re right, he’s . . . a mad fuck. But Anna.
Anna
. You
cannot
just abduct someone else’s child. So is she in the car with you now?’
    ‘Yes.’ She wanted him to say that she’d done the right thing.
    He sighed. ‘Oh, shit. Abducting a child is a serious offence. Darling, pull over. Just pull over for a few minutes so we can talk about it. There will be another way for us to sort this out.’
    ‘I know it’s big. I know it’s serious, but I’m not pulling over. We’ve already called all the right people and they’re not doing anything.’
    ‘Well, maybe they haven’t had a chance to do anything yet.’
    ‘You’re the one who said that some kids weren’t visited after seventeen phone calls.’
    ‘Come here. Bring her to my place. We’ll handle it together.’
    The idea of having Dave at her side was so appealing.
    He said, ‘We’ll go down to Bondi cop station and we’ll do what we can to get her into care. That’s what you want, isn’t it? To get her away from the father.’
    ‘
Step
father.’
    She stopped behind a line of traffic and peered ahead to read the sign. Foreshore Rd. She pulled into the right lane.
    ‘Where are you?’ he asked.
    ‘Just heading out of the city.’
    ‘So how long are you planning to abscond with her for?’ he said. ‘What’s your plan?’
    ‘Just long enough to get attention to her case. I just want to keep her safe from him.’
    ‘And if the girl is the actual evidence of the abuse . . .’ he spoke slowly, ‘then you are removing the evidence. What you’re doing’s brave and honourable but it’s also going to fuck up your life. Trust me, you do not want to end up in jail. Bring her here and we’ll take care of it together.’
    Jail. That really