Gone Read Free Page A

KEEP OUT!
    It was one of those tacky signs bought from a souvenir shop in a crappy holiday town – Whitley Bay or Scarborough. He remembered seeing it all those years ago. She was embarrassed by it. It was loose on one corner where she’d tried to pull it off. Lucas pushed open the bedroom door and went inside. Nothing had changed except for a hint of mustiness, the way the box of Christmas decorations smells when you get them out of the loft. The smell of her cheap body spray was long gone.
    Lucas sat down on the bed. He remembered touching her. How she’d pulled away from him, scared her dad would come home, scared he’d hear. She thought she was a bad girl but she couldn’t quite follow through.
    He looked at the headboard. Still covered in stickers of the Spice Girls and Take That. Some half peeled away when her tastes had changed. He could still see her huddled against it, wondering if she’d made a mistake saying she wanted to leave it all behind.
    Lucas walked to the window and looked down the street. It was raining again, a cold sleet, coming down almost horizontal. He opened a box on the windowsill, full of jewellery and loose change. He rummaged around and pulled out a familiar silver locket. The one she’d rejected. He wrapped it around his fingers before slipping it into his pocket.
    He could hear movement downstairs. Closing the jewellery box, he slipped out of the room and headed back down to Emma’s father, who was standing by the fireplace, holding a photo of the family on holiday. He seemed oblivious to Lucas’s return.
    Lucas cleared his throat and Ray turned. ‘I’m sorry to have bothered you,’ he said.
    Ray shook his head. ‘All this time and I never thought she was dead. I thought I’d know. I’d feel it here,’ he said, moving a shaky hand to his chest. He drifted off and looked at the clock above the fireplace. Lucas glanced at the clock and realised it bore no resemblance to the actual time. He wondered how long to let the old man talk before leaving. ‘Even when he didn’t come, I thought maybe—’
    ‘He?’ Lucas said. Had Emma found someone else?
    Ray frowned, his train of thought gone.
    ‘You said when he didn’t come.’ Lucas waited for the old man to recall his words, convinced the old guy was batty.
    Ray nodded and pointed at Lucas again with his unsteady hand. ‘Yes. The man who came before. He’d come and tell me my Emma was okay. He helped her out.’
    ‘Who?’ Lucas asked.
    ‘He’d come and tell me she was doing okay and would be back soon. He was nice, a friendly sort. He’d tell me not to worry. I thought she’d gone like the first time, but he brought a letter from her. I don’t know.’ Ray looked around as if trying to place where he’d put it. ‘And then the last time . . . I waited and waited and I started to think something bad could’ve happened but I didn’t feel it. I thought I would but I didn’t. I always thought—’
    ‘Who was he? The man who came?’
    ‘Oh, I . . .’ Ray shook his head and tapped his fingers on his lips. ‘Oh, what was his name? Damn and blast. I should remember.’ He shook his head again. ‘He came from the clinic. He was helping her with her problem.’
    Lucas felt something stir inside him. He’d been there, at her house. Where else had he been? What else did he know?
    Ray shook his head again, trying to shake free the memory. Lucas offered Ray his hand. ‘Again, I’m very sorry about your daughter,’ Lucas said, and Ray thanked him. With obvious effort he walked Lucas to the door. Lucas said goodbye and walked down the path.
    ‘Ben!’ Ray shouted behind him. Lucas turned. ‘The man from the clinic. His name was Ben.’
    But Lucas already knew who he meant. Knew the prick who’d been hanging around Emma like a bad smell, trying to get between them. But how much did he actually know?
    Maybe it was time to get reacquainted with Ben.

Chapter 4
     
    13 December 2010
     
    Gardner closed one eye and