Against the Clock by John Carson (best mobile ebook reader TXT) 📕

to throw the ball. He threw it in Alex’s direction and she shouted on the big dog. He looked around and saw her and bounded over to where she was sitting on a bench.

‘Hello again, Alex,’ Katie said. ‘You’re looking well. Not long now, eh?’

‘A couple of months. I can’t wait. I just want he or she out of there so I can get my life back to normal.’

Sparky barked at Alex to throw the ball, but Chance picked it up and threw it away from the water.

‘How are you feeling, Alex?’ he asked her.

‘Tired.’ She managed a weak smile. ‘Feeling out of sorts, if I’m being honest.’

Katie sat on the bench next to her and put a hand on hers. ‘You want to talk about it?’

Alex shook her head and looked quickly in Chance’s direction.

‘Chance, would you mind taking the dog over there to play? I’m worried he’ll fall in the water,’ Katie said.

‘I’m sure he can swim,’ Chance said, grinning.

Katie made a sideways motion with her head.

‘Oh,’ Chance said, cottoning on. He took the dog further along to throw the ball.

‘Men,’ Katie said, laughing.

‘You two seem to be hitting it off. Working in different cities not getting to you?’ Alex asked.

‘No. It’s the opposite. I miss him all the time, but I throw myself into my work. And we meet up on our days off. Glasgow’s just an hour’s drive away. We each take turns.’

Alex looked at her, feeling glad the younger woman was keeping her hand on hers. It made her feel connected to somebody right now.

‘I know you’re a couple of years older than he is. Does that make a difference?’

‘Not at all. I had a couple of boyfriends before Chance, but they were nothing compared to him. I’m in love with him. But we’re taking it easy. I know he’s young and he might find somebody else –’

‘Let me put your mind at ease; he thinks you walk on water. It’s past the infatuation stage now. He loves you. It’s not unheard of, young people finding love. I think you make a good couple.’

‘You didn’t get us here to talk about me and Chance, though, did you?’

Alex shook her head and her smile dropped. For a moment, she felt like bursting out crying, but she held it together. ‘It sounds stupid when I put it into words, but Harry has a new sergeant who’s covering my maternity leave and I’m worried he’ll leave me for her. I mean, I look like a balloon, my complexion can compete with the surface of the moon, I’ll need to buy clown shoes for my swollen feet and don’t even get me started on the noises my insides are making.’

Katie laughed. ‘It’s all part of having a baby grow inside you, Alex. Your body is going through changes, temporary changes, and you’ll be back to normal in no time.’

‘You think I’m just being silly?’

‘You’re just being pregnant, Alex.’ She stood up. ‘Come on, let’s all go back to my place and have a coffee. The car is parked over on the other side of the park if you can manage that.’

‘I feel like I’ve got a spring in my step,’ Alex said. ‘But maybe I’d better stick to orange juice or something. And thank you for listening.’

‘I have to. You’re going to be my mother-in-law one day.’

Twenty-Four

Harry and Dunbar could spot the parents right away; they were the ones panicking and shouting at a couple of uniforms. DI Karen Shiels was there, with Simon Gregg.

‘She couldn’t have just walked off!’ the woman shouted. ‘Somebody took her!’

The man standing next to her looked like he wanted to add something but couldn’t get a word in. ‘Somebody took her!’ he finally managed to say, parroting his wife.

‘Oh, fuck off, you,’ she said, rounding on him, as Harry and Dunbar approached.

‘Mr and Mrs Peterson?’ Harry said.

The woman turned to him and the young uniform looked relieved. As did Lillian.

‘Try to keep calm,’ Karen Shiels said, but Nickie Peterson was having none of it.

Harry thought this might have been a pleasant Sunday afternoon, and no doubt that was the intention of the fair organisers, had it not been for the missing girl.

‘Calm? Fucking calm? My daughter’s missing and you want me to stay calm?’

‘Mrs Peterson,’ Harry said again, indicating for Karen and Lillian to step away.

‘What? Who are you?’

‘DCI Harry McNeil. DCI Jimmy Dunbar. Can you tell us what happened?’

Nickie, surprised that these high-ranking detectives had showed up, seemed to expel all the air out of herself.

‘My little girl has gone. We were all down there on the promenade, looking around the stalls, and Abi wanted a goldfish.’ She looked at her husband. ‘It would have got on well with him, since they both have the same fucking attention span.’

‘I said I was sorry,’ Colin Peterson answered.

‘Sorry? It was an easy job you had, looking after our daughter, but oh no, you had to walk along the promenade to Cramond to have a few beers and no doubt ogle some lassie in a skirt.’

‘Och, leave it out. She was fine. There was a bunch of them. Three of us went along for a couple of jars, that’s all. And we did not ogle some lassie. Christ, what do you take me for? Some perv?’

‘No, just a red-blooded man. Can’t take your eyes off some women.’ Her face was flushed.

Colin shook his head and turned away from his wife.

‘We need to focus here,’ Dunbar said, and his voice had an edge. ‘All this bickering isn’t going to help us find your daughter, and right now we need your help.’

‘Fine,’ Nickie said, tears running down her face.

Harry saw a divorce on the cards for the two at a later date, accelerated if they didn’t get the little girl back.

‘How old is she?’ he asked.

‘Eight.’

The number made Harry feel cold inside. Eight. The same age that Zoe Harris had been when she was snatched.

‘And you’re sure she wouldn’t have gone with her friends somewhere else?’

‘Her