Lost Souls by Jenny O'Brien (android e book reader txt) 📕

drink, relishing the flavours as they took hold of her mouth and made the day start to fade under the weight of their magic. She was no wine expert and she certainly wasn’t a wine snob. She knew what she liked but tailored that with what she could afford. Her dad had introduced her to the joys of Barolo in her late teens but mostly she bought whatever was on offer in Lidl or Asda.

‘Pulled in a favour.’ He waved a hand towards the table in the kitchen and where he’d drawn it out from the wall and rounded up three mismatched chairs. ‘Take a seat. It’s only spaghetti bolognese – one of the few things I can cook apart from pizza, sausages, and mac and cheese.’

‘As long as I didn’t have to cook it! I’m sure it will be lovely; it certainly smells it.’

‘That will be the garlic bread. I hope you like chilli? Come on, Conor. Grub’s up!’

Dinner was awkward, punctuated as it was by Conor’s scowl and a discussion that skirted around the usual topic about how their respective days had gone. But the food made up for the conversation shortfall, even as Gaby tried to remember if she had any mints left in her glove compartment for the garlic overload.

Entering the lounge afterwards, she made sure to ignore her usual spot on the sofa, leaving Conor to plonk himself down beside his dad. The smile of satisfaction carved on his face caused her to catch Rusty’s eye as they both struggled to hide their amusement, although it was far from funny. Gaby’s experience of men was limited and she’d never, knowingly, gone out with somebody who’d had a child. Now she knew why. She liked Rusty for a whole gamut of reasons not least because of his frank appraising stare that told her in all the ways possible that he found her attractive despite any effort on her part. The one thing she didn’t need was a man who required her to be something that she wasn’t. She was far from glamorous and, the truth was, she was a home bird at heart who liked nothing better than curling up on the sofa with a good book. Instead of living the high life, a walk along the Welsh shoreline was as exciting as it got.

But she could well remember the insecurities she’d felt during her own childhood and she didn’t need a degree in psychology to realise how anxious his son must be feeling at the sight of the budding relationship between them. If Amy was to be believed, it wasn’t that long ago since his mother had absconded with her latest in a long line of boyfriends. But assuming the thoughts that must be rampaging through his skinny body was one thing, knowing how to tackle them as his father’s prospective girlfriend was something completely different. She was tempted to leave the boy to himself for now but that wouldn’t make the situation any less awkward. The child was bound to resent her inclusion in his father’s life and that needed careful handling.

‘Conor, I’d like to ask you something, that is, if your father will let me?’ she said, after the silence had become uncomfortable instead of relaxing.

‘Be my guest. But I’m not guaranteeing that you’ll get any kind of a sensible answer, isn’t that right, bud?’ He ruffled his son’s hair, sending her a quick glance over the top of his head, one she returned with a slight wink.

‘You know I’m a cop, right?’ She controlled her expression at the sight of Conor’s sudden interest. ‘Well, we have a bit of a puzzle going on back at the station and, as it’s to do with someone that’s near enough your age, I was wondering if you’d be able to help me solve it?’

‘What sort of puzzle?’ he said, his eyes bright under his mop of red fringe.

‘The puzzling sort. So, my question is, can you think of a reason why someone your age would run away from home without telling their sole parent where they were going?’

There was complete silence for a moment but she could tell by the frown marking his smooth forehead that Conor was taking her question seriously.

‘I’m guessing that they’ve probably run away to find the parent that’s missing,’ he said finally, returning his attention to his phone.

‘Good answer but what if the kid in question doesn’t know where to find them or even who they are? Is there any other reason that you can think of? And before you ask, she also doesn’t have any grandparents or godparents to run away to.’

She watched his head shoot up, his blue eyes rounded, his freckles in sharp relief against the pallor of his skin. He looked as if he couldn’t believe that someone his age would take such a radical step as to run away with no place to go.

‘You’re talking about this Ellie girl, aren’t you? It was on the news in the car on the way over. Dad always makes me listen.’

Gaby nodded, unprepared to expand further. The truth was, she shouldn’t have asked. He was a clever lad, a chip off the old block in addition to being in the same age bracket as the girl. She had no idea what she’d been hoping from him but his comment about Ellie’s dad had made perfect sense except for the fact that they had no idea who he was.

‘There’s only one answer then, isn’t there?’

It was Gaby’s turn to widen her eyes.

‘Something or someone must have scared her enough to make her feel unsafe.’ He turned to Rusty. ‘Dad, can we go now?’

Chapter 26

Gaby

Monday 3 August, 9.05 p.m. Rhos-on-Sea

Gaby hadn’t known what to expect when she’d invited Rusty and Conor over for a meal but them departing within minutes of finishing their dinner hadn’t been it. She half-heartedly collected up the dishes and carried them into the kitchen, her mind mulling over what she could do to