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

safe,’ he said, his free hand reaching out and patting the top of her head very much in the way he would a dog, not that he’d ever had much to do with animals. Despite the persistent nagging over the years, his parents had always been too busy to allow them to keep pets.

‘I’m not safe.’ She paused, dragging the back of her hand across her cheeks in an attempt to mop up her tears, her eyes two large pools of dripping sorrow in the dim beam from his torch. ‘You don’t understand and I can’t tell you. It’s bad enough that I know. If they ever find out … It’s a secret that I have to keep.’

‘What secret? What is it, Ellie? I’ll help, I promise.’

But all he got for his troubles was a rod of spine as she turned to face the wall, her slight frame shaking as her tears kept falling. He continued to kneel beside the bed, watching over her as her gulping breaths slowed, the shape beneath the blanket relaxing as her breathing regulated and sleep carried her off into a world where he couldn’t protect her.

For the second time in his life Ronan was helpless as to what to do. But there was no running away from the situation. She’d chosen him; he didn’t know for what purpose. The only thing he did know was that he wasn’t about to let her down. He’d been let down too many times in the past not to have learnt from the experience.

He didn’t let his mind wander any further as he maintained his silent vigil, the carpet doing little to prevent the hard floor from piercing his bony knees. He had problems, too numerous to count and none of his own making. Perhaps he’d overreacted in running away because he was quick to realise that leaving home hadn’t changed anything. It had only delayed the time when he’d have to make some sort of decision about his future.

A tear fell and then another, tracking down his grubby cheeks but, instead of wiping them away, he let them fall. He hadn’t cried when the bullies had done their worst and he certainly hadn’t cried when the headmaster had expelled him. He’d felt cold to emotion when his father had been arrested, inured somehow from the horrors that had overtaken his family. Now when he didn’t know what to do or who to turn to, he wept.

Chapter 29

Gaby

Monday 3 August, 10 p.m. The Stevens’s property

When Gaby and Amy arrived at the house, Jason was hunched over the steering wheel of the CSI van, his eyes glued to his phone.

‘Hi there, apologies for keeping you up so late.’

He looked as bad as she felt and her night was far from over, she reflected, stifling a groan at the thought of the job application form lurking in her briefcase. ‘I’m hoping it will only take a few minutes for her to agree to the search.’ She nodded in Amy’s direction. ‘Primarily we’re interested in finding any trace of Ellie but also anything unusual, as you know.’

‘I know only too well, Gaby.’ He ran his hand through his hair, making it stand on end. ‘You think I’m the only CSI in the whole of North Wales?’

‘No, but we think you’re the best, don’t we, Amy,’ she said, sending her a brief grin.

‘Flattery will get you everywhere, not. I hope you’ve checked in with Sherlock because the way I’m feeling this is going to be triple time.’

‘You leave Sherlock to me.’ She patted his arm briefly, her thoughts turning to the DCI and what he’d think of how she was handling the situation. But the truth of the matter was she didn’t give a damn. He wasn’t the one still working at 10 p.m. No. He’d be tucked up in bed while she had the pleasure of interviewing one of the toughest women she’d ever met.

Janice Stevens was how she remembered. Perhaps a little thinner and her iron-grey hair a little longer, but to all intents and purposes she seemed the exact same as the woman she’d met earlier in the year, right down to the expression on her face.

‘Sorry for bothering you so late, Mrs Stevens, but we’d like a quick word with your eldest son, Ronan.’

‘You’d better come in.’ She closed the door behind them and directed them into the lounge. With a wave of her hand, she gestured towards the sofa while she perched on the arm of the chair opposite, her fingers laced in her lap.

‘Let’s not beat around the bush, Detective. What is it that my son is meant to have done?’

‘Nothing as yet but, as he is eighteen and an adult in his own right, I’m sure you can appreciate that it’s not something we can discuss with you?’

‘Oh, come on! You visit my home this late at night, demanding to see my son and then don’t tell me any information as to what it’s about? How do you reckon that works then? I just roll over and tell you everything you want to know without you giving me anything in return?’

If Gaby thought she was out of her depth before entering the property, now she was in full drowning mode with no sign of a lifebelt in grabbing distance. As acting DI, she had two choices. To blurt out the truth or withhold everything they had. But instead of doing either, she decided to answer Janice’s question with one of her own. After all, there was no law against leading a member of the public to reach the right conclusion all by themselves.

‘Mrs Stevens, have you heard the news today?’

‘Have I heard the news today?’ she repeated, her frown deepening. ‘In the car after picking the boys up from summer school but there was nothing—’ She broke off mid-sentence, the colour leeching from her face although there hadn’t been much colour to begin with. ‘You can’t think for one minute that my son