The Missing Husband. Amanda Brooke

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СКАЧАТЬ Is anything missing?’

      ‘You mean you haven’t gone through my knickers drawer yet?’ she asked, raising an eyebrow. The comment broke the tension and she relaxed a little. ‘I’ve done this already, Steve, and no, nothing is missing.’ She held back from telling him about the passport because the last thing she needed was someone else rejoicing at the possibility that David had deserted her. She still couldn’t believe it of him, not really, and yet she wouldn’t consider anything else. Her eyes darted to the world map that was David’s pride and joy as if it could provide the answers. It covered almost one entire wall and was peppered with a dozen green pins marking all the places they had been and a scattering of red ones to pinpoint destinations that David still planned to visit. The pin piercing the ‘San’ in San Francisco burned red, searing Jo’s conscience.

      ‘I’ve gone through every drawer, every file, even the ones on his computer but there’s nothing.’

      Steve shook his head. ‘There must be something.’

      ‘I know everything there is to know about David.’ The statement was meant to give her courage but instead it knocked Jo off kilter. They lived and worked together but there was a healthy degree of separation too. Right now it felt like a chasm. ‘Or at least I thought I did.’

      Steve came forward and without invitation wrapped his arms around her. She wanted to push him away, still annoyed that he had invaded her privacy but her need to feel a pair of arms around her was too strong. She closed her eyes and tried to imagine it was David holding her but as she inhaled, the tenuous connection was severed by the pungent smell of another man’s aftershave. Repulsed, she pulled away.

      ‘We’ll find him,’ Steve promised. ‘Let’s go downstairs, shall we, before Mum thinks we’ve gone missing too?’

      ‘I’d prefer it if you asked before rooting through my things next time,’ Jo said acidly in case he was under the impression he was forgiven.

      ‘Sorry, I was just so desperate to find an answer. I can’t sit back and do nothing.’ They were heading downstairs now and as they reached the bottom, Steve stopped her in her tracks. ‘Why didn’t you phone the police straight away, Jo?’

      ‘Sorry?’

      ‘I mean, if it was me, the first thing I would have thought was, and I hate to say it, that something bad had happened. You were expecting him home and he didn’t make it. What did you think had happened if you didn’t think it was something bad?’

      Jo looked at Steve as she considered her answer. His face was the picture of innocence but she didn’t doubt he had his own suspicions. ‘We had an argument on Tuesday night.’

      ‘About?’

      ‘Something and nothing. I wouldn’t give him a lift to the station, that’s all,’ she said although she was beginning to believe that less and less.

      ‘Something and nothing,’ Steve repeated as if he was getting a feel for the words.

      She had no idea how much David had told Steve about the surprise pregnancy and the friction it had caused in their marriage but she knew from experience that they would protect each other to the hilt. ‘Unless you know otherwise, Steve. If you have even an inkling of why he would do this deliberately then please, please tell me,’ she begged but Steve was already shaking his head. He reached over to give her arm a reassuring squeeze.

      ‘I’m sorry, I’m as much in the dark as you are, but I will say this: I don’t believe for a minute that Dave would ever leave you, certainly not like this and that’s a hard thing for me to say because right now I’d rather believe that he had. It has to be better than considering other possibilities. No offence meant.’

      Jo cleared her throat and gave him a weak smile. ‘None taken.’ The deep breath she took tasted of buttery pastry. ‘What in God’s name is your mum up to now?’

      The dining table had been set and three plates of warmed up steak and ale pie awaited them along with replenished cups of tea.

      ‘Irene, I’m really not hungry.’

      ‘You need to keep your strength up, if not for you then for the baby.’

      Jo wanted to say she didn’t care. Nothing else mattered except finding David but she kept her voice level and said, ‘Thank you, but what I really need is some sleep so I can gather my strength for the police interview later.’

      ‘But …’

      It would never cross Irene’s mind that Jo wanted to be left in peace. If there was a family crisis then the Taylor family pulled the yarn of their tightly knit family tighter still. It was Steve, on his best behaviour now, who took the hint. Jo could almost forgive him his previous indiscretion as he now persuaded his mum that they could make better use of their time by conducting their own investigations. Steve wanted to walk the route that David would have taken home so they could check for any signs that he might have been there. What those signs might be Jo didn’t dare imagine but she was glad of the reprieve.

      ‘OK, we’ll leave you to it, Jo,’ Irene agreed. ‘Once I’ve seen you clear your plate.’

      ‘Irene, really …’ Jo began but then pulled herself up short. There were tears welling in Irene’s eyes and in a matter of seconds she was a wreck. Her sobs were heart wrenching and she grabbed hold of Jo and clung to her for dear life.

      ‘I want my son home,’ she cried. ‘I want him home safe. I’ve lost Alan – I won’t lose David too. It isn’t going to happen. I want this to be over – now!’

      Jo had comforted Irene often enough in the long painful days after her husband’s death but as she felt the trembling, limp body of the widow in her arms, she knew she didn’t have the strength to help her now. Just the sound of Irene’s sobs was sending her emotions into free fall. She was being sucked back into the dark abyss she had struggled to emerge from the night before. She simply couldn’t bear to go through that again and looked imploringly towards Steve. He pulled his mum off her.

      ‘We’ll leave you to get some sleep,’ he said.

      Irene was still sobbing but managed to say, ‘We’ll come back later when the police are here.’

      ‘I’d rather you didn’t, Irene,’ Jo said, looking again to Steve for support. Her in-laws would begin to dissect her marriage soon enough and if she had to reveal more to the police – if she had to reveal everything they’d been through in recent months – then she didn’t want them there. ‘Right now all they need is for me to give a statement. Steph promised to come over when she finishes work so I’ll have someone with me, but I’ll be the one doing all the talking. I think that works best, don’t you?’

      ‘Jo’s right, Mum. Look how upset you are now, it’s not going to be easy tonight and like Jo says, she’ll have her sister there for moral support.’

      Except for the occasional hiccup, Irene had regained her composure. ‘Tell them to check the airports. If he’s taken his passport …’

      Jo cast her eyes down to avoid the look Steve was giving her. She felt guilty for not telling him when, in the absence of any other evidence, he had been taking her side, but then guilt was something she was more than used to.

      ‘And they’ll want to speak to me too,’ СКАЧАТЬ