No you won’t, thought Harlan.
“Please, Susan. I just want to talk. Just give me five minutes. Five minutes for everything we’ve been through together. That’s all I ask.”
Susan moved slowly towards the door, as if Neil’s words were reeling her in.
“I told you I won’t give up on us. Not until you-” Neil broke off as Susan opened the door. His mouth worked silently, as if all the words he wanted to say to her were blocking each other’s way in their desperation to get out. “T…thank you,” he managed to stammer. The look of almost pathetic gratitude written across his face faded as he noticed Harlan. In its place, jealousy vied with nervous hostility. “What’s he doing here?”
“He’s stopping me from going out of my fucking mind, that’s what,” Susan said sharply. “Actually, you know what, to hell with this.” She started to shut the door, but Neil jammed his foot against it.
“I’m sorry, Susie. It’s just that I was surprised to see him. I didn’t think you’d ever let him in your house.”
“Neither did I, but things change.”
“Take your foot out of the door,” Harlan said to Neil.
“It’s okay,” said Susan, reaching for her coat. “I’m going out. I shouldn’t be long. If anyone phones-”
“I’ll call you straight away.” Harlan gave Neil a hard look of warning. The younger man’s eyes dropped away from his. Neil held his hand out for Susan, but she walked past him without taking it. Like an eager puppy, he trotted after her.
Harlan lay on the sofa. There was no sound from upstairs. The house was silent, except for the ticking of the clock. The painkillers were wearing off, but he didn’t reach for more. Instead, he focused on the pain, using it to deaden his psychological agony. Five minutes passed. Ten. Fifteen. The daylight began to drop, but still Susan didn’t return. Whatever Neil was saying, she was obviously listening. A piercing scream clawed the throat of the silence. Heart lurching, Harlan jerked to his feet. An electric shock of pain almost sent him reeling back onto the sofa. Clutching his wound, he climbed the stairs as fast as his leaden legs could manage. Another scream rang out as he entered Kane’s bedroom. The boy was laid fully clothed on his bed, eyes closed, face contorted in terror. A sheen of sweat glistened on his flushed face. Harlan shook him gently. “Kane.”
“I saw him,” Kane gasped, half-sitting up, eyes popping wide. “I saw him at the window.”
“Saw who?”
“That man from the line-up.”
“No you didn’t, you were dreaming. It was only a nightmare.”
Harlan’s words smoothed the lines of fear from Kane’s face. He dropped back onto his pillows. Harlan’s nose wrinkled at the room’s warm, mildewy air. He moved to open the window. A tang of bitumen wafted in on the cool breeze. “Are you okay now?”
Kane nodded. “Where’s my mum?”
“She had to go out. She’ll be back soon. I’ll be downstairs if you need me.”
Harlan headed for the kitchen and a glass of water. He swallowed his pills, then sat perfectly still, waiting for them to kick in. Another half an hour ticked by. A new kernel of worry began to form in his mind. Where the hell was Susan? He was about to reach for his phone to find out, when Kane rushed into the room and exclaimed, “I know who it is.”
“What do you mean, you know who it is?”
Kane’s words tumbled out in a breathless rush. “He’s the man I saw at my bedroom window.”
“You had another dream.”
Kane shook his head frantically. “I don’t mean now. I saw him there ages and ages ago. He came to fix our roof.”
Harlan frowned up at the boy. “Let me get this straight, you’re saying the man who fixed the roof two years ago is the man who took Ethan.”
“Yes.”
“How can you be sure?”
“’Cos there was the same smell then that there is now. It’s the smell I smelt on the man I saw in my bedroom. You’ve got to believe me. It’s him. He’s the one! He’s the one!”
Harlan held up a hand, palm outwards. “Okay, I believe you.” As soon as he said it, he realised he meant it. Suddenly the puzzle made sense. The smell, that was the missing piece. It was so elusive that only chance could’ve found it, so intangible that it couldn’t not be believed. That was why Nash had agreed to cooperate with the line-up, not out of some sense of guilt or some warped way of apologising to Mary Webster, but because he had no fear of further incriminating himself or Jones. He hadn’t abducted Ethan. This man, the roofer, he was the one. And Neil had brought him here. All the doubts and questions about Neil came rushing back to the surface of Harlan’s mind. Was he involved after all? And if he was, what the hell was this all about? Was it a sexual thing? No, if it was then he’d already got what he was after. He wouldn’t be pleading with Susan to take him back. As far as Harlan could see, that left only one possibility: money. If Neil was part of this, it had to be about money. Harlan suddenly found himself hoping with everything he had that Neil was part of it, because if he was, if he and this roofer had cooked up some plan to get their hands on the reward, surely that meant Ethan was still alive. “Do you remember the man’s name?”
“I was never told it.” Kane’s anxiously rounded eyes scanned Harlan’s features. “What you gonna do?”
In reply, Harlan took out his phone and dialled Jim. His ex-partner’s voice came wearily through the phone. “What is it, Harlan? I told you I’d phone if-”
“I don’t think Nash took Ethan,” interrupted Harlan.
“What the hell are you talking about? Of course he did. Why are you saying this now when we’re so close to cracking the case?”
Harlan told Jim why. Jim considered what he’d heard a brief moment, then he said, “I don’t buy it. You’re talking about a relatively common smell. Something thousands of people come into contact with every day.”
“So you’re saying this is a coincidence.”
“I…” Jim trailed off into a sigh. “Okay, point taken. I’ll have someone look into this. What’s the guy’s name?”
“I don’t know, but I can find out.”
“Well get back to me when you do. But understand this, Harlan, most of our resources are tied up investigating Nash and Jones, so it may take a few days to get round to following this up.”
“Don’t give me that, Jim. You owe me.”
“I know, and I trust your instincts more than my own. But I need more than what you’re telling me if I’m going to convince Garrett to pull manpower off our prime suspects and put them on this.”
“Fine.” Harlan’s voice rose with irritation. “You need more, I’ll fucking get it.”
“Don’t be like that-”
Harlan hung up on Jim mid-sentence. He looked at Kane. “I want you to go to your bedroom.”
“Why?”
“Just do it. And no matter what you hear, don’t come down here unless I call you. Understand?”
With sullen reluctance, Kane nodded and turned to head upstairs. Harlan dialled Susan. She answered within a ring. “What is it? What’s happened?”
“I just wondered where you are.” Harlan kept his voice carefully neutral. If Susan picked up on his anxiety, there was a good chance Neil would too. And he didn’t want to do anything that might put Neil on his guard.
“I’m heading back now. I’ll be there in a few minutes.” Susan’s voice sounded different — lighter, stronger. Harlan guessed that she’d done more than merely listen to Neil, she’d bought what he was selling.
“Is Neil still with you?”
“Yes. Why?”
“No reason. I’ll see you soon.” Harlan hung up and went through to the kitchen. He opened the cutlery drawer, chose a sharp knife with a four-inch blade and slipped it into the pocket of his tracksuit bottoms.
Chapter 21
Harlan was hunting through the cupboards for string or selotape or anything else he could use, if necessary, to bind Neil’s wrists, when the sound of the front door opening drew his attention. Susan and Neil were holding hands now. Neil was doing his best to look grave, but there was a kind of excitability about his manner, as if he could barely contain his elation at being given a second chance. Susan looked better too. For the first time in days, there was some real colour in her cheeks. Harlan felt a pang of regret that once again he was going to shake not only her trust in Neil, but her faith in her ability as a mother. If Neil did turn out to be involved, she’d probably never be able to let a man into her life again. That’d be a tiny price to pay, though, for Ethan’s safe return.