Mark’s heart sank. He wanted to be in on this case; and he didn’t want to be remembered for letting them down when they needed him. ‘Of course,’ he said. ‘It’s fine – I can do what you asked, honestly, I’ll work on it all night if I have to.’
‘Mark, I don’t think -’
‘Neil,’ Mark said, his voice so unintentionally aggressive he feared Neil might react and sack him on the spot. ‘I can do it – I’m a good way through already – further on than it looks. I’ll bring all my research in first thing tomorrow.’
Neil sighed. ‘Okay then. It looks like you’ve got a lot to deal with today, but if you’re going to do this then don’t let me down, okay? We’re out of time on this one.’
‘I won’t,’ said Mark, wondering why he couldn’t have just taken the easy way out.
Henry refused to leave the office, until Mark told him that he was taking him home to show him the Abbott research as he needed his advice. It was humiliating, addressing his father in such a condescending way while Neil and Chloe watched. Neil had wanted to help them outside, but Mark had assured him they were fine, and had managed to steer his father through to the entranceway fairly quickly, just grateful that Neil’s office was near the main doors so there wasn’t far to go or too many people to pass. With the one or two offices they couldn’t avoid, Mark had looked in and waved at his colleagues, trying to keep up the appearance of normality, though since there was a secretary in on this, the episode would be travelling through the office gossip lines faster than the speed of light once they’d left, he was sure of that.
He was bundling his dad into the taxi when he heard his name being called. He turned around to see Chloe running up to him.
She looked at Henry in the car. ‘Mark, I’m so…’
He held up his hand. ‘Don’t, Chloe.’
‘God, Mark, I’m only saying -’
‘Look, I’ve got to go.’
She put a hand on his arm. ‘Call me, if you can’t cope with the work. I’ll help you. I’ve got nothing better to do.’
He looked at her hand and then into her face. ‘I thought you had just as many problems as me at the moment.’
She stared back at him. ‘My problems seem to have walked out on me,’ she said, her mouth a tight line.
Mark’s brow furrowed as he looked at her, slowly comprehending, then he heard a groan from inside the taxi. A look inside told him his father was going a strange colour, and the driver had turned around, eyeing him suspiciously.
‘I’m sorry, I’ve got to go,’ he said, and Chloe nodded and stepped back, then turned away and walked inside.
In the taxi Mark dialled his mother’s number.
‘Mark, I’m very busy,’ she snapped as she picked up. ‘What is it?’
‘I’m with Dad,’ he said. ‘He’s not very well.’
At that point his father leaned into his shoulder. ‘Are you speaking to Emily?’ he asked.
‘He sounds drunk,’ came his mother’s waspish voice on the other end. How the hell she could tell that from just a few words overheard down a phone line, Mark had no idea. ‘Is he drunk?’
‘Mum, Dad isn’t well,’ Mark tried again.
She snorted down the line. ‘I could have told you that years ago,’ she said.
‘MUM!’ Mark’s gradually eroded patience finally crumbled. ‘Dad is sick. Something is very wrong. I am taking him back to my apartment, and I want you to come over and sort this out. RIGHT NOW! My boss is going to sack me if I don’t keep on top of my caseloads, it’s a critical time at the moment -’
‘Mark, I’m at work right now.’ His mother wasn’t one for backing out of an argument. ‘I can’t just drop everything because your father chooses to -’
‘Dad just walked into the office wearing my suit with the trousers undone, and with only one shoe on,’ Mark announced. ‘From the sopping wet sock, I think he came all the way into town like that. He’s been comatose in my bed for much of the week. I haven’t had a straight word out of him. This is not just my problem, so stop being so selfish.’
He turned around to see Henry had fallen asleep, his head lolling back, his white-bristled jaw loose and his mouth hanging slackly open.
There was a long pause on the line, so long Mark thought his mother might have hung up. Then he heard her sigh. ‘I’m on my way,’ she said, her voice flat and defeated.
67
When Amy had first seen the reports, and Alex had explained that the police had linked this case to hers, she had seemed willing to confront the situation. But now, as Alex watched Amy, he began to worry. On one printout there had been a pixellated photo of one of the men, which had left her shaky and withdrawn. Perhaps that was playing on her mind, as Alex could tell she was having major doubts now, and he didn’t know how much heed to pay them.
Besides, he was having second thoughts as well. He felt very nervous. He didn’t know if he could trust either of them to act predictably or sensibly when they got there. How would Amy cope with seeing the men who had harmed her so terribly? And how would he handle it, come to that? But not going at alclass="underline" that could be far worse, he knew, and he could not countenance it – that after all this time they would still be mired in the interminable decay of inaction.
Alex had the feeling that he was going to have to be the one to make plans. So once he had assured Amy he would be back later that afternoon, he headed outside.
As soon as he was in the fresh air he tried Chloe again: no answer on either her home phone or mobile. Where the hell was she? Desperate now, he rang the office again, and got Jana.
‘I need to find her straight away,’ he said tersely. ‘It’s urgent.’
‘I’m sorry, Alex.’ Jana sounded embarrassed. ‘She left half an hour ago with a bundle of work and said she’d be working at home this afternoon. Try her mobile.’
‘She never has it bloody switched on,’ he snapped, then added a quick ‘Sorry’ before they said their goodbyes.
Quickly, he made his way towards the station and home, dialling another number as he did so.
‘Lewis speaking,’ a voice cut in after a few rings.
‘Lewis, it’s Alex.’
‘Alex, don’t tell me you’ve finished our project already! Do you work at warp-speed?’
Alex laughed, trying not to dwell on the amount of work he had waiting for him.
‘No, Lewis, I’m ringing for a favour, actually; want to pick your legal brains. I’m following a trial that’s going on in Australia, and wondering how long it’s likely to last. I need to know the procedure for this kind of thing.’
‘Well,’ came the reply, ‘it depends on all sorts of things – amount of witnesses and evidence – could be weeks, months… What’s it for?’
‘It’s a murder case – I’ll tell you what, I’ll forward you the web link, just give me a sec.’
‘All right, mate,’ Lewis replied. They hung up, Alex fired off the message, and his phone rang a few minutes later.
‘Won’t run for too much longer, I wouldn’t think…’ Lewis said without preamble.
Alex felt his sense of urgency increasing. ‘Okay, then; thanks, Lewis. I’ll make sure I get some design considerations to you asap.’
‘No problem, Alex, thanks. Although I thought you said your wife was a solicit-’
‘Thanks again, Lewis, much appreciated,’ Alex cut in, hanging up and praying he hadn’t sounded too discourteous.
The train, as always, took its time in getting him home. As he walked up the street, his heart sank when he saw that Chloe’s car wasn’t parked outside. His suspicions were confirmed once he opened the front door. The place was dark and empty. Upstairs, her toiletries had gone from the bathroom. She was staying somewhere else.
He left her a brief note saying he was looking for her, then headed out again. His mind was working frantically as he walked back towards the station. Chloe was doing a great job of avoiding him, and he and Amy were running out of time. By the time he reboarded the train he had made a decision.