He put an arm around his mother. ‘So, what’s going on?’

‘This note,’ Yvonne gulped. ‘Lee’s not here and I’m worried to death.’ She wiped her eyes. ‘I was cleaning his room at our house, after he’d packed up and moved here. I found this under his bed.’ Dully, she held out a crumpled sheet ripped from a spiral notepad.

Aaron, heart sinking, plucked the sheet from his mother’s fingers, reading its few lines in Lee’s loopy handwriting.

I am tormented. Feel hopeless.

Hopeless.

Hopeless.

Slowly, he folded the sheet up again, noticing, absently, that now his fingers were shaking. ‘And you haven’t seen him?’

Yvonne shook her head. ‘His van’s not here and there’s no sign of him or Daisy. He’s not answering his phone. Oh, Aaron.’ She lifted a tear-stained face. ‘It’s not … it’s not a suicide note is it?’

‘There’s no need to think that,’ Aaron reassured her automatically, even though his stomach was burning with dread because he’d wondered the same thing. ‘It doesn’t say anything to that effect. I think—’

Then the kitchen door flew back on its hinges, making Nelson erupt from his basket with a cacophonous protest. When he saw Jordy in the doorway, Nelson paused, though he continued to growl in his throat.

Aaron put a hand on his collar. ‘What’s up with you, dog? Don’t you recognise Jordy?’

Jordy stepped indoors, shutting the door with a bang, his dark eyes fixed on Aaron. ‘You knew all along didn’t you?’

‘What?’ demanded Yvonne, looking from one to the other.

Aaron met his cousin’s glare, pretty sure he knew what was coming, but he still asked, ‘About what?’

Jordy took a step nearer, making Nelson growl again. ‘That Harry thinks he’s gay with that damned Rory kid.’

Nelson’s growls rose and Aaron stroked his head. ‘It isn’t the right time for this, Jordy. Have you seen Lee today?’

‘Did you?’ Jordy shouted, his face red and sweating.

Obviously, Jordy wasn’t going to answer Aaron’s question until Aaron answered Jordy’s.

‘Yes. Harry is what he is, just like you’re what you are and I’m what I am. He has a lot of feelings for Rory. There’s nothing wrong with it.’

‘If there’s nothing wrong with it then why’s he been hiding it?’ Jordy spat.

Aaron considered his answer. ‘Because he knows you’re homophobic’ didn’t seem right. He chose a different gambit. ‘He’s still the kid you’ve always loved. You don’t want to lose his respect, do you?’

Redder and angrier than ever, Jordy snapped, ‘Haven’t seen Lee for days,’ and slammed back out, leaving Aaron shaken and Nelson hurling himself at the door with a volley of barks.

‘Oh, dear,’ sniffed Yvonne. ‘I’ve got to say it’s crossed my mind about Harry and Rory. Now Jordy’s found out I’ll bet he’s had a go at poor Harry.’

‘Yeah.’ Aaron ran his fingers through his hair, exhausted by the dramas enacted in his kitchen this evening. He had the urge to speak to Harry but the youngster could be anywhere and Aaron had a crisis to deal with. ‘Let’s try and track Lee down.’ Aaron began to ring around, drawing a blank with Mick, Rick and Nick and everyone he could think of. He rang the Roundhouse, because Clancy might know something. She could have been to the cottage to work on the website and seen Lee and Daisy. And then there was another Roundhouse occupant who might know something too. Alice. He got only the engaged signal. He tried again.