The day is endless. Minutes ticking past slowly and painfully. At 4 p.m., I phone Connor, he should be home from school but he doesn’t reply. I text and ask him to ring me.

By teatime, Mr Peters still hasn’t been on his rounds. Kieron is given a tray with a jacket potato heaped with grated cheese that hasn’t properly melted, with slices of overripe tomatoes, soft and squidgy, and pale-green iceberg that’s lost its crunch. He’s still eating when Aidan arrives.

‘Hey, buddy!’ Aidan high-fives Kieron. ‘You coming home today or what?’

‘I don’t know.’ Kieron looks questioningly at me.

‘I’m not sure.’ Impatience creeps into my voice. ‘Dr Peters hasn’t been round yet so it will likely be the morning now. Have you seen Connor today?’

‘Not since he left for school. He’ll be at home now.’

I usher Aidan away from the bed, out of Kieron’s earshot. I speak in a low voice. ‘Connor hasn’t answered my calls or replied to my texts.’

‘That’s not unusual,’ Aidan says.

‘I know but I can’t stop thinking about Tyler.’ Panic flutters in my throat. Where did he sleep last night? Where will he sleep tonight? ‘People don’t just… disappear?’

‘He might have run away?’ Aidan suggests. ‘He doesn’t get on with his mum’s boyfriend, Liam.’

‘No.’ I don’t believe that. ‘He wouldn’t miss school, he sees his exams as a way to escape. He’s set on becoming a teacher. It doesn’t make sense. It’s so worrying. I’m going to call Connor again.’

He still doesn’t reply. My chest is tight. ‘We need to make sure he’s okay. That he isn’t… that he hasn’t.’ It’s hard to breathe. Where is my son? Where is Tyler?

‘Calm down, Lucy. I can guarantee you Connor is okay.’

‘How?’ There’s a lack of concern in his tone that unnerves me. ‘How can you guarantee me that. You don’t know what’s happened to Tyler.’

‘I just know Connor, okay,’ Aidan says. ‘He’ll be in his room. His phone out of battery or on silent.’ His expression is unreadable. I have no idea whether he actually believes this or not, all I know is that I have a mother’s instinct something is wrong.

Something has happened to Connor.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Connor

Connor sits on his gaming chair in his bedroom. He doesn’t pick up his Xbox controller. He doesn’t stream Spotify. He just… sits.

Time is irrelevant and he’s not sure how much has passed before his door bursts open and his dad whizzes in.

‘Connor! Your mother is worried sick about you. She’s been trying to reach you!’