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Chapters (62)
  1. Title
  2. Copyright
  3. Contents
  4. About the Author
  5. About the Book
  6. Dedication
  7. Your Worst Nightmare
  8. ONE
  9. TWO
  10. THREE
  11. FOUR
  12. FIVE
  13. SIX
  14. SEVEN
  15. EIGHT
  16. NINE
  17. The Answer to All Your Prayers
  18. TEN
  19. ELEVEN
  20. TWELVE
  21. THIRTEEN
  22. FOURTEEN
  23. FIFTEEN
  24. SIXTEEN
  25. SEVENTEEN
  26. EIGHTEEN
  27. NINETEEN
  28. TWENTY
  29. TWENTY-ONE
  30. TWENTY-TWO
  31. TWENTY-THREE
  32. TWENTY-FOUR
  33. TWENTY-FIVE
  34. TWENTY-SIX
  35. TWENTY-SEVEN
  36. TWENTY-EIGHT
  37. TWENTY-NINE
  38. THIRTY
  39. THIRTY-ONE
  40. Somebody Else’s Child
  41. THIRTY-TWO
  42. THIRTY-THREE
  43. THIRTY-FOUR
  44. THIRTY-FIVE
  45. THIRTY-SIX
  46. THIRTY-SEVEN
  47. THIRTY-EIGHT
  48. THIRTY-NINE
  49. FORTY
  50. FORTY-ONE
  51. FORTY-TWO
  52. FORTY-THREE
  53. FORTY-FOUR
  54. FORTY-FIVE
  55. FORTY-SIX
  56. FORTY-SEVEN
  57. FORTY-EIGHT
  58. FORTY-NINE
  59. Sunlight on Water
  60. July
  61. September
  62. Acknowledgements

She lifts the cover of the file that’s on the table. Rose won’t approve of what she’s about to do, but she hopes she’ll understand the rationale behind it.

She slides a copy of Liam Keslake’s photo under Evan’s nose. Evan glances at it, then whips his head away, as if taking a sudden interest in the picture of moorland heather. But Naylor sees his eyes come back to it. Then they’re back on the floor.

‘When those men took you, Evan,’ says Naylor quietly, ‘one of the first things we did to try and find you was to put your picture everywhere we could. Newspapers, TV, magazines, everywhere we could think of. Thousands and thousands of people saw your picture, so if they got even a glimpse of you, they’d call us. This picture is of Liam, and I’m very sorry to say we believe he’s in the same place you were, not very long ago. That’s why we’re asking you again to talk to us about that place, difficult though we know it is for you to remember. Because you can do a good thing by talking to us, Evan. You might be the key to finding Liam, and to finding the men who hurt you, and if we can find them, we can punish them, and put them in jail for a very, very long time.’

She waits, and Rose waits with her. Evan doesn’t speak.

‘Please, Evan,’ says Rose. ‘Please help us. Please help Liam.’

The silence goes on, and on. Naylor is about to shake her head and signal to Rose that they should give up.

But then Evan speaks.

‘I want to help Liam,’ he says. ‘But I can’t.’

Rose meets Naylor’s eyes, signalling her to keep quiet.

‘Why do you say that, Evan?’ she asks.

‘Because if I tell you anything, my mum will know and my dad will know. They’ll know what happened. And my grandpa.’

Tears are running down Evan’s face. Rose passes him a box of tissues.

‘Is that what’s worrying you, Evan, your mum and dad knowing?’

Evan nods. ‘Mostly.’

‘Is that why you’ve been so quiet?’

He nods again.

There’s a lump in Naylor’s throat, stemming from her pity and compassion for this boy in his embarrassment, and she tries to imagine how she’d have felt at his age, with the threat of revelation of the details of the abuse hanging over her.

‘You were afraid if you spoke to them, they’d ask you about it?’

He nods.

‘Oh, sweetheart.’ Naylor can tell that, like her, Rose is aching to put her arm round Evan, but distance must be maintained.