BooksBarbecue
Back Found Save as PDF
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

Naylor would never say as much to Claire Ferrers, but Evan looks terrible. He’s pale and seems exhausted, as if he hasn’t slept for months (though Claire says he does nothing but sleep), and he looks uncomfortable in new clothes which don’t suit him, not because they’re not his size but because they’re not his age. He seems to be frozen in time as if he’s suffering from arrested development, so if Naylor didn’t know better she’d have him down as a tall-for-his-age ten-year-old. The on-trend clothes Claire has bought him – trainers and chinos and T-shirts with the right logos – look like they’re from an older brother’s wardrobe, and Evan looks fearful as a whipped dog, like he’s expecting to take a thrashing at any moment.

‘How about this one?’ asks Rose. From her upside-down vantage point, Naylor recognises Danny Stokes, who’s been inside some time, so she’s not surprised when Evan doesn’t respond. Rose turns the page again, to two faces Naylor doesn’t recognise. She’s watching Evan closely and sees him blink, a slight flutter in his eyelids she hasn’t seen before. Hagen’s noticed Evan’s reaction too, and writes something in his notebook.

‘Evan?’ asks Naylor. ‘Do you know either of these men? If you think there’s even a chance you’ve seen either of them, please tell us.’

But Evan stays silent.

‘If you can help Sergeant Naylor at all,’ Rose puts in, ‘it could go a long way towards finding whoever took you. I know it’s hard, but your evidence is very important. Very important indeed.’

Naylor looks down at the photographs: two white men, one clean-shaven and in his thirties, the other older, with lank hair and an unkempt beard. Which one prompted Evan’s reaction?

‘If you identify any of these men, I guarantee we’ll keep you safe from them,’ says Rose. ‘They can’t hurt you any more, sweetheart. We’re all here to protect you.’

Evan looks at her, and there’s a cynicism in his eyes it disturbs Naylor to see. He doesn’t believe Rose, and why should he? If they were capable of protecting every child in their jurisdiction, he would never have been taken from that bus stop and subjected to the horrors he has yet to reveal.

Words are cheap, thinks Naylor. And who can blame poor Evan for being afraid to point the finger, when all it will do is bring the monsters back into his world?

SIXTEEN

SIXTEEN

29 June

‘So, says Campbell, rubbing his hands together as if he means business, but actually looking as if he’s feeling the cold. ‘What have we got?’

‘Just the car still,’ says Hagen, ‘and there’s nothing from that. Not yet, anyway.’