“I’m talking about Aaron. I think they’ve taken him…because I found out about Logan.”

I can see all the tiny bridges I’ve built with Nia crumble and fall on the grass between us. She’s looking at me like I’m insane.

“My brother is missing,” she says, “and you’re still talking about Amy fucking Pearce.”

Mum doesn’t respond. She’s acting like I’m speaking a foreign language.

“He’s not here!” Jay yells from behind the fence.

Nia snorts. “Your stepson thinks his girlfriend kidnapped him.”

“It’s not…” I say, but the rest of the words won’t come.

This doesn’t feel like a Sunday anymore. My head is spinning, because Aaron is missing, and there’s only one answer, but they won’t hear it.

I should have told them sooner, when we were all sitting round the table. Now they won’t even look at the photo on my phone that I’m desperately trying to show them.

“I’m coming back,” Jay says. “Call the police.”

I start to say, “No,” but that doesn’t come out either. It stops in my throat and won’t budge. If the police come now, will it scare Amy away? Or has that already happened?

Did Logan tell her I know and this is my punishment? I think she’s already taken one boy from his family, and my eyes burn when I think what this might mean for Aaron.

But where can they run? We know where they live, and I know their secrets.

We should call the police. I’ll show them the picture and they’ll understand because it’s their job.

That’s when my phone pings with an unknown number. “Is that him?” Nia asks, and I shake my head and move the screen before she sees the warning.

Come alone. If you tell anyone where you are going or what you know, he will disappear.

77

I could wait for the police, but they never helped Mum when she needed it. Even if they come, they would fill the most important minutes with questions I don’t have the patience to answer.

“I’ll search the streets,” I say.

No one asks me to explain myself. No one says, “Who’s Logan Connolly?” Their panic has swallowed whatever I tried to explain, and all I’m thinking about is Aaron because, if I’m right, the Pearces are good at making kids vanish.

The electric gate is open before I get there and, as I step through, Amy rushes into me.

“Tom, I…She has Aaron.”

“Where is he?” I ask.

“I’m so sorry.”

“I know about Logan. Is that why you took my brother? I won’t tell anyone, I promise. Just give him back.”

Amy stares at me, and those eyes that are normally so beautiful look like pits of despair.