Page 16

15

‘If I told you once, I’ll tell you again, sit the hell down.’

George Kenny squirmed at the sound of his own voice. He didn’t like shouting at Davy, but his sister hadn’t come home and he was worried. She was good with her two-year-old nephew. Today, Davy was covered in blister-type spots and unable to go to day care. Trust his partner, Niamh, to head off to Lanzarote on a winter holiday with her girlfriends and leave him to mind their son. And he’d missed his early-morning slot at the gym. As if to remind himself, he flexed his muscles and threw back his shoulders.

‘Shannon might sit with you for an hour later on.’ If she appeared home, that was. ‘Would you like that?’

Davy shrugged. He slapped the spoon into the cereal, then did it again. Milk splashed out over the table. The child went to turn, and his elbow caught the bowl, upending it onto the floor.

Counting silently, George said, ‘Go watch the telly.’

Davy didn’t need to be told twice.

Alone with the mess, George slumped onto the chair and tugged fluff balls from his black jogging pants with one hand while scrolling on his phone with the other. Why was his life such a fucking mess? Literally a mess.

Facebook had a grainy photo taken at a distance showing garda activity out by the cinema. He glanced at the comments. Most had simply put a broken-heart emoji. One post caught his eye. A woman had been found dead. He looked at the kitchen clock, which was always fifteen minutes fast.

Clutching the phone to his chest, he raced upstairs and barged into Shannon’s room. She had definitely stayed out all night. The phone felt like a dumb-bell in his hand, as if what he had read weighed it down. He sat on her bed and rang her number again. Not a sound. Battery dead? Phone lost? Left behind in a pub? He sent her a message and waited for the blue ticks to tell him she’d read it. Nothing.

He ran back down the stairs and paced up and down the hall, knocking into the coat stand, upending it. He hadn’t the energy to pick up the coats, so he kicked them with his bare feet into the corner and made his way to the messy kitchen. ‘Baby Shark’ blared from the sitting room. Davy could watch what he liked for now. Automatically George began clearing up the spilled cereal, keeping one eye on the clock and wondering if he should report his sister missing.

He should probably message her friend Jess in case she’d kipped on her couch. An unsettling shiver had taken hold of the little hairs on the back of his neck. No matter how drunk Shannon got, she usually let him know where she was staying. Usually, but not always, he reminded himself. However, he had a nauseating sense that something was terribly wrong.

He clutched his phone, unable to dislodge the increasing sense of foreboding.

‘Where are you, Shannon?’

Then the doorbell chimed.

There was still no word from Laura. Her mother had caught fleeting bouts of sleep throughout the night, which had increased her anger. It was now replaced with a sense of unease.

She’d got Aaron dressed and fed, and as the time ticked on, she became increasingly worried. Whenever Laura stayed out late, she always rang or texted. Always. And never had she not come home. Not that she went out often.

The doorbell rang and she felt a rush of relief. Laura was home. Forgot her key. Thank God. I’m going to kill her.

She opened the door ready to berate her daughter, then stopped.

‘Good morning. Diana Nolan?’ The tall woman on the step was wrapped in a dark jacket.

‘That’s me. Sorry. I thought you were my daughter. How can I help you?’ Diana’s anxiety flared as the two strangers looked at each other before the woman faced her.

‘Would it be all right if we came in? I’m Detective Inspector Lottie Parker and this is Detective Sergeant Boyd.’

Diana felt the blood drain from her body. She clutched the door to remain upright. ‘It’s about Laura, isn’t it? Something’s happened to her. She always rings or texts. She’s a good girl. Where is she? What’s happened?’

She led the two detectives to the kitchen because Aaron was in the sitting room. By their sombre faces she knew they hadn’t good news for her. Feeling numb to her core, she slumped onto a chair and waited for whatever they had to say.