Page 50 of Killing Mind

He held on to her tightly as a tear rolled over his cheek.

Kim looked from one to the other wondering what the hell they had left to lose.

Kate took a breath. ‘You see, we still need Kane’s help.’

The pieces began to fall into place. Their secrecy, their continued tension about Unity Farm, the closeness of Sammy and Sophie, the absence of their younger daughter.

‘Oh no,’ Kim said, as the couple held on to each other tightly.

Kate nodded and when she spoke her words were no more than a whisper.

‘Yes, our youngest daughter, Sophie, is still in there.’

Forty

Penn slid back into his seat at 10.15 p.m.

He had been dismissed as the boss and Stacey had headed down to question Myles Brown, but something the boss had said earlier, following her meeting with Woody, had stayed with him. The idea had stuck in his mind while he and Jasper had visited their mother in the hospice and since.

Part of him was glad that his brother was having his first overnight stay at Billy’s house. It had been a difficult visit and hard for them all. The knowledge that the lung cancer finally had the upper hand was evident. She had barely spoken but the silence had been filled by Jasper recounting every detail of his day, causing their mother’s lips to lift in a brief smile on a couple of occasions.

Penn had wondered sometimes if Jasper truly understood the gravity of her illness and that she would not be coming home again.

He swallowed the emotion in his throat and remembered how his brother’s motor mouth had shut down once they were back in the car. He’d spoken the odd word but had been keen to get out of the car and into Billy’s house.

He understood.

Penn turned on his computer and took out his phone. He scrolled and hit his brother’s name.

‘Hey, bud, you okay?’ he asked, when Jasper answered.

A pause.

‘Yeah, me and Billy’re playing Xbox. It’s the decider.’

‘Okay, mate, not too late, eh?’

‘Allllll righty,’ he said.

‘You sure you’re okay, bud?’ he asked again.

‘Err… yeah. Waiting to kick Billy’s a… bum again.’

Penn couldn’t help the smile that turned up his lips. Down’s syndrome or not, the kid was still a teenager.

‘Okay, love you bud.’

‘Yeah, oooooookay,’ Jasper said, refusing to return the sentiment in front of his buddy. Yep, definitely a teenager.

‘Goodnight,’ Penn said, ending the call.

He logged into the network as his phone dinged a message.

He opened it and laughed out loud. The text message was from his brother and read simply

Love you 2 Ozzy

Followed by a tongue out emoji.