Page 11 of The Altar Girls

She would have to do her report via phone.

A detective had whisked away a young boy and his mother earlier. Had they found the body?

The phone in her hand beeped. The news editor. Shit. She was on. Glancing at the blank pages in her damp notebook, she sighed and answered the call.

10

The state of Boyd’s apartment caused Lottie to stall by the breakfast bar. He walked in ahead of her and took root by the window, staring outside at the disastrous weather.

‘This is not you, Boyd.’

‘I never had a son go missing before, so I really don’t know what is me any more.’

‘You’re usually neat and tidy, and this is… a dump. You’ll have to wash those dishes before you next eat.’ She glanced into the full sink.

‘I’ve decided to start on the Kirby Happy Meal diet.’

She dropped her coat and bag on the counter and walked up behind him. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she was startled at how thin he had become, and that was saying something. Boyd was tall and normally lean, but this was bone thin. She leaned her head between his sharp shoulder blades.

‘Let me help you,’ she whispered.

‘You’ve done more than I could ever ask for, Lottie. We’ve searched the whole country and further afield. My ex has spirited my boy somewhere I’ll never find him. It has broken me.’

Slowly Lottie turned him around. She cupped his face in her hands and softly feathered his lips with hers.

‘You can’t go on like this. You will find Sergio. Maybe not tomorrow or the day after, but you will. Until that time, I need you. I need you close to me and I want you working by my side. It’s the only way you’re going to survive this.’

‘I’ve tried.’ He ran a hand wearily through his hair, which was now steel grey. ‘I go into the office and it’s like I’ve stepped into a place I no longer recognise. It’s tough.’

She took him by the hand and, after moving pizza boxes to the floor, sat beside him on the couch. She had gone through the angry stage with him; now she realised he needed the comfort stage.

Lifting his arm around her shoulder, she snuggled close to him. She wanted to feel the heat of his body, to hear the beat of his heart, to inhale his worries and relieve him of the fear that was ever present in his soul.

‘Sergio is alive,’ she said confidently. ‘I know you think the worst on these dark nights, but I promise you we will find him.’

‘How many times have I heard those words over the last few months? Empty promises with no basis in reality. Jackie took him and she will die before letting me have him back. I know what she’s like.’

‘Hold me for a while. You need a hug and I need the silence to clear my head of the horror I’ve just witnessed.’

She felt his body stiffen, and his hand squeezed her arm tightly. It reminded her of the way Ruth Kiernan had clutched her baby.

‘What happened?’ he asked.

‘I need you back at work tomorrow. The truth is, I need everyone on this one.’

‘The missing girl? Oh God, she’s dead, isn’t she?’

Lottie sat up straight, turned and looked him in the eye. ‘No, we didn’t find Willow Devine. But earlier this evening, another little girl was found dead behind the cathedral. She was lying there on the snow like a sleeping angel.’

He shook his head slowly. ‘How did she die?’

‘There were no obvious wounds. No blood. It’s suspicious, because I’m certain her body was arranged. Hands joined as if in prayer. Dark hair fanned out on the snow. A long white robe with two little bare feet peeping out, crossed at the ankles.’ Speaking brought the image to life, and she shuddered. ‘Eight-year-old Naomi Kiernan. Her father is in prison and her mother… her mother has two other children, one of them no more than a year old. It’s heartbreaking.’

‘Her father is in prison? What for?’

‘I haven’t had time to check yet, but Isaac Kiernan isn’t one of ours or I’d have recognised the name.’

‘Name means nothing to me either. Maybe whatever he’s guilty of is the reason his daughter is dead.’ Boyd leaned down and kissed the top of her head.