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Elin

Parque Nacional, Portugal, October 2021

It’s a few hours before Clio calls them back. By the time she does, they’re both decompressing – Elin sat outside, making notes, the remains of her lunch beside her, Isaac taking a shower.

The start of the conversation is more awkward than she’d expected. Clio sounds guarded, an emotion in her voice that she can’t quite get a read on.

‘I’ll try to help,’ she starts, ‘but honestly, I think I’ve said all I can about Kier.’ There’s a noticeable edge to her voice as she says Kier’s name.

‘It’s actually not about Kier,’ Elin replies, her gaze catching on the branches on the trees a few feet away. They’re swaying in the breeze, casting dappled light across the decking. ‘Not directly. Penn mentioned that you’re close to her ex-boyfriend, Zeph. We’re in Portugal at the moment, where Kier was last seen, and we’ve found something of his.’

An intake of breath. ‘You think Zeph’s been in Portugal? With Kier?’ Clio’s voice is tight, clipped .

‘Yes, at the national park. We wondered whether he mentioned he was going.’

‘No, but I haven’t seen Zeph in a long time. No one has.’

Elin’s pulse quickens. ‘When exactly did you last see him?’

‘I don’t know an exact date, but it’s been a while. Over a year.’ A small silence. ‘I’ve had messages saying he’s travelling, but that’s it.’

‘That’s not normal for him?’

‘I wouldn’t say normal , but he’s done it a few times before. Zeph’s one of those people who throws himself into something. A new venture, restaurant. Gets consumed.’

‘And no one’s thought that this time was out of the norm?’

‘I have, but I don’t think anyone else is particularly concerned.’ Clio sounds resigned. ‘That’s the way it is with our crowd. Out of sight, out of mind. Relationships you think are deep and meaningful turn out to be anything but.’

‘But you’ve been worried?’ Elin asks the question, but she can already tell from the tone of Clio’s voice that she’s been thinking about it.

‘To a degree, by how long it’s been since he’s been in touch, but look, it’s happened before. People ghosting me. I get it. I just thought he’d moved on.’ Clio pauses. ‘But yeah, there’s always been this doubt in my mind, whether he’d just leave without saying goodbye.’

‘What about family?’

‘His parents actually got in touch a few months ago to see if I’d heard anything from him. I told them what I’m telling you. They didn’t seem bothered.’

‘So they hadn’t heard from him?’

‘Nothing bar a few messages, but I didn’t read too much into that. Their relationship – it isn’t exactly what you’d call close. They’ve been more or less estranged for years.’

‘And the messages he’s sent you, it’s been just that? No video calls?’ Elin tries to keep her voice steady, but it’s hard as she thinks about Zeph’s ring and passport, Isaac’s words .

Maybe this is where his journey stopped.

‘Yes, no video calls.’

Same modus operandi as Kier, Elin thinks, chilled. In both cases, the messages could easily be from someone else to divert suspicion.

There’s a small silence. ‘You really think Zeph’s gone looking for Kier?’

Elin senses not just worry in Clio’s voice now, but fear. ‘You don’t think he would?’

‘Look, I don’t know what you’ve heard, but Zeph and Kier’s relationship … it wasn’t what I thought it was.’

Zipping up her fleece as the sun disappears behind a cloud, Elin feels a flicker of disquiet. ‘In what sense?’

‘Well, at the beginning, I thought they were well suited. Kier seemed calmer than his previous girlfriends. More … stable.’ She pauses. ‘Zeph’s always been attracted to – I don’t know how best to say this – women he needs to fix. Women with … issues. I genuinely thought it was different with Kier.’ Her voice grows quiet. ‘Turns out, it wasn’t. Kier called me a few days after they split, asking after him. At first, I thought she was just checking in, but then she said something about Romy, Zeph’s ex. Sort of implied that Romy was involved in why they split. That’s when I started thinking something might be off.’

‘Didn’t ring true?’

‘No. As far I knew, Zeph hadn’t been in contact with Romy for months.’ Clio hesitates. ‘A few weeks later, Zeph told me the real story, and Kier’s call, it made sense. He said Kier had developed some kind of obsession with Romy, had in her head that Zeph still loved her. He tried to explain it wasn’t true, but Kier didn’t believe him. Apparently, they started arguing and it got physical. Started with her pushing him, that kind of thing, then escalated. She hit him. Pretty bad from the sounds of it.’

There’s a pause. Elin doesn’t know what to say. Steed had mentioned to Isaac that Kier lashed out, but nothing of this magnitude.

‘Kier never mentioned any of this to you? Their arguments?’

‘No, but Zeph said she couldn’t even really acknowledge it to herself, let alone anyone else. Afterwards, she used to blame him.’ She stops. ‘I’m sorry. I feel out of my depth here.’

‘It’s okay, take your time.’

‘All of what I’ve told you,’ Clio says finally. ‘It’s against the backdrop of some disturbing things Kier told Zeph about her parents. Not just her feelings about what they’d done, but worries about herself. Kier told Zeph that she thought she might be capable of doing something like they’d done. That she’d have these thoughts. Bad thoughts—’ Clio breaks off. ‘Sorry, I’m not describing this very well.’

‘You’re doing fine.’ A cold bead of dread settles inside her. Had Kier been keeping all this from Steed deliberately? Or had Steed chosen not to tell them? ‘Did you ever witness anything violent between them?’

‘No, but he showed me some of the messages she’d sent him. Awful stuff.’

The hairs on the back of her arm stand up. ‘What kind of messages?’

‘They were abusive, threatening, what she’d do to him if he told anyone, that kind of thing.’

Listening to her, Elin’s having to wrestle against the mental picture she’s already built of Kier. Having gone so far down one path in her thinking, hearing this … She feels disorientated. Confused. ‘So the abuse – was that the trigger for their breakup?’

‘Not exactly. Zeph found something that really frightened him.’ Clio takes a shaky breath. ‘Before they broke up, he discovered a painting Kier had done of some guy she’d gone out with. It was … dark. Showed his face beaten, bloodied. He thought that maybe she’d done to this guy what she’d been doing to him.’

A pit opens up in her stomach as Elin lays this information up against the fact that Zeph – as far as they knew – was missing.

‘So it doesn’t make sense to you that he’d come out here looking for her?’

‘Yes and no. Zeph – he’s a nice guy. Too nice, and like I said, he’s a fixer.’ There’s a heavy pause. ‘And you’re sure, about everything?’ she says falteringly. ‘That what you found is his? ’

‘As sure as I can be. It was his passport.’

‘Shit.’ The long silence that follows tells her more than any words could.

As they say goodbye, all Elin can think is: What if they’ve read this wrong?

What if Kier wasn’t a victim at all but had made herself disappear?

Wasn’t lost, but running.