Page 92 of The Guilty Girl
Sean was probably still on his PlayStation. He needed to sleep. She needed to sleep. It refused to come. Maybe it was the adrenaline coursing through her veins from seeing Jake’s body. Or was it the heartache of informing his family? Whatever the cause, sleep was floating too far off on the horizon to be reeled in.
Glancing at her phone, she noticed three missed calls from Boyd. Damn. She’d put it on silent at the canal, forgetting to switch it back.
She flung off the duvet and swung her legs to the floor, then pulled her old sweatshirt – Katie’s really – over her head and walked barefoot into the chilly kitchen. At least it was sparkling clean. The lights flickered and she silently prayed, because she didn’t fancy a trip to the basement to check the fuse box.
After she’d filled the kettle and put a tea bag in a mug, she phoned Boyd.
‘Hi,’ he said. ‘All okay?’
‘Yeah. Sorry I missed your calls. Phone was on silent and I forgot—’
‘Thank God. I was worried when I saw your name flash up there. Do you know what time it is here?’
‘Shit, Boyd, I forgot about the time difference. How are things? Sergio doing okay?’
‘He wants to be a detective. Over my dead body and if he isn’t banged up for theft before that.’
Lottie laughed. ‘What did he do?’
She made her tea as she listened to Boyd’s tale, comforted by his voice. A softness settled in her stomach. From the milky tea, or something else entirely?
‘So what had Terry Starr to say about Lucy?’
‘Not a lot. Said she didn’t get on with her mother.’
‘I’ll follow that up with the McAllisters.’ She settled herself at the table. ‘What did you make of Terry Starr?’
‘Nice enough. He mentioned that he’d felt lost when he was Lucy’s age and he recognised it in her. He had the start of a black eye. Probably from training. Might be no harm to run a background check on him. And confirm which flight he took over here. Just to be sure.’
‘I’ll put Kirby on that.’
‘Sergio said Jackie likes Terry. Wonder what that’s all about.’
‘You still don’t know where she is?’
‘I’d say she’s living the high life somewhere on the Costa. Probably with a criminal gang leader.’
‘You really have no faith in your ex-wife, Boyd.’
‘She put me through too much hardship for me to ever trust her. Wait until you meet Sergio, though, you’ll love him. He’s a great kid, and that’s why I can’t understand how she could abandon him and just disappear.’
Lottie felt nervous. How was this new dynamic going to work out? A blended family, or would she lose Boyd?
‘Jackie knew you’d care for him; that you’d never deny your own flesh and blood.’
‘She’s too bloody clever.’
She laughed. ‘Maybe you should try to reach out to her before you come home.’
‘She can fuck right off.’
‘Boyd, stop.’
‘You’re right. Tell me about your day and how the investigation is progressing. I miss all that.’
Lottie updated him on Lucy’s case and Jake Flood, then filled him in about Rose. ‘You know my mother, Boyd, it’ll take a lot more than a cold or flu to finish her off.’
‘You were worried enough to bring her to your house. I wish I was there with you.’