Chapter Two
JULIE
I didn’t like the girl who’d replaced Cassidy. She was one of those entitled bratty types, who expected me to do more of the work, so she could sit and play on her phone all damn day. I wished Cassidy would just come back, safe and sound, but it had been weeks. Nobody disappears for weeks, and is just okay. I hated the thought that something awful had happened to her. She could be dead somewhere. Not knowing was awful.
I’d reported her disappearance to the police, for all the good it did. They didn’t really have much to go on. Just like I didn’t. She left work one day, and was never seen, or heard from, again.
The weird part was the bookshop guy; Harvey. He phoned here, looking for her that same day. What were the chances that he’d randomly ring her workplace, the day she disappeared? It hit me then, and the idea hadn’t gone away, that he had been somehow involved in her disappearance. Especially when he’d practically blown me off the last time I spoke to him, and I hadn’t managed to speak to him again since.
With Cassidy gone, I’d had more work than I could cope with. It meant that I worked longer hours, and I pretty much passed out on the sofa when I got home. So apart from trying to ring that Harvey guy a few more times, who’d clearly blocked my number by this point, I’d had little chance to do anything, and then when we hired a replacement, I’d had to try to train her.
And so it was, that today was the first day I could take a lunchbreak, and not work through. I’d decided I’d be brave, and walk into town, and see if I could find the bookshop that Cassidy used to go to. I’d heard enough about it, but never went there, because I just never had time to read.
I’d corner Harvey, that phone-call-ignoring bastard, and make him tell me what he knew. And then I’d find Cassidy my own damn self.
Wrapping up in my coat, because it was getting colder out there, I slipped my handbag over my shoulder and started walking. It had to be within walking distance of work, because Cassidy used to go there during lunch.
I stopped for a coffee, and one of those overpriced coffee shop cakes, on my way to Harvey’s. Was I stalling? Yeah, pretty much. What the hell did I think I was going to achieve? I’m not that brave. I’m just worried about my friend.
She was older than me, but maybe that’s why we got on so well. She’d taken me under her wing when I joined the company, taught me the job, listened when I had a bad day, or when my family had crushed my spirit yet again. They’d never accepted me as I was, so I’d stopped trying. She had, though.
The coffee should have soothed my jitters, but instead it just added to them. I should have foreseen that, but when you drink as much coffee as I do, you don’t expect it to make you worse.
I scrolled through my phone. I missed Cassidy intensely. Probably more than she’d ever have realised. I had other friends. Well, acquaintances, work colleagues, people I could bump into in the street and chat to, but she’d been the only person I could talk to, about the bad things. About the way I struggled some days, just to get out of bed, and try to be normal.
Maybe that was what was happening to me. I was losing my grip on my life without her. I wrapped the piece of cake in a napkin, and tucked it into my pocket. I couldn’t eat after all. Not now. I checked the time, and realised that I was running out of it, so I started to gulp my coffee.
**********
ADAM
My mind was whirling as I rode back into town. What the fuck did those crazy bastards think I could feasibly do anyway? I can’t overrule the police. I can’t even get involved in the case, because that’s not how this shit works. I don’t need a licence, and I can’t work with the police in any official capacity. I’m not recognised as a fucking law enforcement official, more than likely, the police would see me as a fucking irritation.
Still… I didn’t have a choice in the matter, so I headed for the first place I’d made note of, from the email I read on my phone. The bookshop. More accurately, Samuel had called it ‘the remains of’. What the fuck was I going to find when I arrived?
As soon as I headed onto the high street, I realised exactly what he’d meant. The address I’d been given took me to an empty lot. As in, it couldn’t be used, but wasn’t entirely empty. It bore the burned out wreckage of the structure, and was strictly cordoned off, with that tall fencing the council uses, and police warnings. What the fuck had happened here? Is this where this Harvey guy died? Did the poor bastard get burned to death?
And if not… were those Bennett assholes responsible for the destruction of the building? Something inside me knew the answer to that question. There was no sign of Harvey’s dad, but it was almost lunchtime, and I was starving, so I glanced around, spotting a small café opposite. I figured I’d grab a spot of lunch, and watch the place for a while. See if I’d managed to beat daddy to the place.
I managed to get a table outside the place, so I could keep an eye on the bike, as it sat there gleaming in the little winter sunlight that we had. It was really too cold to sit outdoors, this late in the year, but the window tables inside were all taken. My helmet rested safely on the spare chair beside me, tucked against the rungs of the back of the chair, so it couldn’t fall.
I ordered a burger and chips, and sat back with a mediocre coffee, to watch the street for Mr Clarke. A day ago, I’d have said the coffee was good. And then I had that fucking coffee at their house, and realised that most of the coffee that I thought was good, really wasn’t. Another thing they’d fucking ruined.
It wasn’t like I could afford the good stuff. Maddie took pretty much everything in the divorce, and I only had a house now, because I was using my small payout from the shared house we’d sold. If I didn’t make some decent cash by the time that ran out, I’d be screwed.
My food arrived, and my stomach greeted it with a happy growl. I took a huge bite of the burger, and groaned. Fucking heaven. Yeah at my age, I should probably be eating healthier, but my recent realisation was that my days were probably seriously numbered, so why the hell shouldn’t I enjoy a fucking burger?
As I was dragging the last of my chips through the abundance of ketchup I’d accidentally poured onto my plate, I saw a car pull up by the former bookshop. I watched, as the man I’d been waiting for practically fell out of it. He stared at the wreckage, his hands pressing against his head. He was horrified. I could practically feel it from here.
His son was missing, and now he’d discovered that the business he ran was gone. The thoughts that must have been going through his head in that moment… poor guy. And I’d been sent to fuck with him, and make sure that he doesn’t get the proper closure, or justice, for his dead son. And Jesus… I’d better make sure I don’t slip, and refer to him as dead. Fuck me… what a brainfucking dilemma.
I snapped a few quick pics with my phone, as discreetly as I could, giving him a few minutes to his grief, before I considered venturing over. The waitress collected my plate, and I asked for the bill, hoping I could settle it and get over there, before he left.
Once she’d disappeared, I snapped a pic of the back of his car, making sure to get the number plate as clearly as I could. If I had to track him that way, I would. Hopefully it wasn’t a rented car, or borrowed, because that would fuck my backup plan, right in the ass.
I paid my bill, and nursed the remains of my coffee, watching for the man’s posture to change. For him to stop pacing and fretting, and head back to his car.
As the moment approached, I stood up, reaching for my helmet, and then I found myself sitting back down.
A girl approached him, looking just as shocked as he’d been, and I couldn’t take my eyes off her. Fuck me. She was possibly of Asian descent, but from here I couldn’t be more accurate than that. I snapped a few pics of her. Purely for business reasons. For the case. No other reason.
She was petite. He towered over her, and I was pretty sure she’d be tiny up against me too. I groaned. I wanted her up against me. Under me. I wanted to see every inch of that body, that I knew would be fucking glorious. She had that long, glossy hair that would look great spread over the pillows of my bed.
Jesus. I told myself to wind my neck in. Look at her. She was probably half my age, maybe more than. Maybe she wasn’t even an adult. She looked so young. I prayed that she was older than she looked. Please don’t be jailbait.
When the waitress shot me a confused look, I flagged her over.
“Sorry, love. Change of plans. My friend is running late. Can I get another of those delicious coffees please? I’ll pay up front this time.”