Chapter Three
JULIE
I couldn’t believe it. As I approached the burned out shop, I just knew it was Harvey’s. Don’t ask me why I was so sure. I knew that it was close to work. I knew that it was near a dry cleaner, because Cassidy had commented about how she could do both in her lunch hour.
It was destroyed. The walls were practically gone. There was even still a slight smoky smell in the air. There was a man standing in front of the place, his hands practically pulling at his hair. He looked distraught, enough that I couldn’t help but check on him.
“Are you okay?” I asked gently, stepping up beside him. He was older. More like my dad’s age. Maybe even older. He stared at me, and he honestly looked like he was in shock.
“Sir? Do you need me to call someone?” He took a breath, finally looking at me.
“It’s gone!” I frowned as I looked at him. Could it be? Could this be Harvey? Cassidy had said he was sort of cute, in a nerdy way, but this guy… I’d probably have described him as fatherly. Not that there was anything wrong with that, of course.
I stared at the man, who looked like he would fall down, so I led him back a few steps to lean against the car at the curb. I really hoped that it was his. Otherwise someone was going to be really pissy when they saw us.
“Are you Harvey?” I finally asked him, watching him shake free a little of his shock, to look at me.
“Am I… No. No, I’m his… he’s my son. I was looking for him.” Oh hell. I stared at the burned down shop. He’d probably lived there too. Did that mean he’d died in the blaze? I felt a wave of shame for being so angry at him, when I thought he was avoiding me, or refusing to help with Cassidy’s disappearance.
“Oh god, I’m sorry. When did it happen?” He let out a heavy breath, running a shaking hand over his face.
“I don’t know. I… he wasn’t returning my calls, so I came to see him. I was… I was worried. I have no idea what happened, or where he is.” He looked like he was about to lose it.
“I was looking for him too. I’ve never met him, but we have a mutual friend.”
He stared at me then, frowning. “Lenore?”
I had no idea what that meant. “I’m Julie. Uh… my friend Cassidy loved this shop.”
He pulled his phone from his pocket, scrolling through it, dialling a number. The police, maybe?
He listened for a few moments, and let out a tortured groan. “Bloody voicemail. I just need to know he’s okay.”
I chose not to look at the shop again. If he was in there, there was no way he was even remotely okay.
“I’m sure he’s fine. Have you checked with the hospital, or police?”
He stared dully at the shop. “I… I hoped Lenore would call me back. She just said he’d taken a few days away. But I haven’t heard from him, in over a month now. It’s not normal. I don’t… I don’t come out this far, but I needed to try and find him.”
Damn. So first Cassidy disappeared, and now so has Harvey. If he’s not dead.
“I think you need to speak to the police. And mention Cassidy Donovan to them. She’s my friend. She disappeared a few days before all of this, I think. Harvey was helping me look for her.”
The man stared at me. “When did you last hear from him?”
I chewed my lip. “Twenty two days ago. Sorry, I know the precise date because Cassidy is so important to me. The police have found nothing. No sign of her. She just vanished. And Harvey was looking for her too, so we spoke a few times on the phone. When he stopped answering my calls, I figured I’d just started to annoy him.”
The man, Harvey’s father, looked drawn, and scarily like he was about to keel over. I wanted to help, but I had no idea how. I glanced at my watch and groaned. I barely had enough time to hurry back to work. I glanced around me, wishing I could find someone else to stay with him, so I wouldn’t feel like I was abandoning him. There was nobody in sight on this side of the road.
There was a guy across the road, outside the café, who seemed to be paying attention. He wore a leather jacket, and looked a little dangerous. It sent a chill down my spine, making me look away, before he decided that my look was some kind of invitation.
“Listen, Mr, uh…”
“Clarke. Jeff Clarke, sorry love. Forgetting my manners here.”
I shook my head. “It’s fine, really. Look, I hate to run on you while you clearly need support, but I’m going to be late back to work. Can I give you my number? I’d really like to see if I can help. If we find Harvey, maybe we’ll find my friend Cassidy. Or you know, the other way around. Two heads can only be better than one.”
He nodded, and I rummaged in my bag, realising I had nothing to write on, or with.