laughed and ruffled her hair.
‘Dad,’ she complained, swiping her fingers through it to settle it.
‘Come on, let’s eat.’ He picked up two of the plates and carried them through to the dining table in the conservatory while Annie carried her own, then he came back for the drinks. ‘Lou,’ he said as brought them through.
She got up, turned off the TV and came through to sit with them. Which was an improvement on a couple of weeks ago, he thought. Then, she would have eaten on the sofa, staring at the TV and barely noticing what was on her plate.
‘You done your homework?’
‘Yep. Didn’t have much. Just a bit of maths and some geography.’
Her two favourite subjects. ‘Good girl. I’m going to have to go back in for a couple of hours, so you’ll need to get yourself to bed, all right?’
‘Why?’
‘What do you have go back for?’ Louise asked.
‘I need to get things organised for the morning. We need a search team and canvassers out first thing and I’ve got people to call to arrange interviews.’
Louise grunted and shoved another chip in her mouth, chewing silently.
Pete glanced at Annie, picking apart her fish, and suddenly pictured the photos of Rosie Whitlock that he’d seen in the sitting room of her home. How would she be coping right now, wherever she was? How would Annie cope in the same situation? Would she panic? Would she lose it and get completely stressed out? Or would she deal with it as capably as she seemed to be dealing with Louise’s condition and the disappearance of her brother?
She had been as distraught as Pete and Louise when it happened, of course, crying night and day, demanding answers, but she had grown up a lot in the following weeks. As Louise spiralled downwards, withdrawing into herself, Annie had stepped up. Taken on the role of mother in the household.
He didn’t know what he would have done without her, if he was honest. But the thought of her going through what Rosie Whitlock must be enduring right now clogged his throat with horror.
‘Dad?’
He blinked. Cleared his throat. ‘Sorry, Button. What was that?’
‘Are you all right?’
‘Yeah, of course. Don’t worry about me.’ He forked up a piece of fish, unsure how long he had been lost in his awful thoughts. ‘What was it you said?’
‘Nothing. Just, you looked . . . I don’t know. Like you’d seen a ghost or something.’
Pete smiled. ‘Nothing that exciting, love. I was just thinking, that’s all. These chips are good tonight, aren’t they?’
‘Yeah. Did you go somewhere different?’
‘Same place, but there’s different people in there. They looked Greek or something.’
‘What, the old guy’s retired, has he?’
‘Must have. I didn’t ask. Maybe I’ll find out later. See what the gossip is in the station.’ He glanced at Louise, but she didn’t respond. Simply chewed stoically, her gaze turned inward, barely aware of her surroundings or the people in them. ‘I shan’t be too late back, anyway. Just do what’s needed and come home. No sense getting overtired. Nobody does their best that way, and we need to be on top of our game on this one.’
‘Bad, is it?’
‘As bad as it gets. But nothing for you to worry about.’
‘Dad. I’m ten years old. I’ll be able to get married in another six.’
Pete almost spat out his fish. ‘No, you won’t, young lady. Not without mine and your mother’s permission. Not until you’re eighteen, at least, and not then if you’ve got any sense.’
‘Why? You and Mum are all right.’
‘We didn’t get married until much later than that. When we were old enough to know what we wanted out of life and who we were. Getting married as young as that never lasts. You’re still growing up. Anyway, what’s the rush? You’ve got your whole life ahead of you. And you haven’t even got a boyfriend yet, have you?’
‘No,’ she said heavily. ‘But that’s not the point.’
Pete’s eyebrows went up. ‘Oh. And here I was thinking that was the whole point.’
‘See, you just don’t understand, do you?’
‘Honestly . . . not a clue.’ He grinned and reached out to tousle her hair. ‘I just know that I love you and I want you to be happy.’
She ducked away. ‘Well, so do I. That’s why I need to plan ahead. To be aware of my options.’
Pete suppressed a laugh. ‘Oh, yes? And who’s been putting ideas like that in your head, eh? You got a life coach started working at that school of yours? If so, send them round here. I need some lessons of that sort.’
‘What’s a life coach?’
‘Someone who gets paid enormous amounts of money for talking a mixture of common sense and pointless rubbish.’
‘Sounds like a good job. Easier than yours.’
‘Too right. I’ll tell you what – give it a couple of years, then look into it. See if your careers teacher can point you in the right direction.’ He swallowed the last of his chips. ‘But in the meantime, you make sure you’re in bed and asleep before I get home tonight, all right?’
‘Yes, Dad.’
‘Good girl.’ He stood up, briefly touched her cheek then rested a hand on Louise’s shoulder and kissed her forehead. ‘See you in a bit.’
*
Pete paused, shocked, in the doorway of the squad room. His whole team were at their desks, working quietly and, across from them, a whiteboard had been set up with photos of Rosie and her parents and the basic details of everyone they knew of who was linked to the case, all in Dick Feeney’s neat hand.
Dick looked up from his computer. With his cheeks darkened by a day’s stubble, he looked every inch his nickname of Grey Man. But this was the kind of commitment and work ethic that should have seen Tommy found, months ago. And, Pete was sure, would have if the same team were on it. He just wished they could have been.
‘How’s the missus?’
‘Pissed off at me for coming back in, but she’ll get over it. What’s going on?’
‘We’ve just been doing a few background searches. Seeing if there’s anyone linked to the family with a record,’ Jane told him.
‘And?’
‘Nothing yet, apart from your man, Sanderson.’
‘What
