Silence. Andy and Fliss stared each other down as new nausea roared in Charlie’s gut. Leo never talked about what had brought him and Lila to Kate and Reg’s door, and Charlie had assumed that Andy and Fliss were as ignorant as him, but it was obvious now that they both knew something he didn’t. “Jesus Christ, you two. Did Mum and Dad tell you what happened? Did you read the file?”
Fliss flushed guiltily and ushered them all down the hall.
“Great,” Charlie spat when they were a safe distance from the living room. “So Mum and Dad let you read it, Andy, because you’re so much more important than the rest of us, andyou—” he rounded on Fliss “—you just helped yourself, didn’t you? Snuck into the office and read the whole thing because you’re a nosy bitch—”
“Charlie!” Reg spoke quietly from behind Charlie, but his tone silenced them all as much as any shout ever could. “What’s going on out here?”
Charlie pursed his lips, like he could push all the rage back in, even as his arms jittered, desperate to lash out at Fliss, at the wall—anything to ease the fury boiling in his veins.Is this how Leo feels all the time?The theory burned Charlie’s heart, along with guilt at the certainty that Leo had battered Darren Stroud for giving Charlie pills that he’dwillinglyshoved down his throat.
This is my fault.
“No, it isn’t, Charlie,” Reg said. “It’s no one’s fault. Leo has many problems—too many, perhaps, for us to deal with here.”
Charlie jumped.Shit. Did I say that out loud?
But Fliss shook her head before he could dwell on it much. “No, Dad. You can’t kick him out over this. Not after—”
“Afterwhat?” Charlie cut in, ignoring the fact that he’d inadvertently voiced his worst fear. “Jesus, you take the fucking piss.”
Reg held up his hand to silence Charlie and Fliss. “It’s not about who knows what, and it never has been. It’s about helping Leo as best we can, and right now, that means cooperating with the authorities who are perhaps better equipped to deal with this than we are.”
“And by deal with it, you mean take him away,” Fliss said bitterly. “Dad, please. Don’t let them do that. He’s a good kid. And what about Lila? They’ll separate them if no other family will take Leo.”
“They may be separated anyway if Leo receives a custodial sentence for his attack on that boy.” Reg fixed his gaze on Charlie. “And the longer he’s gone, the worse it looks for him.”
“I don’t know where he is,” Charlie said.
Fliss stepped in front of him, briefly shielding him from Reg’s piercing stare. “But you had an idea, though, didn’t you?”
“No.”
“Yes, you did.” She turned to face Reg. “But we’re worried that Leo will freak out if the police turn up there. That he’ll run again. Let us go—me, Andy, and Charlie. If he’s there, we’ll bring him back.”
“If he’s where?” Reg’s tone left nowhere to hide, even for Fliss.
She swallowed hard and lifted her chin. “At the old house . . . where his mum died. Charlie thinks he’s gone there.”
“Is this true, Charlie?” Reg asked. “Has Leo ever spoken of returning to Swindon before?”
“Um . . . not when he’s awake, it’s just, um—” Charlie bit his lip. “He talks about the old house in his sleep all the time, like he’s worried that he’s left something there—or left someone behind.”
Something changed in Reg’s pale eyes. Concern melted into sadness, and severity turned to the closest to tears that Charlie had ever seen him. “Okay,” he said. “If you’re going to Swindon, I’m coming too, which means that someone needs to stay behind and help your mother with Lila while the meeting in there carries on without me.”
“I’ll stay,” Andy said.
Charlie glanced at him in surprise—Andy could never bear to be left out of anything—but Andy shook his head, and looked at Reg.
“This isn’t about me,” he said. “Or you. We’ve got to do this as a family, and I reckon Leo needs you right now a lot more than he needs me.”
Charlie didn’t quite agree. Leo hadn’t said much about his Wembley trip with Andy, but it was obvious that he preferred Andy to Reg. That perhaps Reg’s presence would be as frightening to him as the police.
But there was nothing else to be done. Reg wouldn’t let them go without him, and theyhadto go. Leo had already been alone for far too long.
I’m coming, Leo. I’m coming.
Charlie slouched in the back seat of Reg’s beige people-carrier, listening to every word of Reg bollocking Fliss for nosing in Leo’s file.
He kind of felt bad for her—kind of, because although he was pissed off that she knew stuff about Leo that he didn’t, her snooping had done him a favour. Without it, there was no way that Reg would be having this conversation in front of him, or using it to fill Charlie in on all that he’d missed.
