He remembered the day he had realised she was irrevocably his daughter.
She’d returned home from school with a small bruise on her arm. When Ashley asked how she got it, she said she’d had a row with a boy because she’d got no dad. His heart had been about to break until she told them her response.
‘I told him I have got a dad and he draws houses at work.’
Her reference to him as her dad had almost brought him to tears.
And then she’d watched him closely, waiting for his reply. Waiting to see if what she’d said was okay.
‘That’s right, sweetie,’ he’d said, gathering her into his arms. ‘You tell them what your daddy does at work.’
And she had never called him anything else since.
During those days without her, he had never felt so alone. Trying to come to terms with the loss of his wife had been hard enough, but caring for Ava had, at least, given his brain a break. The mundane tasks of making sure she ate and bathed and cleaned her teeth had offered him brief reprieves from descending into the darkness of his own grief.
He had expected something from the Chances. There was no depth they wouldn’t sink to in order to get Ava. He shuddered at the thought.
Right now, Ava was chewing on a Haribo while humming to herself and absently kicking her feet. She knew she was where she belonged.
There were no words for the gratitude he felt for the inspector.
He hadn’t yet paused for long enough to wonder at the cost of her actions. Once he was safely settled, he’d do his best to help her in any way he could.
He had been determined to follow her instructions to the letter, but it had taken a little longer than an hour to organise themselves. When he’d packed a few days ago, it had been a panic move. Today, he’d had to pack as though they might not be coming back. That had required more consideration of what they needed, including things that had been important to Ashley.
Other than starting off late, he had followed the detective’s instructions. He had spoken to no one, told no one where he was going and his phone had remained switched off. Once on the motorway, he’d been tempted to get in the fast lane and speed his way out of the area, but he’d held his nerve and barely sent the needle above sixty.
Ava had predictably wanted to use the bathroom around eighty miles into the journey, but he’d managed to delay her until they were on the other side of the border. For some reason, he had let out a long sigh of relief once he passed the ‘Welcome to Scotland’ sign, as though that somehow made them unreachable.
He knew the authorities could find him in Scotland, but there was a feeling of safety as the miles mounted up.
‘Okay, sweetie, let’s get back on the road,’ he said, starting the car. ‘Next stop is Auntie Janine’s.’
‘Yay,’ she said, thrusting her fist into the air. ‘I love Aunt—’ Her words were cut off as a sudden force shunted the car forward.
‘What the…?’ he said, trying to work out what had happened. He looked behind. Headlights shone into the car, blinding him.
He turned to Ava. ‘You okay, sweetie?’ he asked, looking for any sign of injury.
‘I th… think so,’ she said, nodding.
‘Wait here,’ he said, unbuckling his seat belt. ‘Let me go and sort this out. I’ll be back in a minute.’
Eighty-One
It was after nine when Bryant pulled into the Abington services on the M74.
‘Shit, Bryant, it’s there,’ Kim cried as he passed the Shell sign.
He passed the Burger King and Starbucks, heading for the main building. As they neared the line of electric chargers, she spotted the sticker in the rear window of Daniel’s Peugeot. And then she looked closer.
‘What the…?’
Bryant had barely stopped the car before she was out of it, inspecting the dent in the rear bumper and the glass on the ground. She moved around to the front and saw confirmation it was the right car.
Ava’s cuddly toy and a bag of Haribo were on the passenger seat.
Relief flooded through her that they’d caught him, but she’d have been happier if the two of them were still there.
