‘Seen Josh?’
‘No,’ he says. ‘He’s still in bed, isn’t he?’
‘No,’ she says. ‘He’s not. He must have gone out somewhere.’
She goes back to the kitchen and takes her phone back from Georgia. ‘Any idea where Josh is?’ she asks her.
Georgia shakes her head. ‘I think I heard the front door go half an hour ago?’
Cate composes a message to Josh and sends it.Where are u?She watches the tick double, but not turn blue. She sighs.
The ticks stay grey for another hour. She calls him. The call goes through to his voicemail. She leaves him a message. Theyhave lunch – spaghetti with chilli and garlic and prawns. She scoops out the last portion into a bowl, covers it with cling film and puts it in the fridge.
At two o’clock Georgia finally settles down at the kitchen table to do her homework. Roan and Cate sit side by side in the living room and try to watch a film on TV but Cate can’t concentrate. The room grows gloomy as the sun starts to slide down the horizon and Cate checks her phone every thirty seconds. She sends Josh five more messages and calls him three more times. As the credits roll on the film she turns to Roan and says, ‘I think we should call the police.’
‘What!’
‘It’s nearly four. He’s been gone about five hours.’
‘Cate. He’s fourteen years old. It’s daytime.’
‘I know,’ she says. ‘But he’s not the sort of fourteen-year-old to just disappear. He always tells me when he’s going out. And why isn’t he answering his phone?’
‘Probably run out of charge, or maybe he’s on the Tube.’
‘Josh doesn’tgoon the Tube,’ she replies with exasperation. Really, sometimes it felt like Roan didn’t actually know his children. ‘He gets panic attacks, remember?’
‘Well, whatever, I really think calling the police would be a bit over the top.’
‘But how long are we going to wait?’
‘Dinnertime?’ says Roan. ‘But even then, it won’t even have been twelve hours.’ He stands up and stretches. ‘I think’, he says, ‘that I might just go for a run. I can keep an eye out for him on the way.’
‘Yes,’ says Cate. ‘Yes. Brilliant. You do that. I’m going to try and find a number for Flynn.’
Flynn is Josh’s only known friend.
He’s never been inside their house; he skulks outside and texts Josh if they’re going out together. He has never been more than a flash of red hair and a name to Cate.
‘Georgia,’ she says, coming into the kitchen. ‘You don’t happen to have a number for Flynn, do you?’
‘Flynn?’
‘Yes, you know, Josh’s friend. With the red hair?’
‘Why on earth would I have a number forFlynn?’
‘I don’t know, darling. I just thought maybe you might. I mean, is he on any social media with you?’
‘Of coursehe isn’t. God.’
‘Do you know his surname?’
‘Oh my God, no. Of course I don’t. I don’t even know him. He’s just … he’s just Josh’s friend. He’s nothing to do with me.’
‘Do you …?’ Cate starts cautiously. ‘Do you have any theories about where Josh might be? He’s not answering his phone.’
Georgia exhales heavily. ‘Mum,’ she says, ‘I’m trying to do my homework and you’re really not helping right now.’
