Gone Again (Doug Johnstone) by Doug Johnstone

Author:Doug Johnstone
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Crime Fiction
ISBN: 9780571296606
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Published: 2013-07-02T21:00:00+00:00

23

The stomach cramps started around half seven, just as Nathan was getting ready for bed.

Mark was trying to keep things as normal as possible, sticking to the routine. Nathan had already asked if he could sleep in Mummy and Daddy’s bed, and Mark agreed straight away, thinking maybe they’d each draw some comfort from it. Either that or it would just remind them of what had happened.

He was churning it all over in his mind, trying to organise his thoughts. A death is either an accident, suicide or murder. So what about Lauren? If it was an accident, how the hell did it happen? You don’t just accidentally fall into the sea, not around here, that didn’t make any sense. If it was murder, the big questions were who and why? Why would anyone want to murder Lauren? Unless it was just a random mugging or something that went wrong. But then how did her body end up in the sea? Mark tried to remember her body lying on the beach, but his mind skipped past it. Had there been any signs of murder? He couldn’t think of any, but that didn’t mean anything.

So that left suicide. Had she killed herself? And the unborn child? That was the most unbearable thing of all. He knew about depression from the time before, how it was an illness, and the person suffering from it wasn’t themselves and all that excusing bullshit. But at the end of all that, suicide was cowardly, it was desertion. He could understand how she could leave him behind, he was just her husband, just a man she maybe loved. But Nathan? And the second kid? How could she just give up on them like that? It was unthinkable.

Nathan came through from putting his jammies on with a sour look on his face.

‘I’ve got a sore tummy, Daddy.’

It was a familiar whine, not a real complaint, a little whimper for attention.

Mark held out his hand and Nathan came over and sat on his lap. Too big for that but what the hell.

‘Show me where.’

Nathan pointed to the side of his stomach and Mark rubbed gently at his abdomen. It felt tight.

‘When did you last go for a poo?’

Nathan shrugged. They’d been through this once before, constipation. They’d bought some sickly-sweet medicine over the counter which had eventually done the trick, a torrent of shit pouring out behind a hard plug twelve hours later. He didn’t want to go through that again.

‘I’ll give you some of that tummy medicine, OK?’

He felt the boy’s muscles tense under his hand.

‘Ow, it really hurts.’

It seemed like more than just a moan now, maybe some real pain.

‘And some Calpol too.’

Mark went to the bathroom and came back with the two bottles.

Nathan was watching some crap on the telly, a bloopers show. He winced and reached for his side.

Mark gave him the maximum amount of each medicine. If nothing else, the Calpol might help him sleep.

‘Hopefully that’ll stop it hurting.’

Nathan kept his eyes on the screen.

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