A Lethal Frost by Danny Miller

Author:Danny Miller [Miller, Danny]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780593080023
Google: HLvDtAEACAAJ
Amazon: 0593080025
Publisher: Bantam Press
Published: 2018-08-08T23:00:00+00:00

Tuesday (2)

‘I went round to see Cathy … but her sister said she wasn’t seeing anyone. I was relieved. I’m her best friend and I was relieved she didn’t want to see me. Does that sound terrible?’

John Waters gave an understanding shake of his head – it didn’t sound terrible at all to him. The raw grief of a mother who’s just lost her child is overwhelming for anyone. He was in the living room of Ella Ross, the mother of Gavin. The room was compact and perfectly kept. There were lots of ferns and rubber plants in bright pots that Ella had decorated herself, and what looked like modern art framed up on the walls, in bold primary colours, but on closer inspection they’d been painted by Gavin, with his name and age, 7½, in the corner. There were photos dotted around the room, and some of them showed Gavin with Dean, and in some Cathy was present too, like one big, happy extended family.

Waters reached into his jacket pocket and took out his notebook and pen. Ella Ross took a measured breath, as if the notebook and pen represented a frightening new reality. Her son Gavin was missing, he hadn’t returned home since Sunday night. On Monday morning first thing, Ella hadn’t thought to report Gavin missing as he often stayed over with a friend. Then at lunchtime she heard about Dean. And by the end of Monday, she knew something was definitely wrong. Gavin hadn’t turned up at school. So she’d phoned the police.

She was about to call them again when the phone rang – it was John Waters, to tell her he was on his way to see her.

‘Sunday afternoon. It was about five-thirty.’

Waters gave her a questioning look.

‘Sorry, I thought you were going to ask when I last saw Gavin. That’s usually the first question, isn’t it?’

‘Usually, yeah. So where was that?’

‘Here. I’d just got in. Gavin rushed out when he saw me. He’s been doing that a lot lately.’

‘Where did he say he was going?’

‘To play football.’

‘You don’t sound convinced that he was.’

‘If he was, it was just in the streets, because he didn’t have his football kit or boots with him. One thing is for sure, if Dean was messing with drugs, Gavin was too.’ She gave a heartbreaking sigh. ‘That’s why Cathy doesn’t want to see me. She knows the pair of them as well as I do. That’s why, if anything like this was going to happen, I’d have sworn it would be Gavin.’

Waters heard the quake in Ella’s voice. He couldn’t tell whether it was grief, fear, or relief that it wasn’t Gavin who’d been found in the stairwell. It was probably a combination of all three, with some guilt thrown into the mix as well.

‘Had you noticed any changes in him?’

‘He’d snapped at me a couple of times, a bit short-tempered lately, but I just put that down to him being sixteen. But when he wasn’t out he was spending more time in his room.

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