The Missing Husband Read online

  Glancing up, Jo caught Kelly watching her from the open-plan office. She had twisted her seat around so that she could keep Jo in her sights. They made eye contact and Kelly quickly looked away. A second later, Gary appeared in front of her office and was reaching for the door handle.

  ‘I’ll do it from home, Irene.’

  ‘When, Jo? You can’t leave it until tonight.’

  ‘No, I’ll go home now,’ she said as Gary stepped through the door.

  He waited for Jo to finish her call and then said, ‘What’s going on Jo? I’ve had a call asking me what to do about a certain member of staff going AWOL.’

  For a moment, Jo didn’t know what to say, then blurted out, ‘David didn’t come home last night.’ She paused, and looked searchingly at his face, as though her mentor and friend could provide answers, but he looked dumbstruck. ‘Is it all right if I go home?’

  Gary’s eyes narrowed as he considered his reply. She knew how his mind worked. He wouldn’t be wondering whether or not to agree to her request but deciding whether to say yes and take a step back until Jo was ready to talk, or probe a little further. ‘Take the rest of the week off if needs be,’ he said at last. ‘I’ll work with Kelly to reorganize your diary but phone me if you need anything or if you think you’ll need more time off next week.’

  ‘Thanks, Gary,’ Jo said, trying not think of the possible reasons why she would need more leave the following week.

  She held her composure, but only until Gary had left the office. She started swallowing back air in desperate gulps as she scrambled for her mobile and dialled. Tears stung her eyes as she waited impatiently for the recorded voice to stop prattling on so she could leave a message. ‘I don’t know where you are but you’re scaring me, David,’ she said. Her fingers dug into the hard, uncompromising plastic of the phone that refused to let her make contact with her husband. She released a sob of frustration. ‘I love you and I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything and I’ll do whatever it takes to put things right.’ She looked down at her bump. ‘Anything. Just come home. Oh God, please come home, David. I love you so much and this is killing me!’

  She hung up and held her breath, refusing to let the tears fall, but when she tried to stand, she was hit by a wave of dizziness that turned her legs to jelly and then they buckled. Collapsing back on to her chair, Jo bent over and tried to put her head between her legs or as near as her pregnancy would allow. She thought she heard the door opening again but the sound was all but drowned out by the whooshing of the rising blood pressure inside her head. After a few minutes she sat up to find Kelly standing there.

  ‘I’m here to make sure you go home. Gary’s orders,’ she said.

  ‘I’m going,’ Jo agreed and was thankful that her training was finally paying off. Kelly didn’t ask any more questions.

  6

  There was no warm glow to greet Jo this time when she turned into Beaumont Avenue. The incessant rain had beaten the golden carpet of autumn leaves into a sodden brown mulch, but on a positive note, the bad weather had forced Jo to concentrate on the road, giving her brain a temporary reprieve from thoughts which would otherwise paralyze her with fear. But she couldn’t escape them for ever and as she pulled into the drive she knew she was about to face her fears head on. A familiar car was parked outside the house and through its steamed up windows she had spotted Irene and David’s brother Steve.

  ‘Any news?’ Irene asked, already at the side of the car as Jo opened the door.

  Jo shook her head. ‘Let’s get in out of the rain.’

  The house felt empty and abandoned despite the stampede of footsteps and flutter of coats that dripped puddles on the hallway floor. It was almost eleven but the daylight refused to step over the doorway and lights were flicked on as they trudged into the kitchen where Jo switched on the heating and then the kettle.

  So far no one had broken the silence. Her in-laws had only just entered this nightmare but already had that same haunted expression Jo had seen reflected in her bathroom mirror. She wondered if they too had convinced themselves that their worst fears wouldn’t be realized unless they were spoken aloud.

  ‘Coffee OK for everyone?’ Jo asked. ‘I’m afraid it’s only decaf.’

  Two heads nodded. Steve had taken a seat at the dining table but Irene stayed close. While Jo absorbed herself in lining up three mugs in a perfectly straight line, each one equidistant and with handles pointing to the right, Irene found the teabags.

  ‘So it’s tea then?’ Jo asked.

  ‘Hot, sweet, tea. That’s what’s needed,’ Irene said.

  Jo considered reminding Irene that she had stopped drinking caffeine while she was pregnant and that included tea but it didn’t seem so important any more and the two women continued the seemingly complicated task of making the drinks without another word.

  When Jo passed a mug to Steve she couldn’t look at him. He was younger than David by a couple of years but he had the same bright blue eyes. His deep brown hair was cropped in a similar style too, long enough to run your fingers through but only just. David’s features were perhaps a little rounder and the dimple on his chin more pronounced. Of the two, Steve was arguably the more attractive but where Steve was the charmer, David was the joker who could raise a smile in the darkest of hours and right now that was what they were all missing.

  ‘So when exactly did you see him last, Jo?’ Steve asked, as the silence became too much to bear.

  Guilt leaked warmth across Jo’s cheeks as her mind replayed the moment David had leaned over to kiss her goodbye while his stubborn wife feigned sleep. ‘He left for Leeds early yesterday for a training course. He texted to say he was on the train home and it was due in at Lime Street around seven. The battery on his phone was running out so we didn’t talk and – and I didn’t hear from him after that. He was going to get another train to West Allerton but I’ve no idea if he did … I don’t know where he went … I don’t know where he is.’

  ‘I haven’t seen Dave since the weekend but he seemed OK to me. I’ve checked with all our mates and no one else has seen him either,’ Steve said, answering the question that Jo hadn’t asked. ‘And I’ve tried phoning him, but no luck.’

  ‘Something’s happened to him,’ Irene said in a tone that wouldn’t be denied. ‘I know you’re scared but I can’t believe you didn’t phone the police last night. They should already be looking for him. You need to phone them, Jo. Now!’

  Jo’s body was so tense that she was barely able to nod, but when she saw Irene reaching for the phone, she quickly said, ‘I’ll phone from the living room.’ She didn’t want anyone listening in when she confessed to the police that she had misplaced her husband, but as she slipped out of the room Irene was right behind her.

  Jo stared down at the phone standing to attention in its cradle while her hands wrapped tightly around her mug of tea which she was loath to put down.

  It was Irene who eventually picked up the phone, but even she seemed frightened to hold it and quickly offered it to Jo. ‘Do you know the number for the local station or should we just dial 999?’

  ‘I’ve got the number.’

  Jo pressed each memorized digit slowly and deliberately. It was delaying the inevitable, but unlike the fruitless calls to David, this call was answered almost immediately.

  To her surprise, Jo’s concerns weren’t instantly dismissed although she did have to explain her situation three times before she was put through to a Detective Sergeant Baxter who made a formal record of her call. She spent much of the call reassuring the police officer that her husband was bound to turn up eventually. In fact if Irene hadn’t been standing next to her, leaning in so close that Jo had to fight the urge to push her away, she might have asked him to close the enquiry there and then. DS Baxter agreed that in all probability David would return of his own accord, but in the meantime he took down all the relevant details.

  As well as the basic information about David and his last known movements, DS Baxter
asked Jo some necessary but intrusive questions about the state of her husband’s mind, their marriage and any particular stress points in their lives. Her answers weren’t as open as they could have been, not with Irene listening to every tremulous word that reverberated in Jo’s mind like a nail being driven into a coffin. The best she could hope for was that the casket contained her marriage and not her husband.

  ‘He’s taken his passport?’ Irene asked when Jo replaced the receiver.

  Jo nodded.

  The sigh of relief was accompanied by a ‘Thank God,’ but when she saw the look of dismay on Jo’s face, Irene added, ‘Sorry, I just mean it’s a possible explanation. However irresponsible and – I can’t believe I’m saying this of David – however heartless it would be of him, it’s better than considering what else could have happened. But I can tell you this much, Jo, he’ll be getting a piece of my mind when he does come home.’ Irene sighed and shook her head. ‘But right now I’d—’

  ‘Forgive him anything?’ Jo offered in complete agreement.

  ‘Are they sending someone round?’

  ‘Yes, later on this evening, assuming we still haven’t heard anything, and I’ve got a number to ring if David does show up.’

  ‘Right,’ Irene said, nodding her head, letting the news sink in.

  Jo had been dreading the call, afraid that the police would simply dismiss her concerns but terrified that they would convince her that something bad had happened. What DS Baxter had actually told her was that they would be taking David’s disappearance seriously, but to hold out hope that the call had been unnecessary. She should have felt relieved but instead she felt a crushing sense of anti-climax. What was she meant to do now? David was still missing, now it was simply official. She couldn’t move forwards and she couldn’t travel back in time; she was caught in limbo.

  Irene took Jo by the arm and led her back into the kitchen. ‘I’ll make us another cuppa,’ she said.

  Jo didn’t argue when Irene yanked a half-full mug of tea from her grasp – her mother-in-law clearly needed to keep busy, and if making a fresh brew that no one wanted was Irene’s way of coping then so be it. They would all have to find their own ways of coping over the next hours, days or, God forbid, longer.

  Turning her attention to another of Irene’s errant sons, Jo asked, ‘Where’s Steve?’

  ‘I heard him go upstairs; he probably nipped to the loo.’

  When Jo stepped into the hallway, she stopped to listen. There were no signs of life and judging from the grey light glancing off the walls on the landing the bathroom door was ajar. There was only a slight hesitation before she began to climb the stairs. She might have to accept that very soon every inch of her life would be scrutinized but this was still her house and no one, especially Steve, had the right to poke his nose in her life.

  Jo didn’t trust her brother-in-law at the best of times. Steve had relied on his charm a little too much to get him through life. The twinkle in his eye which said ‘I know you want me,’ had fooled some women but not Jo. She preferred the brother with the mischievous smile and eyes that simply said, ‘want me.’ And she had wanted him. She still did.

  However, despite their differences, the two brothers were as thick as thieves, as David had proved some five and a half months ago. A picture formed in her mind of David in the living room. April sunshine streamed through the window, warming his face and softening the frown furrowing his brow.

  ‘I can’t believe you’ve just done that,’ she had stammered, looking from her husband’s face to the phone still in his hand.

  He ran his fingers through his hair in exasperation. ‘What did you expect me to say?’

  ‘I don’t know, David. Perhaps tell Sally the truth?’

  ‘He’s my brother, Jo.’

  ‘And I suppose Sally is only his wife,’ Jo concluded.

  ‘She phoned on the pretext of offering me and Steve a lift on Saturday but you know as well as I do that she was only checking up on him. And I didn’t lie; I will be with Steve and I’m happy to be the designated driver.’

  ‘But unless I’m very much mistaken, you’ve been designated to drive to the races, not the golf course,’ Jo said as she continued to glare. ‘Why the lie?’

  ‘You know what Sally’s like. She’s counting the pennies and wouldn’t approve of him throwing money away on the horses.’

  ‘Counting the pennies so she’s not left destitute when Steve leaves her high and dry,’ Jo countered. She watched David draw a breath and knew what he was going to say so added, ‘And yes, he would do that. You know it’s only a matter of time before their marriage disintegrates and you’re not helping.’

  ‘He’s my brother, Jo,’ David said again.

  ‘And you’d cover his back no matter what.’

  ‘Yes, I would.’

  ‘Including lying to his wife?’

  ‘Well, yes, if I was forced to.’

  ‘And would he do the same for you?’

  ‘Yes!’ David said with a passion that vanished once he saw Jo’s eyes widen. ‘I mean, no! There’s nothing I’d ever do that would ever, ever require Steve to lie for me. Not ever, Jo.’

  He was half-laughing while Jo remained grim-faced. She had cornered him on purpose so she could enjoy watching him squirm, but her thoughts had been drawn to her own deceit. She was feeling distinctly uncomfortable and didn’t know what to say. She hadn’t exactly lied to David. She had told him she was getting impatient to start a family and he knew her well enough to know that she would take matters into her own hands. If he asked, of course she would tell him she had come off the pill. If he asked …

  ‘You are the most important person in my life, Jo,’ David continued. ‘More important than any other living being, including myself.’

  Jo caught the twinkle in his eye that dared her to want him. Resuming their game, she glowered back.

  Unabashed, David turned his attention to the mantelpiece, his eye drawn to the long silver tray holding three church candles of varying heights. He reached over and nudged the tray off-centre then looked back for Jo’s response. He was going for her Achilles heel.

  Jo’s eyes narrowed as her discomfort returned, only this time it was caused by three blocks of wax that were out of alignment.

  He pushed the tray an inch further and her patience along with it.

  ‘Stop it,’ she warned, but a smile was now pulling at the corners of her mouth.

  ‘Come here and say that.’

  The memory was strong enough to bring another smile to Jo’s lips as she reached the top of the stairs. They had enjoyed making up after the fight and if Jo wasn’t very much mistaken, it had been the night she had conceived. David’s art of seduction may not have been textbook, but it had worked. Refocusing on the present, her smile faltered and when her stomach lurched she did her best to ignore her baby’s kick. She had been the first to breach the trust in their relationship, so wouldn’t David be justified in breaking it completely? Would there be any making up this time or had he had enough? Was he using his unconventional powers of seduction on someone else at that very moment? Unwilling to contemplate the answer, Jo concentrated her mind on the brother she could hear scuttling around in the study.

  ‘What the hell?’ she began, leaving it to Steve to finish that particular statement. He had heard the door opening and was jumping back from the desk even as she entered the room.

  ‘That was quick! Did you phone the police? Any news?’

  ‘Not really, they’re sending someone round later,’ Jo replied but wouldn’t be distracted. ‘So?’

  ‘I thought there might be something here, some clue to suggest he’s gone away of his own accord. Have you checked the wardrobes? Is anything missing?’

  ‘You mean you haven’t gone through my knickers drawer yet?’ she asked, raising an eyebrow. The comment broke the tension and she relaxed a little. ‘I’ve done this already, Steve, and no, nothing is missing.’ She held back from telling him about the pas
sport because the last thing she needed was someone else rejoicing at the possibility that David had deserted her. She still couldn’t believe it of him, not really, and yet she wouldn’t consider anything else. Her eyes darted to the world map that was David’s pride and joy as if it could provide the answers. It covered almost one entire wall and was peppered with a dozen green pins marking all the places they had been and a scattering of red ones to pinpoint destinations that David still planned to visit. The pin piercing the ‘San’ in San Francisco burned red, searing Jo’s conscience.

  ‘I’ve gone through every drawer, every file, even the ones on his computer but there’s nothing.’

  Steve shook his head. ‘There must be something.’

  ‘I know everything there is to know about David.’ The statement was meant to give her courage but instead it knocked Jo off kilter. They lived and worked together but there was a healthy degree of separation too. Right now it felt like a chasm. ‘Or at least I thought I did.’

  Steve came forward and without invitation wrapped his arms around her. She wanted to push him away, still annoyed that he had invaded her privacy but her need to feel a pair of arms around her was too strong. She closed her eyes and tried to imagine it was David holding her but as she inhaled, the tenuous connection was severed by the pungent smell of another man’s aftershave. Repulsed, she pulled away.

  ‘We’ll find him,’ Steve promised. ‘Let’s go downstairs, shall we, before Mum thinks we’ve gone missing too?’

  ‘I’d prefer it if you asked before rooting through my things next time,’ Jo said acidly in case he was under the impression he was forgiven.

  ‘Sorry, I was just so desperate to find an answer. I can’t sit back and do nothing.’ They were heading downstairs now and as they reached the bottom, Steve stopped her in her tracks. ‘Why didn’t you phone the police straight away, Jo?’

  ‘Sorry?’

  ‘I mean, if it was me, the first thing I would have thought was, and I hate to say it, that something bad had happened. You were expecting him home and he didn’t make it. What did you think had happened if you didn’t think it was something bad?’