Cold Justice (Willis/Carter #4)(21)

‘How is it in there?’ asked Carter.

‘It’s tense.’ Jeanie kept her voice low. The stairwell was absolutely quiet, the lift silent. ‘What are you going to do now?’

‘We thought we’d ask Toby a few more questions.’

Jeanie didn’t answer. She looked past Carter at Willis. ‘Eb? What do you think?’

Willis turned back. ‘I don’t know. If we put too much pressure on Toby at this time he’ll crack up. But . . .’

‘Yes, I agree,’ Carter interrupted. ‘I just think – this is about his child, not him. This is not about what he should or shouldn’t keep from his wife. I want to ask him about Gareth.’

‘It’s your shout,’ said Jeanie. ‘But I don’t think it will serve any purpose to put them at each other’s throats at this hellish time.’

‘You’re right, it’s my shout.’ Carter took a step forward and passed Jeanie. ‘All I care about is finding Samuel. The child is my priority. I don’t care if they end up divorced so long as I get him back safe and sound.’

‘I heard about your burglary. Really sorry, Dan, is Cabrina dealing with it okay?’ Jeanie asked as she took a step closer to him and waited for his eyes to focus and stay on hers. ‘Are you okay?’

He smiled and gave her a hug.

‘You know me – I’ll be fine and Cabrina, well, she’s decided it’s a good excuse to redecorate.’

Jeanie left as Lauren answered the door; she looked exhausted. ‘Come in,’ she said wearily.

She nodded towards the lounge. Toby was sitting on the sofa staring at his laptop, headphones on. Carter threw a glance towards Willis and she went back to talk to Lauren.

‘Lauren, can I help you source a takeaway for your tea?’

Lauren took a few seconds to grasp what Willis meant. ‘No, it’s okay, thanks. I’m sure I can rustle up some pasta if we’re hungry.’

‘You have to eat, you know?’

Lauren snatched up some bedsheets to fold.

‘I know, I know, it all seems so normal, the only thing missing here is my two-year-old son. I don’t want it to be normal.’

‘I understand, but there is nothing you can do except do your best to stay sane and healthy and keep positive.’

Lauren smiled at Ebony and nodded as the detective took the other end of the sheet to help fold it.

Carter walked across the room behind Toby and glanced down to see what he was looking at on his laptop. He was on Facebook. Carter walked around to the front and waved in his face. ‘Facebook?’

Toby snatched the headphones from his head.

He looked caught out. ‘I thought that might have been one of Gareth’s playlists you were listening to?’ Toby shook his head. ‘Was that Gareth on Facebook?’ Carter persisted. Toby didn’t answer. ‘It’s just that we went to see him earlier this evening. He seems very fond of you. You’re good mates?’

Toby blinked at Carter. ‘I suppose you could say that.’

‘We met his mum,’ said Carter. ‘Seems she didn’t know you were married or had a kid.’

‘Why should she?’

‘Just wondered why you hadn’t mentioned it?’

‘It’s my private life. I like to keep it separate.’

‘Separate or secret?’

He shrugged. ‘I just don’t choose to share my private life with work colleagues, that’s all.’

‘Except Gareth – you took Gareth to your father’s flat.’

‘Well, he’s a friend. He had the afternoon off; he suggested it.’

‘Gareth suggested you have a look around your late father’s flat?’

‘Yes. He was free that afternoon.’

‘What did you do there then, you and Gareth?’

‘We didn’t do anything. We just went inside and took a quick look around. It didn’t feel right so I didn’t want to stay there.’

‘What didn’t feel right?’

‘I just wanted support, so I took Gareth.’

‘What did you find? What were you hoping to find?’

‘Nothing. Anything. Anything about my father. I don’t know. I was just really anxious.’

‘When was the last time you saw your father?’

‘Three years ago. I bumped into him in the street. He tried to ignore me but I wanted to tell him I’d just got married and Lauren was expecting, so I made sure he had to stop. He already knew about the marriage – Lauren sent him an invite, which he declined, saying that he was busy. I didn’t want him to come anyway. The whole conversation lasted about three minutes. He couldn’t wait to get away. He was charming but cold and excused himself. He tried to contact me a couple of times after that – he said he wanted to see Samuel, meet Lauren. He wanted to talk about the past. I didn’t answer. He didn’t deserve a relationship with me or Samuel.’

‘When was the last time he contacted you?’

‘About a month ago.’

‘What did he say?’

‘He phoned me, said he really wanted to make amends. I told him to go and hang himself. I told him he’d caused so much damage to me I’d never let him do that to my family.’