Cold as Ice (Willis/Carter #2)(22)

‘You have a lot on your plate with little Sky?’ Carter asked.

He looked towards Carter and sighed out loud as he shook his head.

‘We will manage.’ Already his face was turning from the look of grief to a deep residue of anger. ‘We’ve looked after her all her life. I’m sure Jeanie’s told you – my daughter relied on us to look after Sky.’

‘Did you have a good relationship with Emily – were you close?’

He turned back to the window. The shadow from the net curtain chequered his face.

‘I regret being a little too easy on her.’ He sighed heavily. ‘Sometimes I think I could have been tougher on her; but with her brother gone . . . well, it was hard to get the balance right. We were so busy grieving we didn’t notice she wasn’t going to school. She got into trouble – drugs and a bad lot of friends – and then she left home for three years, we didn’t see her and then she came back pregnant. When she went missing I thought she’d slipped back to her old ways. Yes, we spoilt her, I know. But, who wouldn’t? After what happened to her brother we felt we had to treasure her. Maybe we allowed her to get away with too much. But, inside, in her heart, she was a lovely person. She would never intentionally hurt anyone. We had our rows but in the past year she seemed to really be making a go of it. I can’t understand why anyone would want to harm her, she was so lovely. She was an honest person – direct.’ He smiled and looked across at Ebony. ‘Very direct, almost in a child-like way. She never hesitated to say what ever came into her head. But she didn’t always understand people. She didn’t always have the skills you need to understand.’ A wash of confusion crossed his face and then sorrow replaced it. ‘But she was beautiful, inside and out – trusting, a free spirit and she had guts, determination. She knew she had a lot to learn; she held her hands up . . . but she did something about it. I failed her – didn’t give her credit. I should have trusted her to stick by Sky, to honour the promises she made to us.’

He shook his head. He looked at Ebony and waited for her to give him some reassurance but she couldn’t. Ebony stared back at him. He turned back to the window.

‘I guess that’s just something I have to carry with me.’

‘I’m sure you did what any parent would have done, Mr Styles.’ Carter smiled sympathetically. ‘She obviously loved living here and she trusted you to look after Sky. Why was she going to move out?’

‘It was time, the next part in her journey in life. She was taking small steps and we didn’t mind how small they were. We loved having her back here and we adore Sky. She was really pleased with the flat. Her mum helped her buy all the bits for it. It’s just around the corner from here. Still we thought maybe that’s why she ran away, the thought of having to cope alone. But she didn’t run away. We did her an injustice. We should have known she wouldn’t.’

‘Did she have a boyfriend?’ asked Carter, trying to seem sympathetic but also trying to push the conversation along.

‘Not that we’d seen. Nobody serious anyway.’

‘She must have had some male friends?’ Carter persisted.

Mr Styles wrapped his arms around himself and his face was lit with the lights from the passing traffic.

‘Yes, she had some.’ He shrugged. ‘There are ones she’s known since she was young; she grew up around here. She spent her childhood in this house.’

‘But no one special?’

‘She was at college, she’d made some new friends through that. I think she’d had a few dates with the same person. But nothing you’d call a relationship.’

‘Did you hear a name being talked about?’

‘No. Emily was quite a private person, especially where we were concerned. We were on a “need to know” basis. Plus, if she had been seeing someone she wouldn’t have brought them back here. She had spent a few nights on and off in her new flat. She would have taken them there.’

‘What was she studying?’ asked Ebony.

‘She was taking basic qualifications, hoping to train as a veterinary nurse, first rung of the ladder type of thing.’

‘What about Sky’s father’s family? Do any of them ever come around?’ asked Carter.

‘Occasionally Bo used to show up with a present for Sky. He doesn’t give any money, that’s for sure. When he went back inside, Emily got the odd phone call from him, that was all. She’d definitely moved on.’ He shook his head. ‘She was so busy, so excited about college, that’s all she talked about. She had a new set of friends.’

‘How did she manage for money?’

‘She didn’t really.’ Styles smiled, shook his head. ‘She was always broke. We helped her out.’ He smiled. ‘We didn’t mind.’ His voice was barely audible as he addressed no one in particular. ‘It doesn’t seem right that it happened to her – just when she was getting somewhere and things were going right.’

‘I understand. I am sorry. It’s very tough for you. One more thing – I think I know the answer to this but please understand I have to ask. Was there any chance Emily was injecting any kind of drug?’

Trevor Styles shook his head, saddened that the question had been asked. He looked across at Ebony. She didn’t flinch from his gaze. He shook his head.