The Lost Man(56)

Xander moved into the light so Nathan could see what he was holding. It was one of Lo’s paintings, and it had been professionally framed. It showed a family of four, with Cameron fully recognisable alongside his wife and two daughters. Everyone in Lo’s picture was smiling, for once.

‘There’s a card as well.’ Xander held it out.

It was a small square with a picture of lilies on the front. Nathan could tell from Xander’s face that he’d already read what was inside. Nathan opened it and read the words in Cameron’s distinctive handwriting.

Forgive me.





Chapter 20



In the morning, Ilse was already gone.

Nathan had woken far later than usual, opening his eyes to find daylight creeping through the curtains in the living room. He and Xander had stayed up too long, the hurricane lamp burning in the garage as they sat and stared at Cameron’s words.

Forgive me.

Eventually, Nathan had taken the card and put it in his pocket.

‘You going to show it to Ilse?’ Xander had said.

‘Yeah. Tomorrow.’

But the house was quiet as Nathan dressed. From the window, he could make out the small shapes of Sophie and Lo playing some sort of game in the garden, while Liz watched. Even from that distance, Nathan could see the slump to her shoulders, and the exhausted curve of her spine. There was no sign of Ilse with them.

Neither was she in the kitchen, where Katy was cleaning up alone, or in her office. Nathan walked back down the hall and checked on Xander, who was still sleeping. Relaxed against the pillow, his face looked younger than it had the night before. Nathan closed the door. Across the hallway was the girls’ bedroom. It had been Cameron’s room when they were kids. Nathan stood, remembering all those bleary-eyed pre-dawn mornings when he had opened his door and come face to face with his brother. Since taking over the property, Cameron had slept in the master bedroom at the end of the hall. Cameron and Ilse, anyway. Liz had moved to the smaller bedroom along from the girls, where she’d said she was happier.

The door of the master bedroom was open, and Nathan wandered up and peered inside. The big items of furniture didn’t look like they had been replaced since the room had belonged to his mum and dad, but the space was unfamiliar beyond that. Someone, Ilse presumably, had painted the walls and added photos of the girls and a few other personal touches.

The room looked cared for but now felt – Nathan tried to put his finger on it – disturbed. The bed was made, but badly, and the deep dents in the pillows hinted at a poor night’s sleep. Old coffee cups left clusters of rings on the bedside table, on Ilse’s side, he guessed. A bottle of painkillers stood among them with its cap off. A few pills were scattered loose beside the cups.

Nathan glanced back at the girls’ room, then at the bottle on the table. He hesitated, then walked in, the floorboards creaking loudly under his boots. He gathered up the loose pills, tipped them into the bottle and clicked the safety cap on. He checked the label. It was only over-the-counter paracetamol, but there were a lot of tablets in the bottle. He stood there for a while, then returned the bottle to where he’d found it.

He stepped out into the hall and grunted as he collided heavily with someone in the shadows. They both stumbled. It took Nathan a beat to place the man in front of him in the dim light.

Simon.

Simon’s gaze flicked past Nathan to the bedroom behind him, then settled with an expression that was hard to read.

‘I’ve been trying to find you,’ he said.

‘I was looking for Ilse.’ Nathan could hear the defensive note in his tone and cleared his throat. He didn’t have to explain.

‘She went riding along the drive about an hour ago.’

‘Oh. Thanks. And what did you want?’

‘Phone call for you.’

‘For me?’ Nathan couldn’t think of a single person who would want to speak to him. ‘Who is it?’

Simon shrugged. ‘Someone you’ve been trying to reach, apparently.’

It was the electrical contractor.

‘Dave,’ Nathan said, as he heard the man’s voice. ‘How’s my coolroom?’

‘I couldn’t tell you, mate. I was out at your place on Friday like we arranged, but I couldn’t get in.’

‘To the coolroom?’

‘To your house. It was locked.’

‘But –’ Nathan squeezed his eyes shut. ‘Shit.’

The only time he ever bothered to lock his doors was when Xander was staying. The chance of the kid’s laptop getting stolen was zero, but it seemed to make Xander feel better. Dave’s voice was crystal clear down the line. That didn’t bode well. He must be somewhere well populated. ‘Please tell me you’re still in the area,’ Nathan said anyway.

‘Nup, sorry. Had to head home. Christmas with the kids.’

‘Christ.’ Nathan had been waiting three weeks for the contractor to get enough jobs to make the trip from St Helens worth his while. ‘You couldn’t have broken in?’

‘Well, I could have.’ Dave sounded mildly offended. ‘But I didn’t know how you’d feel about that.’

‘I would have felt fine about it. I need the bloody thing working.’

Dave allowed a brief silence to convey his displeasure with Nathan’s tone. Nathan took a breath.