Million Love Songs(79)

‘Is that who you got my number from?’ He nods. ‘Is she at home on her own?’

‘I thought she’d be OK.’ He goes into petulant mode again. ‘I’ve only been out for an hour. Two at the most. I wanted to meet my mates at the city. She didn’t mind.’

But his dad will. I think Joe’s going to be a bit more cross than I thought. ‘Oh, Tom.’

‘I was heading home,’ he protests. ‘And I’ve checked that she’s OK. Twice.’

‘Have you phoned your dad?’

‘Dad didn’t answer his phone. Mum’s having a romantic weekend away with her bloke. Another one. It wasn’t even worth trying her. She’s never around now.’ I can’t help but hear the bitterness in his voice. ‘I didn’t know who else to call.’

‘Well, I’m glad you phoned me.’

‘Dad will go ballistic, won’t he?’ Tom turns frightened eyes to me. ‘If this hadn’t happened I’d have been home in loads of time. He would never have known.’

‘For future reference, parents have a way of knowing. I’m sure he’ll be more worried than angry.’ Which makes me realise just how worried I am about Tom too. ‘What time is he due home?’

‘Not till eleven.’ That’s not too long. He hangs his head. ‘This is the first time he trusted me to look after Daisy. I’m gonna be grounded for ever!’

‘I’ll try him again. Do you want to wait in the car?’

‘I might bleed on your seat.’

‘It doesn’t matter. It’s better than standing out here.’ I help Tom to walk, but I think he’s shocked rather than hurt and I don’t want him to faint. He’s definitely looking a bit green.

When he’s settled in the passenger seat, I punch Joe’s number into my phone as I sit on the kerb next to Tom. This time he answers straight away.

‘Hi, Ruby. This is an unexpected pleasure.’

‘Not exactly a pleasure,’ I tell him. ‘Now I don’t want you to panic,’ I sound as calm as I possibly can, ‘but Tom’s been involved in a bit of an incident.’

Of course, Joe panics immediately. ‘What kind of incident? What’s happened? Is he all right? Is he hurt?’

‘He’s OK.’ I decide to give him scant details so that he doesn’t jump straight in his car and drive here like a maniac and we end up with two incidents. ‘He’s had his bike stolen. Can you leave work?’

‘My cover doesn’t take over for another hour and I can’t leave the place unattended. It’s too risky. I’ll ring and see if they can come in early. Tom’s definitely all right?’

‘Yes, just a bit shaken. We can explain it all when we see you. We’re just waiting for the police.’

‘Police?’

‘There was a scuffle too.’ That doesn’t quite describe the ordeal that Tom’s been through, but it will do for now. ‘They’re coming to take details. Don’t worry. He’s fine. Shaken, that’s all.’

‘Why didn’t he ring me?’

‘He did. If you check your phone you’ve probably got a missed call from him.’

‘And Gina?’

‘Away for the weekend.’

‘Of course,’ he mutters.

‘Tom was sensible enough to get my number from Daisy and I came straight here.’

‘Thanks, Ruby,’ Joe says. ‘I owe you.’

‘Just get here as soon as you can.’ I tell Joe where we are.

‘He’s where? What the hell is he doing up there at this time of night?’ I can feel his fury coming down the phone.

‘We can also talk about that when you get here.’

We both hang up. Tom looks at me gratefully.

‘That wasn’t too bad. He’ll understand.’

‘I’ve really fucked up, haven’t I?’ he say, woefully.

I consider offering some platitudes but, instead I say, ‘Yeah. It’s not the end of the world though. You’re relatively unharmed. Apart from the great shiner you’ll have tomorrow.’

Tom risks touching his swollen eye and winces. ‘Thanks for coming to get me, Ruby.’

‘Not a problem. You did the right thing,’ I tell him. ‘And with your quick thinking, the police have a chance of catching who did it.’

‘I’d like my bike back,’ he says woefully. ‘And a new phone.’

There’ll come a time when Tom realises that, after an attack like that, escaping with only a stolen bike and a broken phone is actually a small price to pay. It makes me feel nauseous to think it, but what happened could have turned out so much worse.





Chapter Seventy-Two





Less than ten minutes later, a squad car pulls up. They go through the details with Tom and then we both get in the car and drive round the nearby streets in case we see the thugs on his bike, but we don’t. After that, we’re asked to accompany them to the station so they can take DNA swabs and check if there’s anything useful that can be gleaned from the photos on Tom’s phone.

Joe hasn’t yet arrived, so I call and let him know that he should meet us there. We head down to the station in my car. In the passenger seat, Tom lets his head go back and he closes his eyes. He looks exhausted.