The Lost
- Автор: Бекетт Саймон
- Серия: Jonah Colley #1
- Год: 2021
- Язык: английский
- Год: Orion/Trapeze
- ISBN: 978-1-398-70690-3
- Жанр: Триллеры
Электронная книга - «The Lost». Краткое содержание книги:
Ten years ago, the disappearance of firearms police officer Jonah Colley’s young son almost destroyed him.
A GRUESOME DISCOVERY
A plea for help from an old friend leads Jonah to Slaughter Quay, and the discovery of four bodies. Brutally attacked and left for dead, he is the only survivor.
A SEARCH FOR THE TRUTH
Under suspicion himself, he uncovers a network of secrets and lies about the people he thought he knew — forcing him to question what really happened all those years ago...
But he’d gone back later and fished it out again. Smoothed it out and stuck it in a drawer. It was another few weeks before he finally gave in and went to Hammersmith for the first time. The hidden-away entrance behind the snooker club had been hard to find, and its location hadn’t inspired confidence. There was nothing for him there, he’d thought.
He’d been wrong.
For two years, the twice-weekly meetings had been a lifeline, helping him get through each awful, empty week. The small hall became a sanctuary. Often there were only a few people there, sometimes only himself, Miles and Penny. On those occasions, talk would generally be about something else entirely rather than the defining tragedies that had brought them together.
Gradually, Jonah’s attendance had dropped off. But even when he no longer went to the meeting himself, he’d kept in touch with Miles. Or had, until recently. Now, looking around the empty hall, Jonah felt his conscience prick at how he’d allowed contact to lapse.
Miles came out of the kitchen bearing a tray. He’d taken off the overcoat, revealing his usual uniform of an open cardigan over a worn but crisply ironed white shirt. Some things, at least, never changed.
‘Here you go,’ he said, setting down the tray. On it were two mugs of tea and a plate of biscuits. Custard creams, Jonah saw. They’d always been Miles’s favourite. ‘Say if you’d like more milk.’
‘This is fine, thanks.’
Jonah never took milk or sugar anywhere else. Here, though, it somehow seemed natural. Miles sat down, moving a little stiffly, Jonah noticed. With another pang, he saw how his scalp showed through the thinning grey hair, and how the large but finely boned hands were mottled with liver spots he couldn’t remember seeing before.
But the smile was the same, and so was the warmth in the brown eyes. ‘It’s good to see you again, Jonah.’
‘I’ve been meaning to get in touch before now, but...’
‘Good grief, there’s no need to apologise. I’m just glad you’re all right. After I saw that newspaper article yesterday and realised you’d been at that awful place...’ He shook his head. ‘How are you?’
‘I’m OK.’ Jonah shrugged. ‘I won’t be doing ballet any time soon.’
‘A great loss to the world of dance, I’m sure.’ The soft brown eyes were searching. ‘But that isn’t what I meant. How are you?’
Jonah looked down at his mug. He’d gone there to talk, but that didn’t make it any easier.
‘I went to see my ex-wife earlier. She’s remarried, with twins. They’re nice kids.’
‘Ah.’ Miles nodded, considering his own mug. ‘I’m glad for her, of course. But that can’t have been easy. And I read that the police officer who died along with those other poor souls was a friend of yours. A close friend?’
From anyone else it might have felt like prying. ‘He used to be.’
‘I’m sorry. I’m sure he was a good man.’
A good man. Jonah had no idea if that described Gavin or not. ‘I don’t know. But he was a friend for a long time. I don’t like thinking of him as a bad one.’
‘A little of both, then. Like the rest of us.’ Miles sighed. ‘I’m not going to ask what went on in that place, but from the fact that you’re here I suspect you’re finding it hard to deal with. Which is perfectly understandable.’
Jonah started to speak, but his throat threatened to close up. He cleared it before trying again.
‘Let’s say it’s brought the past back in a way I wasn’t expecting.’ Much as he might want to, he couldn’t tell Miles about Owen Stokes. Chrissie had a right to know, but Jonah had taken enough of a chance telling her. ‘There’s a lot of things I don’t understand. I need to find answers, but I don’t know how.’
‘But you’re intending to find out?’
The simple clarity of the question cut through the fog that had surrounded Jonah. ‘Yes.’
Miles considered him for a while before speaking.
‘I remember the first time you came here. You sat at the back of the room, looking like you wanted to lash out at the world. I knew how you felt. I think most people who pass through that door would. Angry, confused, looking for someone to blame. And above all hurting. You were like a clenched fist.’
He held up his own to demonstrate.
‘I can’t tell you how heart-warming it was to see you gradually open up. For Pen as well as me. That’s why I was concerned when I realised you were involved in this dreadful business. Of course, I hoped you weren’t too badly hurt physically, but I was more worried about the emotional impact it might have. New trauma has a habit of unearthing old, and you’ve already experienced something most people never have to endure. I’d hate to see you clench into a fist again, Jonah.’
‘I won’t,’ Jonah said.
‘I do hope not. And I know you aren’t stupid enough to take the law into your own hands.’
It was said pointedly, but then Miles’s eyes crinkled in a smile. He reached for the plate and held it out.
‘Have a biscuit.’
Jonah took one, deciding it was time to move the conversation away from himself. ‘How’s Penny?’
‘Oh, she’s... well, not too good, actually. That’s why I haven’t been coming here so often. I only called in tonight to make sure everything was OK and collect the post.’ Miles was suddenly preoccupied with his tea. ‘Pen has cancer.’
‘Christ, Miles...’ The news jolted Jonah out of his own problems, making him feel selfish for putting them first. ‘Where?’
‘Pretty much everywhere, really. At least, by the time they caught it. She’s not having any treatment. She felt... well, we’d rather make the most of the time that’s left. I won’t say we’re reconciled, but we’ve both accepted it. Some days are better than others, but by and large she’s in good spirits.’
‘I’m so sorry...’
‘I know.’ The smile was back. ‘She’d love to see you. You must come round again. Soon.’
‘I will,’ Jonah promised.
It was after nine by the time Jonah got back to the flats. His knee was aching, so he parked on the road outside rather than contend with the long trudge back from the garage. The black sky was smudged with smoke-like clouds, only the brightest stars visible through the city lights as he made his way across the concrete concourse to the entrance. Hearing about Penny had left him sobered and saddened, yet in an odd way had also cleared his head. His own problems were no more comprehensible, but now at least he could view them with more perspective.
A group of youths was standing under a covered walkway off to one side. Jonah looked them over with the ingrained habit of a police officer, though not enough for it to be read as a challenge. They watched in silence as he went into the foyer and pressed the call button for a lift. One of the overhead lights was out, and it struck him yet again how dismal the place was. The wall tiles were cracked and filthy, while the glass panels in the entrance were misted where decades of graffiti had been scoured off.
Not for the first time, he wondered why he was still there. It wasn’t as though he had any reason to stay, and there was nothing keeping him from moving.
But as usual the thought didn’t gain any traction. Willing the lift to hurry up, he stooped to rub his aching knee, flexing the sore joint. A wave of cold air swept over him as two youths came in from outside. When the lift doors opened they followed Jonah in. Both had their hoods up, one of them wearing his over a black baseball cap. The other had a savage case of acne. They looked seventeen or eighteen, and there was a wired quality about them both. A sweetish chemical odour clung to their clothes. They weren’t looking at Jonah directly, but he caught one of them darting a glance towards the other as the doors slid shut.