“No,” he snapped, cutting me off. He got in the car and faced me. “You can’t go. They found something.”
For the second time in twenty minutes, my world stopped spinning. “What did they find?” I whispered, gulping down my fear.
“Two bodies. It’s not Summer, but they’re still looking.”
“How do they know it’s not Summer? They’re sure?”
He nodded. “They’ve been down there too long for it to be her.” My stomach turned. What would a body that had been in water for longer than five months look like? I scrunched my eyes closed in pain. “We need to go there, Lewis.”
“Are they going to find her too?” I felt as if my chest were being cut open and my heart ripped out. I had never felt anything so painful—it took my breath away. Was I about to go and watch my girlfriend’s body being dragged from a canal? “I…I don’t…” Worlds failed to make sense. Nothing made sense. She was too young, too smart, and too beautiful to have her life ripped away from her like that. We had so much we wanted to do together to have it ripped away from us.
“We just need to go. Now.” Henry slammed the door closed. “Follow my dad.” Michael and the other officer rushed to their car and sped off. Shit, this is bad. “Go, Lewis,” Henry growled. I jumped and looked up. His parents were already driving down the road. Go, just go. I pulled off and raced after them.
***
It was freezing outside. The freezing wind bit at my skin through my stupidly thin sweater. I walked slowly along the edge of the canal with Henry and Summer’s parents. None of us were in any hurry to find out if our worst nightmare was about to come true.
Up ahead, police tape cordoned off an area of the canal just before a sharp corner. If we were made to stand there, we would barely see a thing. My heart was in my mouth as we approached the tape. I clenched my fists and held my breath.
“Daniel, go and find out,” Dawn said, begging her husband. This was the first time she had come out. There was nothing anyone could have said to get her to stay behind this time. She had called her mum to sit in the house just in case, by some miracle, Summer called. I needed a miracle.
All of a sudden, the cops burst into action, running off in the opposite direction so I couldn’t see anything. “What’s happening?” I shouted.
“Stay there. I’ll come and let you know anything as soon as I do,” Michael said over his shoulder as he ran toward all the fuss.
“Summer!” Dawn screamed. No! It can’t be her. “Not my little girl. Someone please tell me what’s going on. Daniel!” she pleaded. Her voice shook as she sobbed hysterically.
The air left my lung in a big rush; I leaned down on my thighs and tried to breathe. If Sum was down there, how did she die? Was she in pain before? Was it quick? I took a deep breath and blinked rapidly. Don’t think about that.
“Michael, what’s going on?” Daniel called. I craned my neck around so quickly the muscles stretched.
Michael strode toward us. “It’s not Summer.” Closing my eyes, I let out a deep sigh of relief. Thank God.
Daniel shook his head. “So there’s three now?”
Michael nodded and scratched the side of his head. “Yes. I can’t say any more. I really do think you should wait at home, and I’ll call you if there’s any news.”
Was he expecting to make that call? “Do you think Summer’s in there?” I asked again, hoping someone would eventually say no.
“Lewis, I can’t say. I sincerely hope not, but we will continue searching until we know this water is clear.”
23
CLOVER
Saturday, December 19th (1987)
Mummy held my hand tight as we crossed the busy road. We were going to buy Daddy’s Christmas present and buy the ingredients to bake cookies and cupcakes. “Mummy, can we make sausage rolls tonight too? I love sausage rolls!”
“That’s a wonderful idea, Colin. Sausage rolls are Daddy’s favorite too.” I smiled wide and jumped up and down. Sausage rolls were all our favorites? and I couldn’t wait to eat at least five in one go. “In here, sweetheart,” she said and pulled me into a boring clothes shop. I hated going into clothing stores, but not more than I hated going into grocery stores. They were the most boring.
“What are we doing in here, Mummy?”
She looked down at me and smiled. “We’re getting Daddy a pair of gloves and a sweater for Christmas.”
I frowned. “But I want to get him a new car. He said his old one is nearly dead.”
She bent down and squeezed my cheek. “That’s very nice of you, sweetheart, but we don’t have enough money for that. Mummy and Daddy will sort the car out in the new year, okay?”
“Okay. Can we get him blue gloves?”
“Of course.” She ruffled my hair and stood up. She always messed my hair up and then told me to flatten it so it was nice. I grinned. Silly Mummy. “What about these?”