Daniel Carter was heart-sorry that he couldn’t put the man’s mind at rest. ‘I can ask about if you want, Michael? See where she is?’
Michael laughed bitterly. ‘I’ve already done that. Thanks anyway, mate.’ He watched Daniel leave the room and, sitting down behind his desk, he sighed heavily.
No one seemed to have clapped eyes on Jessie since last night. She had scored in Upney, then cabbed it back to her flat. After that, no one had seen or, more to the point, heard from her. Her mobile was permanently attached to her lughole, yet she hadn’t used it in the hours since. The piece of shit she had been hanging about with was shitting bricks now. He had been dragged from his bed, and questioned by three very large men. But he had been telling the truth – he had gone on to a club, which had been verified. Michael knew she hadn’t been nicked or he would have heard about it by now. He owned the local Filth, and they always contacted him immediately whenever she was arrested. Nevertheless he insisted that they check. But nothing. Jessie had disappeared off the face of the earth.
He tried her mobile again, but it just rang and rang. Where else could he look for his daughter? Jessie didn’t know that her whereabouts were always reported to him; if she turned up somewhere, he knew about it. It was his way of looking out for her and checking out the men she socialised with. It was so fucking hard having to pretend to everyone around him that he didn’t care about her life choices, knowing that if he interfered she would turn away from her mother completely and could cause problems for them and her little boy. She had him by the nuts.
Chapter Ninety-Eight
Josephine was listening to Jake as he chattered away to her. He was dressed for school, and she looked at him with pride; he was such a handsome boy.
‘Dana’s promised to take me to the park after school. I wish you would come with us, Nana. It’s such fun. I like the swings best. But Dana says that’s because I am such a fidget bucket!’ He laughed with delight. ‘I promise you, Nana, I will be a very good boy. I won’t make too much noise.’
Josephine hugged him tightly and kissed his forehead. ‘I think you and Dana will have a good time, Jake. You know your nana has lots of work to do. But I will see you when you get home, and you can tell me all about it.’
Jake looked at his nana intently for long moments, and Josephine could tell that he didn’t believe her about having to work.
‘OK, then. But I wish you would try to come with us sometimes.’
‘I will, Jake. Now get along or you’ll be late.’
He kissed her on the cheek, and she could hear him talking and fussing as he made his way down the stairs. She heard the front door slam, and sighed sadly; the house was so empty when he wasn’t in it. It had always been far too big really. Michael loved it and, in her own way, so did she. It was a home fit for a large family; as Michael used to joke, many years ago, the Von Trapps would get lost in it. That was back when they had thought they would be banging out babies as and when they desired them, before the pain of disappointment had settled over them. That was a long time ago.
She stood up slowly, and made herself cross the large landing to the bedroom she had once shared with her husband. As she walked into the room, she was pleased to see that he was already wide awake. He was sitting up in bed, watching the news on TV. He had a large mug of black coffee in his hands, so she knew he had already been up and about for a while.
‘I didn’t hear you come in last night, Michael.’
She sat on the bed beside him, and he leant over to kiss her lightly on the lips. ‘I was late in, Josephine. I didn’t want to wake you up, darling.’
‘Did you talk to Jessie? She hasn’t called since Tuesday morning. How did she seem yesterday? Did you ask her about Sunday?’
Michael Flynn looked at his lovely wife, who he loved more than anything else in the world. She was already in full make-up as always, and dressed in a very fetching cream-coloured silk dressing gown. It was expensive, he could see that, and it looked wonderful on her. Lana must have picked it out for her. She had always taken such good care of herself; the last few years, it was all she ever did. It was surreal, seeing her fully made-up night or day, her hair and her make-up perfect, as if she was going somewhere. His life was fraught with so many problems; sometimes, like now, he resented her for that. But he wouldn’t say anything. It was too late.
‘I didn’t see her, love. I had a lot on yesterday, and I didn’t hang about too long. To be honest, I wasn’t in the mood for her anyway.’
Josephine smiled at her husband gently. ‘I was hoping you’d seen her. But you know Jessie – she’ll turn up at some point.’
Michael nodded his agreement. ‘Like a fucking bad penny, she is. Anyway, we shouldn’t let her bother us. She knows where we are.’