‘Everything’s going to be fine. I’ve been running, that’s all.’ He moved to the side and glanced at his reflection in the oven door. He no longer looked like himself, and he wondered if mere mud and exhaustion could do that.
‘Olivia won’t want to go. She’s only been up twenty minutes, she hasn’t even had . . .’ Lucy nodded at the toast, and Vic moved quickly across to her, grasping her upper arms and pulling her close. He stared into her gorgeous blue eyes for a few seconds, seeing how this was upsetting her but unable to change course. Then he hugged her to him, thinking of the dream and his dead sister, and those brief moments of suspicion he’d seen in his wife’s eyes.
‘Something came through,’ he said.
‘What?’ Her voice was muffled against his shoulder.
‘Just trust me. I’ll tell you everything I know when we’re rolling. But I want to be away from here in ten minutes.’ Vic let go and moved back, looking her in the eyes again and loving everything about her. She was scared, but she’d sniffed back any tears.
‘Okay,’ she said. ‘But Olivia will—’
‘Daddy!’ the little girl shouted as she ran into the kitchen, and Vic’s smile as he spun around to sweep her up was genuine. Olivia hugged him tight around the neck and her long hair brushed against his face, tickling his nose. ‘Wow, you’re all dirty.’
‘Yeah, I know, sweetie!’ he said, hugging her back. This was everything he had left Coldbrook for. He turned so that he could see Lucy and offer her a smile.
‘Hey, honey,’ Lucy said. ‘Daddy’s been keeping a surprise from us.’
‘Has he found Rosie?’ Olivia asked, so serious. Rosie was a doll she’d lost over a year ago, a ragtag creation that still seemed to visit her dreams.
‘Not Rosie, sweetie,’ Vic said. ‘But we’re going on holiday.’
‘Yay! No school?’
‘No school,’ he said.
‘How long for?’
Vic glanced at Lucy, and something in his eyes must have struck her for the first time. She leaned gently against the kitchen worktop for support.
‘Only a few days,’ he said. ‘That’s all.’
Vic wanted to leave in ten minutes, but it was almost twenty before they were sitting in their RAV4, Olivia strapped into her seat in the back with a Nintendo DS open on her lap, Lucy clicking her seat belt and sitting back, staring straight ahead. When he’d stretched to push several large water bottles behind the front seats, she’d caught sight of the pistol in his belt. She’d hardly said anything since and it was time to tell her what he knew.
‘Lucy, everything I’m doing is for—’
‘Should I call my mother?’ Lucy asked. There was a quiver of fear in her voice. ‘Or Richard? He and Rhian are in Seattle, should I—’
‘Don’t call anyone!’ Vic said, more sharply than he’d intended.
Lucy blinked and stared at him wide-eyed.
He sighed, started the car, and sat back in his seat for a moment, eyes closed, trying to remember everything they had packed. Should have brought more food, he thought. And water. Only ten litres of water. Lucy had thrown a load of clothes into a suitcase and a kitbag, and Vic had added some heavy walking boots, coats and gloves, even though it was still only September. Toys and books for Olivia, a mobile charger for his phone, the spare five hundred dollars he kept in an envelope in his desk drawer. When he’d casually loaded a compact tent and camping stove into the car, Lucy’s glare had been thunderous. But he’d ignored it and walked away, because there was so much left to do.
‘Where are we going?’ Olivia asked, breaking the awkward silence. Vic looked at her in the rear-view mirror, hunched down over the DS and immersed in her child’s world.
‘North,’ he said. ‘Somewhere nice. It’s a surprise.’