‘Can I leave now?’ Justin looked up from his bruised fist as Taylor came back into the interview room. He had been left there while they waited for the officer in charge to report back on whether ‘Mr Radley’ was going to file charges. He’d obviously hit him harder than he’d realised. Should have hit the fucker harder.

At least he wasn’t being held in a cell, Justin supposed, though that was where he might well end up, Taylor had warned him, if he didn’t get his emotions under control. Justin wanted to challenge him to do the same, to remain perfectly calm while some bastard was using his missing daughter as leverage over his wife.

‘Tell me something.’ Folding his arms across his chest, Taylor studied him curiously. ‘Did it make you feel better? Punching the man, did it solve anything?’

Justin noted the edge to his tone. ‘Not much, no,’ he admitted. He hadn’t felt very proud of the fact that he’d given in to his base instincts. As to whether it had solved anything, that remained to be seen. If Alicia didn’t want Radley contacting her, then the man needed to understand that. He also needed to know that if he even spoke Sophie’s name, then Justin was very close to making sure he wouldn’t ever again.

‘Just so you know,’ Taylor said, ‘I get why you did it. I’d probably have done the same myself, to be honest.’

Justin glanced at him.

‘I have kids.’ Taylor shrugged, now looking sympathetic, at least. ‘I also have a wife. Ex, that is. I’ll leave it to your imagination as to why’

Surveying him thoughtfully, Justin nodded, supposing that he would have some inkling of how he felt. It didn’t really help.

‘Look, Justin…’ Taylor dragged out a chair and sat down opposite him. ‘I understand your frustration. I can’t imagine what it must be like to lose a child so young under such tragic circumstances, to then to have your teenage daughter go missing. I promise you, we’re doing all that we can.’

Rubbing his eyes in exhaustion, Justin declined to answer. As far as he could see, that still amounted to nothing.

‘He’s not filing charges,’ Taylor went on. ‘I’m not majorly surprised, under the circumstances.’ He smiled wryly, and then drew in a breath. ‘In regard to your certainty that he may have had some contact with Sophie, we asked him the question, obviously.’

Justin looked sharply back at him. ‘And?’

Taylor’s expression held a warning. ‘He has.’

What? Justin’s first reaction was bewilderment. His second – gut-clenching fury that the bastard hadn’t said. His third was overwhelming relief. She was alive. He’d known it. He could feel her. ‘When?’ he asked throatily.

‘Two days ago,’ Taylor said.

Justin sucked in a breath, buried his head in his hands and suppressed an overwhelming urge to cry.

‘He phoned her,’ Taylor continued, as Justin struggled to formulate any words. ‘He didn’t know she was missing, so he says. He was, and I quote, “simply initiating contact with his daughter”.’

‘My daughter,’ Justin managed to sputter.

Taylor didn’t comment on that. ‘She said she was staying with a friend.’

Justin nodded, trying very hard to do the simplest thing in the world and breathe. ‘She didn’t say where?’ he asked, and then coughed, attempting to clear the hard knot in his throat.

Shaking his head regretfully, Taylor sat back in his chair. ‘Apparently not.’ He paused while Justin attempted to compose himself. ‘I know this is painful, Justin,’ he said, after a second, ‘but possibly less painful than the alternative you were imagining, yes?’

Swiping a hand across his eyes, Justin nodded, vigorously this time.

‘We’re keeping our ears to the ground, Justin. We’re still pursuing any leads we can in regard to the hit-and-run that took your boy away. What you need to do now, if you care to take some advice from someone who knows, is be there for each other. You and Alicia. Right now, you need each other.’

Justin didn’t respond. He doubted he could get the words past the fractured pieces of his heart, which still seemed to be lodged in his windpipe.

‘You can leave as soon as you’re ready,’ Taylor said kindly. ‘Just promise me you’ll seek counselling if you need it,’ he added, as Justin got to his feet. ‘I would offer you some numbers, but I imagine you have access to people of your own. Think about it, Justin. You and your wife both.’

Answering with another short nod, Justin swallowed and turned towards the door. What kind of counselling would best help Alicia, he wondered, bereavement or marriage counselling? His chest constricted.

What wasn’t she telling him? How did Radley get Sophie’s number? From Alicia? Was it possible he’d accessed it from Alicia’s phone? Did she know he’d been in touch with Sophie?