Ali Harper - The Runaway

Table of Contents

A division of HarperCollinsPublishers

www.harpercollins.co.uk

This one is for my netball team.

Weve never lost a game we just occasionally run out of time.

The Disappeared

I was bent double when she pushed open the office door, my sides aching so much I thought I was going to wet myself. A moment before, Aunt Edie had been up the set of stepladders, brushing away the cobwebs in the cornices with a bright blue and purple plastic feather duster. Jo had made some joke about how it was fortunate we didnt have any men in the office as the sight of Aunt Edies pop socks would drive them wild, and Aunt Edie had swiped at her with the feather duster. The steps had toppled, Aunt Edie grabbed hold of the filing cabinet and the pot plant on top of it got knocked over, landing on Jos Afro. Jo was spitting out polystyrene balls and dry compost when the bell chimed and this young woman, with dreads and a silver cannabis leaf nose stud, marched into our office.

Aunt Edie was the first to recover. Welcome to No Stone Unturned, she said, clambering down from the filing cabinet. The, she rhymed the word with bee the most successful private investigation bureau in the north of England. She pushed past me, stuffing the feather duster behind Jos chair as she bustled across the room. Edith Caudwell, Office Manager.

Aunt Edie had been installed as receptionist only the week before, having swapped her terraced house in Accrington for a housing association flat down the road from our offices in Royal Park. Are you missing someone, pet?

My boyfriend, the woman said, her eyes settling on Aunt Edie. I dont know where he is and I need to find him. Like now.

She held the left sleeve of her rainbow-coloured top in her right hand, twisting the material. I glanced across at Jo and noticed a polystyrene ball clinging to her eyebrow. I was about to point it out when our visitors face crumpled and her shoulders sagged, like someone had let the wind out of her.

Oh, now. Dont you go getting yourself worked up, said Aunt Edie, putting her arm around the womans shoulders. They were almost the same height, which is no height at all. Come on, take a seat and tell us all about it. Did you read about these two, she turned and pushed Jos DMs off the desk in the papers? If anyone can find your missing fella, they can.

I pulled a face at Aunt Edie. Our first case had gone well, but if this woman hired us to find her missing boyfriend, it would make her only our second client. My lungs buzzed at the thought, although it was early days and she didnt look like she could afford shoes, let alone private investigators. However, if Ive learned one thing from living in this part of Leeds, its not to judge a book by its cover. Trustafarians, Jo calls them. Kids that get off on looking poverty-stricken while their parents run Barclays.

Well go through to the back room, I said, having finally got control of my vocal cords. Tea would be great, Aun er, Edie. Would you mind?

Aunt Edie pouted. I knew she itched to get the details, but she was the receptionist, something Jo and I had gone to great lengths to explain when we agreed to let her work here. Tea-making went with the territory.

Im Lee and this is Jo, I said to the woman. Whats your name?

She held her hand over her eyes, like we might not notice her crying. Nikki.

She didnt volunteer a surname and I didnt push it. Jo grabbed a new client file and I led the way to our interview room. Its tiny, the proportions not helped by the dark laminate panelling that lines the walls. Weve got a card table with a green felt top, three wooden chairs and a punch bag strapped to the ceiling in the far corner. Take a seat, Nikki, I said. And take a minute. Weve plenty of time.

She sank into a chair and held her head in her hands.

Fag? asked Jo, tugging a pack of Marlboro Lights from the front pocket of her dungarees and taking her own seat at the table.

Please. A hand snaked out, with silver rings on every finger, even her thumbs. Oh, shit, no. I cant. Ive given up. Her head bowed. Why the fuck anyone ?

Her voice trailed off, or maybe I just didnt hear the end of her sentence. I swallowed and took the last seat, the one across from Nikki. I dragged it a little to one side, set it at an angle. Jo opened the file, glanced at me and cleared her throat.

So, probably best to start by taking some details. Nikki what?

Cooper-Clarke, she said. She put her hands on the table and sat up a little. With an e.

With an e. Jo raised an eyebrow as she wrote on the form. And your boyfriends missing?

Nikki nodded, and I heard the sound of tinkling bells. It took me a moment to trace the source Nikki wore silver rings in her dreads. I scooped my hair back off my face and tied it up with a spare band I had round my wrist.

Lets start with the easy ones, said Jo. Whats his name?

Nikki wiped her eyes on the hem of her top. Questions are good. Were trained from childhood to want to provide answers. Matt, she said. Matt Williams.

Thats great, I said, in what I hoped was an encouraging voice. Jo frowned at me. I interlaced my fingers, let my hands rest on the table. It felt weird, like I was praying. I unlaced them and folded my arms across my chest.

Jo kept a stream of easy to answer questions coming occupation, phone number, height, weight, next of kin, date of birth, star sign until Nikkis shoulders had fallen an inch or so and shed lifted her gaze to meet Jos. Pisces, she said and tried to smile. Creative genius.

Frustrated alcoholics, said Jo as she glanced at me and shifted in her chair.

Im Virgo, I said.

When, said Jo, ignoring me and speaking to Nikki, did you last see him?

Saturday.

Jo checked the calendar we had tacked to the wall. The eighth?

Nikki shrugged.

What happened? I asked. When you last saw him?

Nothing, said Nikki, turning to me. Her eyes were almost violet and I wondered whether she wore coloured contact lenses. Nothing, she said again, as if that was the most frustrating thing. It was just ordinary. Friday night, we went to The Hyde, played some pool. He stayed at mine. I got up Saturday, went to the Union. Thats the last time I saw him.

Youre a student. Jo raised an eyebrow at me.

English Lit., she said. Saw the article about you in The Gryphon.

And Matts a student too?

MSc. The bells tinkled again. Actually, can I have that fag? she asked Jo.

How was he when you left? I asked.

Asleep.

And no ones seen him since? asked Jo, as she pushed the pack of Marlboros across the table.

Nikki rested her hand on it but didnt pick it up. His mates have, she said.

Go on, said Jo, and I didnt know whether she meant to tell Nikki to take a fag or to carry on speaking.

We were supposed to be going to a party on Saturday night but I didnt go coz I felt like shit. Ha. She forced out what I think was supposed to be a laugh but sounded more like a shriek. I watched her fingers tremble over the cigarettes. I spoke to him on the phone that afternoon, asked if he fancied coming to mine instead, but he wanted to go. So he went. No ones seen him since.

He disappeared at the party?

Tuff said he left him there.

Tuff?

His best mate.

Where was this party?