After Gardner explained the severity of the situation, Andy’s carer, Helen Tibbot, agreed to return home so Gardner could interview Andy in her presence. ‘Is forty minutes okay?’
‘That’s fine.’
‘Andy won’t have harmed Richard… he loves him.’
Well, why’s he not concerned that his boyfriend has been missing for twenty-four hours then? I mean, surely, he knows. Richard’s parents have Knaresborough on full alert…
She looked at her watch, judged the time she had to be back to meet Helen and Andy, and went for a coffee. Along the way, she contacted Rice and asked for a thorough breakdown of Andy’s background. Why was he in care for a start?
While she was nursing a coffee in Nero that would put a spring in an elephant’s step, her phone rang.
Barry?
He never called during the day. In fact, he rarely called, full stop!
‘Jesus, Em, why didn’t you at least tell me he was out?’
Gardner stood, rocking the table and spilling coffee. ‘What’s happened?’
Eyes were on her in the café. She realised she was talking loudly. She headed for the exit.
‘Your brother happened.’
She was out in the town square now, gulping air. ‘Where’re you?’
‘Home. Safe, don’t worry. But he came here…’
Jesus… No…
She realised she was hyperventilating, so she steadied herself against a bench, and took deep breaths. ‘What happened?’
‘Not much. He knocked on the door, asked after you, and when I told him you were working elsewhere, he turned away.’
‘Okay… good. Maybe he got the message?’
‘Oh, he got the message, all right, but he wasn’t happy about it.’
‘How do you know?’
‘He stood over the road and watched the house for the best part of ten minutes. I couldn’t see his expression from the window, but he wasn’t smiling. Maybe he was waiting to see if you would make an appearance.’
A wave of nausea washed over her, and it took her a few moments to respond. ‘He wants to intimidate us.’
‘Well, it’s working!’
Gardner pushed herself away from the bench. She felt a surge of adrenaline and realised that her terror was being replaced with anger. ‘Listen, Barry, I didn’t tell you, because I didn’t want to believe it was an issue. It was only last night, when he called me, that I realised that there was more to this. He wants to see me. Why? I don’t know. And frankly, I don’t care.’
‘You need to do something about this, Em. The man is dangerous. I don’t want him near any of us. Ana could tell I was scared. This can’t happen again.’
‘It won’t. I’m phoning Mike. And if he can’t help, I’m coming home.’
She hung up, suddenly feeling more isolated than she’d ever felt before.