Chapter 68
SIXTY-EIGHT
DS Coyle stood outside, and her smile was radiant. “We got him. Max is safe.”
“And the man who took him?” Quinn asked.
The smile slid off the detective’s face, and she suddenly looked uncertain. “Detained. Quinn, we’d like you to come down to the station, if you don’t mind.”
“To collect Max?”
“We’d like to ask you a few questions before you can take Max home.”
“What about?”
DS Coyle smiled apologetically. “Let’s talk at the station, shall we?”
“We’ll all go,” Gabe said as he joined Quinn at the door.
“There’s really no need,” the policewoman replied. “I’ll take Quinn to the station and bring her and Max back as soon as we’re finished. It shouldn’t take long.”
Quinn turned and looked up at Gabe. “The children have been through enough these past few days. There’s no need to drag them to the police station.”
Gabe nodded. “We’ll be right here, waiting for you.”
Quinn grabbed her bag and followed DS Coyle to the car. “Was Max upset when you got to him?” she asked as the policewoman maneuvered the car down the narrow lane.
“He was subdued, but he seemed all right. He told us quite the story, so we wanted to verify a few things before we released him to you.”
That sounded ominous. “Are you sure he’s all right?” Quinn asked. “Does he need to be checked out by a doctor?”
“We’ve arranged for him to meet with a child psychologist. She should be with him now.”
“Should I not be present?”
“DI Alice Sherman, who’s been put in charge of this case, has requested that an appropriate adult be present during the interview. Don’t worry, Mrs. Asif is a trained social worker and a very kind woman who has small children of her own.”
Quinn nodded. She knew the law required an appropriate adult to be present for any interview involving a child under eighteen or a vulnerable adult, to safeguard their rights during questioning.
Max wasn’t being questioned by the police, but he still required someone to be with him during his talk with the psychologist. Mrs. Asif was likely the better choice; Quinn doubted she could keep her composure.
Even so, she wished she had been consulted, as Max’s guardian.
But it seemed DI Sherman was following protocol, which was all she could ask for in this situation.
Max wasn’t prone to telling wild stories, but he had endured so much that he was undoubtedly internalizing far more than he could express.
He was too young to articulate what he was feeling or make sense of it all.
Quinn could barely process her own emotions in the wake of Logan’s disappearance and Max’s abduction.
If Max managed to open up to the psychologist, perhaps she could help him sort through the past few days and offer Quinn guidance on how to talk to him about what had happened.
When they entered the station, Quinn was met by DI Sherman. She smiled at Quinn warmly and gestured towards an interview room.
“Max is still with the child psychologist, and I would like to speak to you.”
“Is he all right?” Quinn asked, her anxiety spiking once again.
“He’s absolutely fine.”
“He must be hungry.”
“He’s had breakfast.”
“Has he?”
DI Sherman nodded. “Bacon butty and milk.”
“Here at the station?”
“No, with the man he was with,” the detective replied. “He said he enjoyed the butty, but he doesn’t care for milk and would have preferred orange juice.”
Quinn followed the DI into the room and accepted a seat.
“Would you like some tea or coffee before we begin?” the policewoman asked.
“I’m fine. Let’s get this over with.”
DI Sherman set a thin folder on the table but didn’t open it. Instead she studied Quinn, as if assessing her mental state. “Max told us that he made the decision to leave.”
“He’s five.”
The policewoman smiled. “He’s very articulate and seems to have had a definite plan.”
“A plan to do what?” Quinn asked. She hadn’t expected this and was a little confused.
“Max said he got up, dressed, and left the house before sunrise. He walked down the lane and was heading towards the motorway. He was going to hitchhike to London.”
“What?” Quinn exclaimed.
“He was going to look for his dad.”
“Someone took him. They even tore the eyes from the teddy bear Max had been sleeping with.”
“Max did that,” DI Sherman said.
Quinn stared at her in disbelief. That didn’t sound like Max at all. He was such a sweet, gentle boy who suffered from separation anxiety. He would never leave on his own and walk in the dark down a deserted lane with the intention of hitchhiking to London. The very idea was mad.
“He said he was angry that you took him away from London and weren’t looking for his dad, so he was going to do it himself.”
“So ripping out the eyes was a big sod you?” Quinn asked.
“It would seem so. He was sending you a clear message. He wasn’t happy, and he didn’t care to be treated like a baby.”
“The poor boy,” Quinn said. She had tried to keep him safe and prevent him from worrying, but it seemed he hadn’t trusted her or believed her when she’d said that all would be well. He’d needed to take action, since he’d felt no one was doing anything to help him. “I feel awful,” she admitted.
“You did nothing wrong,” the policewoman said. “But some things are not easy to explain to a five-year-old. Sometimes adults let children down without meaning to. And sometimes they pursue their own agenda without considering the feelings of their kids.”
Quinn realized she was speaking about Logan and was about to protest, but something stopped her. She needed to tread carefully, since the psychologist had the power to have Max removed from their care and placed in a foster home.
“So, the man he was with picked him up?” she asked. She refused to contemplate what could have happened to Max if the police hadn’t been able to retrieve him. Unspeakable things were done to children, who were usually never seen again once they’d been taken, at least not alive.
“Max told us that the man he was with is his uncle. We thought that perhaps he was told to say that.”
“Who is this person? Did you not verify his identity?”
“We did,” DI Sherman said. “And he checks out. But we needed to be sure since Max disappeared under such unusual circumstances.”
She opened the file, took out two sheets of paper, and slid them across the table. Quinn picked them up. She was looking at photocopies of Jude’s passport and his military ID.
“B-but how?” she stammered.
“Captain Wyatt said he flew into Heathrow late last night. It was the first flight he could get once the situation at the airport at Stuttgart was resolved. He rented a car and was on his way to see you. It was very early in the morning, so there were hardly any cars on the road. When he took the exit off the A66, he spotted Max walking along the slip road. He picked him up, got him some breakfast, and was on his way to you when he was pulled over by a patrol car.”
Quinn opened her mouth, thought better of saying anything, and shut it again.
None of this made sense, and she had so many questions, but before she said anything more to DI Sherman, she needed to speak to Jude.
There had to be a reason he hadn’t called her.
She could understand him not phoning in the middle of the night to tell her he was flying out, but why wouldn’t he have let her know that he had Max?
Surely he must have realized how frantic she was and that the police would be out in full force looking for the little boy.
Jude had picked up Max, bought him breakfast, and got back on the road.
Had he really been coming to see them, or had he been planning to take Max to London?
“Can I see my brother?” Quinn asked.
“I expect you have much to talk about,” DI Sherman said as she replaced the photocopies in the folder and stood. She opened the door and smiled brightly. “Ah, and there’s Max. Hello. Are you all finished, love?”
Max nodded solemnly, then looked away guiltily when he spotted Quinn.
“Max,” she called out to him, but the child turned around and ran towards Jude, who was walking down the corridor. He threw himself into his uncle’s arms and buried his face in his chest when Jude picked him up.
“Leave it for now,” Jude said as he approached. “Are we free to go?” he asked DI Sherman.
“Yes, but you can’t drive with Max without a child seat. You can ask someone to bring one, or purchase a seat before you leave. There’s a shop just down the road.” She pointed in the direction of the place she meant. “Have a peaceful day,” the policewoman said, somewhat caustically.
She could have given Jude a fine for driving without a car seat earlier, but, since he had never expected to be driving with Max, he could hardly be held accountable.
Quinn trailed after Jude as he walked out of the station and made his way to the shop.
Once they were ready to go, Jude strapped Max into the car seat and they got on their way.
Quinn and Jude had much to talk about, but they would have to wait until they were alone.
Nothing they had to say was suitable for Max’s ears, and, given how deeply upset he already was, they had to consider their every word.