Chapter 74
SEVENTY-FOUR
“Make me a cup of coffee, will you?” he asked Quinn after he’d given Max a hug and helped himself to his uneaten toast. “Can you give us a few minutes, buddy? Aunt Quinn and I need to talk.”
“About Dad?” Max asked.
Jude nodded. He tensed as though he thought Max was about to ask what they were going to talk about, but Max simply walked out of the kitchen, his head bowed and his shoulders stooped as if he were an old man and not a little boy.
“That poor child,” Jude said softly. “What a toll this is taking on him.” He sat down at the table, accepted a mug of coffee, and added a splash of cream. “You look shattered,” he told Quinn.
“I couldn’t sleep. You don’t look so great yourself.”
“I don’t think Logan is in Cornwall.”
“Based on what?”
Quinn thought it was mad to go poking about in some World War Two bunker but, for lack of any other alternatives, she had been prepared to make the drive. She’d needed to do something, since sitting around and waiting for news was killing her. But that was before she had decided to appeal to Daisy.
“I went through the whole house last night. Room by room, cupboard by cupboard, drawer by drawer.”
“The police searched the house,” Quinn reminded him.
“Yes, but they were looking for evidence of a crime. I was looking for something different.”
“And did you find it?”
He nodded and took a noisy gulp of coffee. “Logan was involved with someone.”
“He did date.”
“I don’t mean a casual fling,” Jude replied. “He was in a relationship.”
“What makes you say that?”
“There was a second toothbrush in his bathroom.”
Quinn rolled her eyes in exasperation. “Yeah, Max’s.”
Jude shook his head. “It was an adult-size toothbrush, and Max’s toothbrush is still in his own bathroom.”
“OK, so you found a toothbrush. Maybe Logan had an overnight guest.”
“I found shoes,” Jude announced triumphantly.
“Shoes?”
“Trainers. Logan wears eleven and a half, and these shoes were a nine. There was also a sweatshirt in Logan’s bedroom. Medium.”
Logan wore large, sometimes even extra-large. He’d gained a few pounds in recent years and had not been able to shift them. Quinn had to admit that this was definite proof that Logan had been seeing someone. A casual fling wasn’t likely to leave his shoes, not if he wasn’t sure he was coming back.
“Do you think the man who followed him from the hospital could be the bloke he was seeing?” Jude asked.
“I don’t know. He never mentioned a new partner.”
Jude cocked his head to the side, his gaze thoughtful. “Logan was never secretive by nature. He’s open and honest and doesn’t like to play games. He came out to Mum and Dad when he was fifteen. He was terrified of their reaction, but he couldn’t lie to them.”
“People change.”
“Not Logan,” Jude insisted.
“Jude, he never mentioned anyone to either of us.”
“There must be a reason he decided to keep it on the down-low,” Jude insisted.
“Maybe he simply wasn’t ready. He was heartbroken when he and Colin called it quits.
And then Rafe walked out on him and left him alone with a toddler during what had to be the hardest year of Logan’s life.
And he has to be cautious now that he has Max to consider.
There are a lot of sick people out there who would abuse their position if brought into a child’s life. ”
Jude’s expression suddenly changed, as if he’d had an a-ha moment. “Max. He must know who it is.”
“Maybe he never saw the person. If he came round after Max went to bed and left before he woke, Max would have no clue.”
“Kids know everything, even when we think they don’t,” Jude said with unwavering conviction. “We need to ask him.”
“I don’t want to upset him any more than he’s already upset,” Quinn protested.
“Quinn, we’ve run out of options. The police are not doing anything to find Logan, especially now that they know Max wasn’t abducted. Drew has hit a brick wall, and there’s been no word from Logan. It seems to me we don’t have much of a choice.”
“All right, but after.”
“After what?”
“After I have a peek,” Quinn replied.
Jude fixed her with a searching stare. “Do you mean you plan to do the clairvoyant thing?”
Quinn nodded. Like everyone else in the world, Jude now knew about Quinn’s psychic ability, but she’d never told anyone besides Gabe about Daisy. If Daisy wanted to tell people, then it was up to her. But Quinn didn’t think it was her place to out her to Jude.
“When Daisy gets here, I’ll ask her to stay with me. I can’t do this alone.”
“I can stay with you,” Jude offered.
“Maybe you can take Max for a walk. He’s safe with you, and I will need quiet.”
“All right.” He reached out and covered Quinn’s hand with his own. “Are you afraid?”
“Terrified. I can’t bear to see Logan die.”
“Do you think I’d know if he was gone?” Jude asked. “People sometimes say they can feel when someone they love passes from the world.”
Gabe had felt it when Phoebe had died. He had woken in the middle of the night, sat up, and buried his face in his hands.
When Quinn had stirred and wrapped her arms around him, she had realized he was crying.
They hadn’t received the call until that afternoon, after Phoebe’s neighbor had gone to check on her following several unanswered messages from Gabe.
The poor woman had been frightened—and who could blame her, given that several of her neighbors had already died?
—but through the window she had seen Phoebe curled on the sofa, eyes staring, mouth slack.
The neighbor had phoned Phoebe’s friend Cecily, who’d called an ambulance and later arranged for the cremation.
The urn had been placed beside Gabe’s father’s.
“Do you feel like Logan is gone?” Jude asked. “No, don’t say anything. I don’t think I’m ready to hear the answer.”
The doorbell rang, and they both turned fearfully towards the door.