Nowhere Child by Rachel Abbott Read Free Book Online

she’s not offering a reward. Neither are the police.’
    I think we both knew this before I made the call. I just wanted to be sure. I know who it is – I’ve always known. I just thought they would have come for me before now.
    ‘Emma says she wants me to go home – it was all “darling” and “sweetheart” – but that can’t be right, can it? She can’t possibly want me anywhere near her or Ollie.’
    ‘Harry, have you ever thought she might actually mean it? Maybe she gets you?’
    I laugh at that. She certainly did not get me. Not one little bit. When I moved in with her and my dad I hardly spoke, and when I did I was rude. I could tell it annoyed Emma. Shewas okay with me when everything was going mental, but that was because she wanted her baby back, and I was her best bet.
    ‘Andy, Emma is a nice lady. She has nice manners and she’s kind to people. I’m a kid who has nicked from every supermarket in west Manchester, carried skunk in my backpack on trains … And my greatest stunt? I stole her bloody baby. So sure, she’s bound to want me back.’
    Andy pokes our sad little fire with a piece of wood that was ultimately going to end up in the can with the others.
    ‘So why spend all this time and effort looking for you? I think you’re wrong; I think she means it.’
    ‘Well, that’s a lovely thought, but the police would arrest me if I went back – so it’s a no-brainer. Let’s forget Emma and try to work out what we’re going to do about that nasty bastard who’s trying to find me.’
    I don’t know why I suggest this, though – because neither of us is going to come up with an answer. There isn’t one. He’ll either find me or he won’t.

9
    The kitchen was filled with the delicious aroma of a Tuscan beef stew that was simmering in the oven, the tomatoes, spices and red wine combining to create a smell that always made Emma think of cold, winter evenings in front of a warm fire. But tonight she wasn’t cooking it for herself. She couldn’t bear the thought of food. It was for Tom. She needed him, and the least she could do in return for his help was cook his dinner.
    She paced the kitchen, waiting for him to arrive, conscious she shouldn’t always rely on him, but not knowing what else to do.
    The doorbell rang, and she rushed to let him in.
    ‘Tom, thank you so much for coming. I feel guilty for calling you, but I’ve nobody to talk to who understands this whole mess except you.’
    They were both silent for a moment as they thought of the men she should have been able to rely on, both of whom had let her down in different ways and who were now gone from her life. Except Emma wasn’t entirely sure that one of them had gone completely.
    After nearly eight years of agonising over the sudden break-up of her relationship with her ex-fiancé, Jack, she finally understood why he’d had to leave when he did, and why he now had to stay below the radar. But although she had never told Tom, Emma suspected Jack was spooking around in her computer. A brilliant hacker and computer security expert, he had always been able to take control of her computer remotely and make it do unexpected things. It used to amuse her, but now she just wished he would make himself known so she could talk to him. She had taken to using sticky note software to leave subtle messages on her desktop that only Jack would understand. He could read them from afar and know that she still loved him. And she was sure he was reading them, because he always moved the notes a few pixels to the right. It was his way of letting her know he was there.
    It was a secret that Emma kept to herself. It wouldn’t have been fair to tell Tom, who was suffering as much as she was at the loss of his brother for a second time.
    Tom was busy taking his Barbour off. It was dripping with rain, and he shook it in the porch before hanging it on a hook. Emma couldn’t help thinking that although he was Jack’s brother Tom was nothing like