Like This, for Ever

flinched, his eyes stayed down.
    ‘Is this about cover? You’ll put your precious frigging cover over our son’s life?’
    Weaver glanced round nervously. Beyond the glass partition, people were trying hard to look as though they weren’t listening, but Carrie’s voice was too loud.
    ‘This is all your fault,’ Carrie spat at the side of Mark’s head. He might not even have heard, for all the reaction she got. ‘You should have been with us. Looking after him. He’s your responsibility, but you could never get that, could you?’
    Dana pulled out a chair and leaned across the table towards Carrie, trying to catch her eye.
    ‘Mark can’t appear on television,’ she told the terrified woman. ‘And that’s about protecting Huck – not himself or his job. If he’s recognized, if word gets out that Huck’s father is a senior police officer, especially one who’s been involved in the sort of operations Mark has, then whoever has Huck could panic. It will put him in more danger.’
    ‘We’ve got thirty officers conducting a search of the area,’ said Weaver, after a second. ‘And we’re about to make the news public. Officially. We’ll be asking householders to check their garages, garden sheds, anywhere they think a small boy could possibly be hidden away.’
    Silence in the room, while everyone tried to think of something to say.
    ‘Carrie, you need to go home now,’ said Dana. ‘There’s nothing else you can do here and you need to be at home in case Huck manages to come back by himself. I’ll be sending someone with you.’
    Carrie didn’t move. After a few seconds Alex got to his feet. ‘Come on, babe,’ he told her. ‘They’ll let us know the minute they hear anything.’ He looked at Dana for confirmation.
    ‘The second,’ she told him.
    ‘What about the boys who were with him at football training?’ said Mark, as Carrie and Alex moved towards the door. ‘I want to talk to them. Can you let me have a list?’
    Dana took a deep breath. ‘Mark, you’re going home too.’
    ‘What?’
    She couldn’t back down. ‘You know the score. You’re not capable of functioning properly, and your being here will jeopardize the work the rest of us have to do.’
    How could her best friend look at her like he hated her? Didn’t he realize how much she was hurting too?
    ‘You are not sending me home.’
    She stood up. ‘While you keep me here arguing, I’m not looking for Huck.’
    For a second she thought he was going to hit her. Nor was she alone. Weaver took a step towards her. Then Mark stood up, pushing his chair back. He raised his fist and hit out. The glass wall ofthe meeting room cracked around his hand but the pieces held. He pushed past Alex, pulled the door open and strode out through the incident room. If he saw the young woman standing just inside the door, he made no sign.
    He was gone, and the air of the room seemed thick with his pain.

59
    MARK HADN’T SEEN her. Lacey didb’think he’d seen anything much, his eyes had been full of tears. The hand that had reached up to push open the door had been bloodstained and twisted. He might even have broken it.
    For a second, she almost turned and followed, with no idea of what she’d do or say when she caught up with him, only knowing that no one in his position should be alone.
    Then she saw the slim, white-faced woman being led across the room by a tall man in an expensive suit. This was Huck’s mother – impossible to mistake the heart-shaped face and the tiny nose. She was trying to make eye contact with people as she left, holding back sobs as she did so. ‘Thank you,’ she kept repeating. ‘Thank you for your help. Please find him.’ As they reached the door, she looked up and met Lacey’s eyes. Her lips moved, she tried to smile, then they were gone and everyone in the incident room was looking at Lacey.
    ‘What are you doing here?’ Dana Tulloch’s voice was like an icy shower on a cold day. She was at the far side of the room, Detective Superintendent Weaver standing directly behind her.
    Lacey moved further into the room. ‘I want to help,’ she said.
    ‘I’ve got no time for theatricals.’ Slowly, deliberately, her heels clicking on the tiled floor, Tulloch stepped towards her. ‘You’re not on full duties and you’re certainly not part of this investigation. Youneed to go home.’ As she stopped talking, she stopped moving. She stood and stared.
    ‘I’m another pair of hands,’ said Lacey,