Blood Secret Read Online Free PDF Page A

bloke and a girl to dump him over a fence,’ Terry slurred.
    His idea of teenage girls was obviously outdated. It was the boy she was worried about, though. ‘He might have come back with mates.’
    Pav looked about a bit more. ‘Maybe. Maybe he went back to the cafe. Did you check the toilets or out the back?’
    No, she’d just jumped to the worst conclusion. Old habits die hard.
    He wasn’t in the single bathroom at the cafe, or out back with the bins and the stacked tables, or in any of the doorways on either side of the road, or the public toilets at the end of the street. Terry went back to Skiffs, too tired and drunk to maintain interest, but Pav and James con­tinued with her to the park. When the light from the shops had faded behind them, they stood together in darkness, searching the black, bony shapes of trees and playground equipment silhouetted by the sparkle of lights from the other side of the lake.
    â€˜ Max! ’ Rennie called, half expecting to see a figure separate itself from the shadows: Max oblivious to the fuss he’d caused.
    Pav cupped hands to his mouth and made more noise. ‘ Max! ’ The sound seemed to hover above the water before dying. James took a few steps in the other direction and shouted. No answer, no movement.
    As Rennie started towards the shore, Pav said, ‘He wouldn’t come out here.’
    She hesitated, unsure. Max would never wander about in the dark, not on his own, not after what he’d been through. ‘That kid was out of control, though. He might’ve . . . I don’t know, if he got him down by the water’s edge . . . If he . . . I think we should . . .’
    â€˜Okay, let’s look.’ James caught her elbow as she stumbled on something in the dark. He had none of Max’s charm, could be aloof and a tad dour but he was tall and broad and she was grateful he was out here with her.
    Reflected light from across the bay gave the shoreline some clarity and she called Max’s name in both directions. All she saw was water lapping gently on the pebbles, its staccato slaps the only sound in the still night.
    â€˜He’s not here,’ Pav said finally.
    She pushed a hand through her hair, clenched her teeth on the fear wedged in her throat, not sure if it was another old habit or intuition.
    â€˜We can look some more if you want but we won’t see much,’ James said.
    They could drive a couple of cars to the road barriers and turn the lights to high beam, she thought, but the park was only one pocket of the reserve that wound for kilo­metres along the lake’s edge. ‘No. I guess not. Let’s go back to Skiffs.’
    There were just a handful of guests left by the time they returned and Trish had wrangled them into shuffling the tables and chairs back into place for the morning. ‘He could’ve gone home,’ she suggested when Rennie gave her a rundown of the search.
    â€˜His car’s still out there.’
    â€˜He might’ve walked so you could get home.’
    â€˜He wouldn’t have left without telling me.’
    â€˜Have you checked your phone? Maybe he tried to call.’
    She headed for the kitchen with Trish on her heels, hoping she was right and wondering why he’d phone when she’d been right there in the cafe. Was he still ticked off? Enough that he couldn’t talk to her? Max didn’t get that ticked off.
    She picked through the contents of her bag, thinking about the way home in the dark. And the kid in the car who’d threatened to find him.
    There was one new text message. From Max.
    Luv u b
    Rennie read it twice, her forehead tightening in a frown.
    â€˜Anything?’ Trish asked.
    She held it up to show her.
    â€˜What’s the “b” for?’
    â€˜I don’t know. Maybe he didn’t finish it.’ Maybe he was texting when the kid interrupted him.