Читать книгу BETRAYED - Jacqui Rose, Jacqui Rose - Страница 13

It tasted like garbage. If Gary were to bet what garbage tasted like, he would’ve said it tasted like his mouth did at that very moment. Scraping his tongue with his teeth, Gary lit a cigarette, hoping it would somehow remove the foul taste.

He looked round. The front room was strewn with cans and overflowing ashtrays. Gary couldn’t remember anything about the evening and he wasn’t going to bother to try. He could see the sunlight pushing through the curtains, but with his head pounding, causing his eyes to hurt, Gary had no intention of welcoming in the early morning.

The sofa wasn’t the most comfortable place to sleep, but the effort required to walk up the stairs was beyond Gary and his hangover definitely felt like it was getting progressively worse with each waking moment.

‘Fuck.’ Gary Cole sighed heavily as he heard the small cries of Zak coming from upstairs. Lighting another cigarette, Gary took two attempts to prise himself off the sofa, wishing his son would either be quiet or realise the beauty of sleeping-in late.

Walking into the kid’s bedroom, the huge grin given to him by his son went some way to soothe Gary’s fatigue and pounding head. ‘How are you, boy?’ Bending down to hug him, Gary pulled back quickly.

‘Christ almighty. Smelly arse.’

Picking up his son and trying not to let the smell of Zak’s nappy make him nauseous, Gary saw that Julie had already got up.

‘Now then mate, where’s your sister? Knowing Julie, she’s already in Daddy’s bedroom looking for extra pocket money.’ He smiled at Zak, kissing him on his nose before adding, ‘On that score son, she’s very much like your mum.’

Opening the unpainted plywood door of his bedroom and expecting to see Julie rummaging through his things, Gary sighed. The last thing he felt like doing was playing hide and seek with his daughter.

‘Julie, come on out now, doll, Daddy has a headache and really doesn’t feel so well. Please babe.’

Trying to keep his patience, Gary went back to his bedroom and checked in the wardrobes, each time opening the door and each time saying ‘boo’ to an empty closet, much to the amusement of a giggling Zak.

Stomping down the stairs and thoroughly pissed off, Gary continued to call, hoping the game would soon be over.

‘Julie, please babe, stop now, Daddy gives up … Julie? For fuck’s sake. I give up, darlin’.’

Where the hell was she? He’d had enough now. He knew she wasn’t in the front room, and the adjoining kitchenette was tiny; too tiny for a game of hide and seek. An old gas cooker stood against the side wall and the cupboards were high up out of reach on the right hand wall; impossible for any child to get to. So where?

A slight feeling of panic started to rise in Gary. He tried to quickly push it away but his heart started to beat faster as he thought about the events of the previous night. It was still a blur. Yes, he remembered Julie had gone out to get sweets, but he couldn’t actually remember her returning. But she must have. The sweet shop was only ten minutes away, at most. He could’ve sworn he’d heard the front door shut. But then how could he? He’d been asleep. Pissed out of his mind.

‘Julie? … Julie?’ Running up the stairs two at a time, Gary went into the children’s bedroom again, depositing Zak back into his cot who immediately started to scream.

Gary started to run, ignoring the pain in his head. He flung open all the doors, hearing himself breathing hard as he entered each room, feeling the sweat of cold anxiety run down his back as he looked under the beds, realising there was nowhere else for him to look for his daughter. In the background he could hear the hysterical cries of Zak compounding the terror in his own mind.

‘She’s gone. Open the fucking door, for fuck’s sake, just open the fucking door.’ The wild hammering on number fourteen was heard throughout the estate as one of Gary Cole’s next-door neighbours came to the door.

Opening the door, the woman was astonished as she watched Gary fall to his knees, sobbing. She looked at him and something about the way he cried made her crouch down and hold him in her arms.

‘What is it, Gal?’ The pain that gripped his body made it nearly impossible for Gary Cole to speak, and when he did it was only a few words. ‘Julie’s gone. She never came back. She never came back.’