Page 38 of The Long Walk Back

Rita’s voice came across loud and clear. ‘Yes honey, and he went with them willingly.’

He mumbled his thanks before ending the call to make another.

‘Hightower, hey,’ he barked out down the line, all his training taking over. ‘I need an address dude, like now. Quick as you can. I’ll text you the name.’ He thought for a moment. ‘And can you get his parents’ too?’

Hightower didn’t need asking twice. The man could hit a fly between the eyes from a mile away, a bit of tracking would be no problem. Ten minutes later, Cooper was on my way to meet Kate’s ex-husband.

21

COOPER

Pulling up at the address Hightower had given me, I thanked my driver as he passed me my chair. I wished I could do this on my own two feet, but I just can’t do it yet. I had some pride, falling arse-over-head wasn’t part of my plan. I saw a car on the drive of the smart detached house. It was a nice area, not as nice as where Kate said she lived, but nice. Families lived here. The car was decent too, a rather sporty executive type. I bucked the trend with cars; being army born and bred, I didn’t notice anything about a car other than the tyre width and whether it can take a hammering. Settling into my chair, I asked the driver to wait and headed for the front door. I checked the number with the text Hightower sent me. It was the right address, and it looked like a family home, not the home of a divorcé. Their house sale hadn’t gone through yet. You should have rung Kate. He knew it would piss her off, but he didn’t want to get her hopes up without checking Jamie was there first. I cursed under my breath, and knocked at the door. Heard a dog bark, a yappy little thing, and then the door opened. A man opened the door, but it wasn’t him I saw. I could see Jamie, staring back at me from a man’s face. My gut roiled. The man looked a bit surprised to see me, looking from me to the cab, back to me. He took in the chair and his smile faltered a little. He gripped the door a little tighter. Coward, was my first thought. Was this the man Kate once chose to spend her life with?

‘Er, yes, can I help you?’ he ventured, and I noticed him pull the door a little closer behind him with his free hand.

‘Neil Harper?’ I asked in a deliberately loud voice.

‘Er, yes,’ he said, pulling the door a little closer still. A quick flick of his eyes made me look to the living room, where I saw photos and ornaments on the mantel. I wondered who else was in the house.

I could hear a dog yapping its head off somewhere in the distance.

I kept my back as straight as I could, and looked the guy straight in the eye. ‘I’m here about your son, Jamie.’ There was a flicker of recognition in his eyes, changing from panic to concern.

‘Jamie?’ he said softly. ‘Is he?—’

‘He’s fine.’ No thanks to you, shit head. ‘He left the centre today, with your parents. I think he might want to see you. I wanted to come to tell you, and to find out where Jamie is. He has people worrying about him.’

Neil switched from one foot to the other. The dog barked again, and I heard a door click shut. ‘I told my parents not to get involved.’

‘That’s it? No questions about your son?’ I countered. This sack of crap was getting on my nerves.

‘I… I… who are you, anyway? Do you work with him or something?’

‘I know him, and his mother. The question is, where the hell have you been? I know Kate wouldn’t stop?—’

The door opened behind him then, and he jumped.

A woman stood there. She looked like she’d just woken up from a nap. She was wearing a robe, but I didn’t miss the rounded belly. If she was shocked to see someone like me at the door, she didn’t show it. ‘Neil, what’s wrong?’

‘Nothing, honey. It’s fine. You go back in, put your feet up.’

‘Are you sure? I thought I heard—’ She was looking at me as if I might launch out of the chair and go for his throat. No promises, I thought, my lip curling.

‘Look, as much as I would love to sit here on the doorstep and watch you two chat, I’m here for Jamie.’

Neil looked at the woman again, putting his palms out in a gesture of futility, and she glared at Neil as she went back into the house. The yapping continued. My ears felt like they were bleeding. Why the hell did people buy those groomed rats as pets?

He went to close the door behind him as he moved forward. I wasn’t giving this guy an inch to wriggle. I just sat there, not moving as he manoeuvred himself awkwardly around my chair. As he turned sideways on, his ankle clipped the metal on the side of my footrest, and he hissed in pain through his teeth. I chuckled to myself, still not moving. Once he finally got himself out of the doorway, I slowly turned my chair to face him. The front of the house had a neat path all around it, and he stood kicking his toe against one of the slightly raised paving slabs. He wore trainers, the kind that a guy who didn’t sweat for a living wore. Pristine white. I wanted to ask him so many questions about Kate, why he’d not bothered to visit his kid, but I didn’t want to give myself away. The priority was Jamie.

‘So, are you going to ask about your son?’

He looked at me, and I knew right off something had changed. This guy was angry at me.

‘What the hell do you know about my son?’ he spat at me. He leaned forward, speaking in hushed, angry tones. It reminded me of a daytime comedy I once saw. A couple were fighting around a sleeping baby, whispering ‘screw you’, and gesturing silent declarations of war.

‘I know a lot,’ I said, keeping my voice neutral. He needed to back out of my face, before I decked him. I clenched my fist against my stump. Don’t hit Jamie’s dad. It played like a mantra in my head, giving me the sudden urge to laugh. I lost my leg to protect pampered pricks like this?

‘I know he misses his father,’ I continued. ‘Why won’t you go see the kid?’

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