Page 27 of The Trouble With Love

Kai’s hand intercepted my attempt to pull my coat on. ‘It will be easier with two pairs of eyes,’ he said evenly. ‘We can cover twice as much ground.’

‘Yes, but . . .’

‘You need help, Holly. For fuck’s sake, take it when it’s offered.’ Despite the urgency of his words his tone was still light and careful. ‘And like you said earlier . . . I’m here. I’m offering.’

I hesitated, but the wind drove another fierce flurry of snow against the window and I gave in. ‘I’ll go up to the dual carriageway, in case he’s hitching in,’ I said. ‘He might have got dropped off.’

‘If I find him,’ Kai paused, starting down the stairs, ‘is there anything I should do?’

‘Get him somewhere safe and call me. It’s okay, Cerys, he’s thirty-two.’

‘Thank God, I thought you’d lost a child!’ She clutched her heart. ‘So he’s a bit fragile, Nicholas, yes?’

‘You could say that.’

We parted on the step, Kai to get the Jeep out, me to drive the treacherous ten miles back to Malton to search all the main road junctions. As he swung into his jacket and palmed the keys, I put a hand on his shoulder.

‘You really don’t have to do this.’

He looked at me darkly. ‘I want to. And I can’t sit here worrying about that letter. Looking for Nick will give me something to do.’

‘Well, thanks.’

A pause. ‘I guess sometimes we all need help. Let’s just find him, Holly.’ And then, as the night swallowed up his shape, ‘Holly?’

‘Yes?’

‘I don’t think any of this is the kind of excitement you wished for, is it?’

I turned my back and headed for the car.

Chapter Fourteen

I drove faster than was safe, terrified that Nick would have started travelling, got caught up in one of the many things that were liable to take his attention from the task in hand, and decided to sleep rough. The temperature was plummeting below freezing and the wind kept beating snow on the sides of my little car; even Ranulph Fiennes and his huskies would have gone home to bed on a night like this.

There was no sign of Nicholas. I drove up and down the motorway for a bit then parked in the Service Station and rang his mobile again, but it went straight to voicemail. I rang the flat he shared with several other lads, but no one was there either. As I was about to pull back out onto the almost deserted dual carriageway my phone rang and I snatched it up, my heart thundering. ‘Nicky?’

‘No, it’s Kai. Are you all right?’

‘Cold and my tyres seem to have lost all grip. You?’

‘I’m in York, waiting for a train. Someone thought they saw a guy who looked a bit like Nicholas on the platform at Berwick getting on a train headed south. Where are you?’

I told him, clutching the steering wheel so hard that my fingers went grey. ‘How did you find out about Berwick?’

‘I put the word out. Being a journalist has its advantages, sometimes. The staff on Berwick railway station are very friendly, you know.’

‘God, I hope it’s him.’

‘So do I. Look, the weather is pretty diabolical, why don’t you get back to your place. One of us on the roads is enough tonight. It’s getting dangerous and I’ve got the Jeep. Your car doesn’t have four wheel drive, does it?’

‘I consider myself lucky that it’s got four wheels.’

‘Then get home. There’s nothing to be gained by being in a nine-car pile-up, and I’ll keep looking until even the Jeep can’t handle it any more.’

‘Thank you.’

I heard the smile in his answer. ‘That’s all right. This is nicely distracting, if you know what I mean,’ and he hung up.

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