‘Linda rang. Chloe’s in hospital. She says she hasn’t seen Liv in weeks!’
‘She didn’t stay there last night?’ I hear the worry in his voice.
My hands are shaking. ‘No!’
‘Okay. Don’t worry. We know she’s all right because she texted earlier.’
‘Where the hell is she?’
Scott sighs. ‘I’m guessing somewhere we don’t want her to be…’
‘I’ll try Nathan.’
‘Do you have his number?’
‘No, but I know where he lives. I’ll call you back.’
Magda finishes serving a customer. ‘Is everything okay?’ she asks, but she knows it’s not.
‘Do you mind holding the fort? I need to find Liv.’
‘Of course, go.’
I’m going to kill Liv.
Nathan’s mum answers the door. She’s exactly the sort of woman who would have tidy little lollipop trees on her front step.
‘I’m Liv’s mum. Is she here?’
‘No, I’m afraid not. Nathan’s away for the weekend. He’s gone to a music festival in Gloucestershire.’
Of course that’s where she is. ‘Ah…’
‘There was a group of them going. Might she be with them?’
‘No, she wouldn’t go to a music festival without telling me,’ I lie. ‘Have you spoken to Nathan at all?’
‘He rang us to say they’d arrived, and we’ve had a couple of texts, but the signal’s not great.’
I ask her to call me if she hears from him, and we swap numbers. She gives me a sympathetic smile. I’m mortified.
‘There’s no point in driving all the way to Gloucestershire,’ says Scott when I turn up at his door ten minutes later.
‘She’s missing, Scott; we have to look for her.’
‘How will we find her among a hundred thousand people?’
‘Maybe we should call the police?’
‘She’s old enough to look after herself and she’s with friends. They’re not stupid.’
‘She’s with a boy, Scott! Sleeping in a tent! Drinking alcohol…’
His expression changes. He doesn’t like the picture I’ve painted in his head.
‘I’ll get my keys.’
According to the sat nav, it’ll take two-and-a-half hours to get to Beatland. As the countryside whips by, my mind is flooded with images of Liv: getting drunk, getting sick, doing drugs, having sex, getting an STD, getting pregnant. I can’t believe she went behind our backs, didn’t tell either of us. And she’s still got one more exam – she’s supposed to be revising.