Read After Anna for Free Online Page B

Anna.’
    ‘Precisely,’ DI Wynne said. ‘If you could get me the CCTV and the personnel list, that would be a start.’ She turned to Julia and Brian. ‘I’d like a recent photo of Anna, as well. So that we can alert other constabularies and the border control folks.’
    ‘You think that’s necessary?’ Brian asked. ‘You think she might be being taken out of the country?’
    ‘I wouldn’t jump to conclusions,’ DI Wynne said. ‘But it’s a precaution worth taking.’
    ‘God,’ Brian said. He covered his eyes with his hand. ‘This can’t be happening. It just can’t. Not again. I can’t believe it’s happening again.’
    vi.
    Detective Inspector Wynne stared at Brian.
    ‘Again?’ she said. Her calm expression was suddenly more urgent. ‘You’ve had a child disappear before?’
    Brian shook his head. ‘No,’ he said. ‘Not a child. My father. He left home when I was in my early twenties. He vanished. Didn’t leave a note; nothing. Just went.’
    ‘Have you heard from him since?’ DI Wynne asked.
    ‘No.’ Brian looked at his hands. He picked at the cuticle of his left index finger. ‘Not a word. Not even a Christmas card.’
    ‘And you don’t know where he is? He just disappeared?’ DI Wynne pressed.
    ‘Yep.’ Brian shrugged. ‘It was during the school holidays. Dad was a headmaster. He was nearing retirement. One day he was there, and the next he wasn’t.’
    ‘And you don’t know why? Or where he went?’
    ‘No. No idea.’
    Julia knew that Brian was not quite telling the truth. Yes, he had no idea where his father was, but he did have some idea of why he had gone there. He had told her once – and made her swear that she would not ever tell Edna that he had discussed it with her – that he suspected his headmaster father had been having an affair with a younger member of staff and had run away with her. He wasn’t sure – his mother never talked about it – but he had managed to piece that much together over the years.

    Still, he had no idea where his dad had gone, nor why he had never got in touch with him.
    Julia had an idea. Not of where he was, but of why he hadn’t been in touch. She suspected it was the price he paid for his freedom: Jim had an affair and Edna gave him an ultimatum: get out of her life and start again with his girlfriend somewhere far from her, and she’d let him go quietly. Let him avoid the disgrace. The catch was that he had to stay away, from both her and Brian.
    Or he could stick around and she’d make his life a misery. And Edna would be good at that.
    So off he’d gone, probably to some beach in Spain or chalet in Switzerland, where he spent his days hiking and reading and skiing while his young bride taught in an international school and had discreet affairs of her own.
    Maybe, anyway. Julia didn’t know for sure. All she knew was that it had hit Brian hard, and now, from his point of view, it was happening again.
    ‘We’ll want to get in touch with him,’ DI Wynne said. ‘Any information you have would be most helpful.’
    ‘I don’t have any,’ Brian said. ‘I can ask mum.’
    ‘Thank you,’ DI Wynne said. ‘I appreciate it.’
    She wouldn’t get much from Edna, Julia thought, but she could try.
    ‘Right,’ Brian said. ‘And that’s enough standing around. I’m going to look for my daughter.’
    Julia watched him leave. She looked at DI Wynne.

    ‘I’m going too,’ she said.
    DI Wynne nodded. ‘Of course. I’ll be here.’ She wrote down her phone number. ‘Call if you find her.’
    As she picked up her car keys, her phone rang.
    It was Edna, her mother-in-law. She lifted the phone to her ear. Before she could speak, she heard Edna’s strident tones.
    ‘Julia, what’s going on? Brian left me a message, about Anna. I tried to call him but he didn’t answer.’
    Julia swallowed, hard.
    ‘She’s missing,’ she said. ‘She’s gone missing.’
    There was a pause. ‘What do you mean, missing? When?’
    ‘After