Seven
Gabriel
All the signs were there—the whiny voice, the hands balled into fists, and the clock about to strike seven thirty. We were about to enter Planet Meltdown.
“Where is he, Daddy?”
“I don’t know, darling. What about Audrey?” I asked, holding up a faded grey donkey who had seen better days.
“I want Bear Bear,” Bethany said, talking about the grotty-looking bear Joshua had bought her when she was born that she wouldn’t be without.
I tossed Audrey aside and pulled out everything and everyone from her soft toy box. Again. I’d done it three times, but I was grasping at straws. “I know, but Bear Bear’s not here. Where did you last have him?”
“He was here before,” she said, peering under her bed.
I knew I shouldn’t call Autumn. She was having a well-deserved day off, and she’d been talking all week about doing some kind of walking tour. I didn’t want to interrupt. But shouldn’t it be over by now? It was late. And I didn’t want to have to deal with Bethany losing it.
“Let me check the bathroom again.” I padded out into the corridor and into Bethany’s bathroom. No sign of Bear Bear. “Did you go up to Autumn’s room with him?” I called out. Would it be bad to go up there and check? I didn’t want to invade her privacy. I hadn’t been into her room since she arrived. But I was slightly curious to see how she’d arranged it. Did she have photographs up or keepsakes by the bed?
“No,” Bethany said from behind me.
I spun around and pulled my phone from my pocket. I was going to have to call her.
She answered on the third ring. “Hi,” she shouted over the background noise. Where was she? It sounded like a football match.
“I’m looking for Bear Bear,” I said. “Any idea where he might be?”
“I can’t hear you,” she shouted.
“Bear Bear,” I said, raising my voice. “Do you know where he is?”
“Autumn,” a man in the background called. “I don’t mind,” she called back. She hadn’t said anything about meeting a man. Did she have a date?
“Where are you?” I asked.
The sounds became more muffled. “I just came outside. Some of us from the tour are just having some drinks. Such a cute little pub in Whitechapel called The White Hart.”
Was there such a thing as a cute pub in Whitechapel?
She was having drinks with friends. That was to be expected, wasn’t it? It was good for her.
“Well, I’m sorry to interrupt. We’re looking for Bear Bear.”
“Oh, yes. Last place I saw him was in the playhouse. He needed a nap apparently.”
I headed toward Bethany’s castle-shaped playhouse and dove inside. There Bear Bear was, tucked up as cozy as a bear could be. I unceremoniously pulled him from his bed.
“Found him,” I said.
“Bear Bear!” Bethany called.
“Thanks,” I said as the noise on the other end of the phone increased.
“Glad you’ve got him,” she said. She was interrupted by the sound of breaking glass. A woman’s scream pierced the line.
“You okay?”
The phone went dead. Bloody hell. I called back but it rang out.
“I’m tired, Daddy.”
I followed as Bethany padded across the room and slid under the duvet. I pressed a kiss onto Bear Bear’s forehead. “Goodnight,” I said as I kissed Bethany’s cheek, wondering whether Autumn was about to call me back.
I dimmed Bethany’s bedroom light and headed out. Before I got to the top of the stairs, I hit the call button again.
Still no answer.
I tried to think back to just before the line went dead. It hadn’t been her screaming, had it?
I scrolled through the phone and called Joshua. I didn’t want to call Dexter because it was probably fine, and I didn’t want Hollie to worry. Plus Joshua was closer.
“How are you?” he answered.
“Can you come over?” I asked.
“Now? Tristan’s here. We just ordered pizza.”
“Yes, now. Please hurry.” I needed someone to watch Bethany. Autumn had grown up in the middle of nowhere from what I’d gleaned. She was young and wasn’t used to a big city. And she sure as hell didn’t know Whitechapel. If she was caught up in the middle of a bar fight—if it had been her screaming? Dexter would never forgive me if I didn’t go and find her.
I scanned the heads of the crowd of people in the pub. There was a circle of people in the corner in motorcycle leather. I couldn’t imagine they’d been on a walking tour. Then there was a couple of old guys in the window who looked like they were in the wrong pub, and beside them a crowd of cool kids who were no doubt vegans.
“Have you tried calling her again?” Joshua asked.
“Yes. She’s not picked up since the scream,” I replied, craning to see if I could spot her.
“And it was definitely her you heard scream?”
“Does it matter? If she’s in a situation where there’s screaming involved, there’s a problem. Can you imagine if Dexter found out that she was in some pub where there was screaming, and I just left her there?”
Joshua didn’t reply. When I looked around, he was ordering drinks.
“What are you doing?”
“If I’m going to be your wingman, I need a drink.”
“My wingman? What are you talking about? We’re here to make sure Autumn’s okay.”
“Right,” Joshua answered, handing me a pint of Guinness. “Couldn’t possibly be that you have a crush on Hot Autumn, and you’ve lost your bollocks and won’t ask her out on a date, so you’re following her around.”
I put my beer back on the bar. “You’re being ridiculous. She doesn’t know London. She grew up in the middle of nowhere, never been to a big city before. She could be in trouble.”
Joshua didn’t look convinced. “If you say so.”
I didn’t have time to argue with him.
“Gabriel?”
I snapped my head around to find Autumn looking quite bewildered. “Thank God. Are you okay?” I asked.
The corners of her mouth lifted slightly, offsetting the slight frown she wore. “I’m fine. What are you doing here?” Her gaze flitted to Joshua, who raised his pint at her.
“I heard a scream and a crash, and I was concerned,” I said, feeling a little foolish now I’d found her and she was patently fine. “I couldn’t get hold of you and I thought something might have happened.”
“Where’s Bethany?”
“Tristan’s babysitting. You seem fine though?”
She glanced back at a table of people over on the other side of the bar. “Yeah, fine. Someone dropped their drink. That’s all. Come and join us.”
I was an idiot. I shouldn’t be here. I’d chased across town to check on a grown woman who was completely able to look after herself. I glanced over at Joshua, who I expected to be wearing an I-told-you-so expression, but he was too busy talking to the barmaid.
“No, thank you. We’re going to go. Just didn’t want you to be in any trouble. You’ve not been in London long and Whitechapel isn’t the most . . . Well, it’s not Mayfair.”