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‘None of your business.’
‘Stay away from him,’ she says.
I don’t insult us both by pretending I don’t know who she means.
‘The fucker deserves to be hung by his balls with piano wire,’ Quinn says. ‘But he’s your last, best hope to find Lottie. You need to be smart about this, Alex. Don’t rush over there and blow it.’
The traffic snarls ahead of us, forcing me to a halt.
‘I’m serious, Alex. You won’t get another shot if you drive him underground.’
I don’t want to hear this. Paul Harding knows where Lottie is. I want to beat down his door and shake it out of him.
‘Let the cops do their job,’ Quinn says. ‘If she’s still alive, they’ll get her back.’
‘What do you mean,if?’
Quinn shrugs, but doesn’t answer my question.
‘Do you think she’s still alive?’ I say.
‘There’s a chance he’s got her stashed away somewhere,’ Quinn says. ‘A second home somewhere in Wales—’
‘You don’t really believe that, do you?’
‘No,’ she says, baldly. ‘I think she’s dead. I think she died within hours of being taken.’
The breath rushes from my lungs. ‘But Isawher—’
‘You asked me what I thought.’
The car ahead of us starts to move. Neither Quinn nor Ispeak again until I pull up in front of the primary school and park.
‘You’re going to his house anyway, aren’t you?’ she says. ‘Fuck.Fuck. Fine. I’m coming with you.’
‘Get out, Quinn. This has nothing to do with you.’
Quinn twists in her seat. Her single blue eye conveys scorn and irritation in equal measure. ‘Like hell it doesn’t,’ she snaps. ‘I told you about Harding. This’ll lead straight back to me. You think I’m going to let you go over there and make me an accessory to assault or murder?’ She slams her head back against the headrest. ‘Goddamn. I should never have told you about this till after he was arrested.’
‘You told me because you wanted a good story,’ I say. ‘Well, here you go.’
‘Fuck. You’re enough to drive anyone to drink.’
‘I didn’t ask you to get involved. Go to your meeting, Quinn.’
Quinn stubbornly stays where she is. I shrug and plug Paul’s address into my sat nav. If she thinks she’s going to stop me with her impromptu sit-in, she’s mistaken.
I’ve got more important things to worry about than Quinn Wilde.
My world has narrowed to a single, primal impulse: to get to Paul Harding and find my daughter.
I can’t think beyond that.
I can’t think at all.
