‘Shit, I think that’s it.’
‘Can you show Alfie? Get him to confirm if it’s the place.’Blake replied.
Oliver hesitated before typing.‘I’m not sure it’s a good idea. It might re-traumatise him. Can you run it by the boss?’
There was a brief pause in the messages, then,‘The boss said show him.’
Taking a breath, Oliver said, “Hey, Alfie. Is this where you used to go swimming?”
The boy nodded when he showed him the picture.
‘He said yes.’
The next moment a photograph from a mapping app popped up on the phone, followed by a street view image. It showed the front of a run-down terrace house with a swing set in the front garden, which appeared to be almost opposite the pool.
‘Can you get the local plod to send over an intel package? To see what they know about that house?’Oliver replied.
‘Already on it. Please can you show Alfie the picture?’Blake replied.
Hesitating, Oliver thought about denying the request, but reasoned that if they stood any chance of obtaining a search warrant they’d need a positive identification of the property. Of course, there was always a chance that Alfie could be mistaken, but he had offered the information even before being shown the photograph. So, against his better judgement, he showed him.
Alfie stared at the picture for a long time, his eyes turning glassy and unfocused. “Don’t worry about it,” Oliver said, pulling the phone away. He ruffled Alfie’s hair as he looked back at the turtles.
“They have a dog, too. A big one, called Norman.”
Oliver let out a breath and nodded.‘That’s the one. There’s apparently a dog called Norman.’
Moments later, Blake sent the same photo but zoomed in on what appeared to be dog shit on the small patch of grass.
‘Bingo.’
‘Good work,’Lucas replied, followed by a thumbs up emoji. Oliver had to bite the inside of his cheek to stop himself from smiling.
It was at that moment, Patrick made a re-appearance. He looked flustered. “There you are,” he said, jaw set in a hard line. “Has he told you anything?”
Oliver glanced down at Alfie, then back up at Patrick. “Nope.”
They meandered around the remainder of the aquarium, Alfie finally finding his confidence as he ran from tank to tank. Patrick huffed and puffed behind them, annoyed that they had both taken to flat out ignoring him. Eventually, they reached the main attraction. The shark tank. Or rather ‘the predator tank,’ as Oliver spotted a swarm of Puranas drifting menacingly nearby.
“Finally,” Patrick said, taking Alfie by the hand and pulling him away from Oliver.
Oliver hung back as he watched the two of them stare up at the huge wall of water. His feet were tired, his nerves were on edge and his brain very much needed a rest.However, the reprieve was short lived, as Alfie whipped around and shouted, “Ollie! Come here Ollie, look at these huge fish!”
Oliver chuckled as he walked over to them. “They’re not just fish, sweetheart, they’re sharks!”
“No way!” Alfie said, turning back to the tank.
“Yes way, look at all those sharp teeth!” He said, pointing towards a shark that drifted nearby.
“Whoa,” Alfie replied, taking his hand. They stood like that for a long moment, Alfie grasping both his and Patrick’s hands as he stared up in wonder. The back-lighting bathed everything in a serene blue light, which was a total contrast to Oliver’s racing emotions. He could feel the alpha’s eyes on him again, so he returned it with a glare. They stared at one another for a longtime, and Oliver wished beyond everything that it was Lucas standing in Patrick’s place.
“This could have been us, Ollie,” Patrick said, with a sad smile. Except Oliver knew all too well that it was fake. He’d failed to get enough of a rise during the car journey, so he’d taken to playing the victim.
“No it couldn’t,” he whispered back, eyes drifting back to the sharks.
“It could. If your body hadn’t killed our baby.” And there it was. Patrick’s trump card, out in the open.
Oliver almost couldn’t believe what he was hearing.Almost,had the words come out of anyone other than the auburn haired alpha. He swallowed, then bit the inside of his cheek so hard it drew blood. The comment hurt. Even after six years, it fuckinghurt.
