Free Disappear by Iain Edward Henn Page B

seeing Dad.’ Todd’s voice rose. The one thing that made his temper flare more than anything else was the anxiety he felt over his parents’ separation. ‘Can’t we see Grandpa next week?’
    ‘Todd, don’t make this any more difficult than it already is. Grandpa is sick now. When you’re going somewhere to support a family member who’s ill you can’t just put if off.’
    ‘I don’t care. I’m not going!’
    ‘I won’t enter into an argument over this, Todd. We’re flying up tomorrow and that’s that.’ Marcia headed for the door. ‘And if you’re going to make this so damn hard for me then you can get ready for bed on your own.’
    ‘You just don’t want me to see Dad,’ Todd screamed after her, ‘because you hate him, don’t you?’
    Marcia paused at the door and glared back at her son. ‘You can be terribly cruel sometimes. Of course I don’t hate your father, how could you say such a thing?’
    ‘Yes, you do. You hate him and you don’t want me to see him!’
    Marcia slammed the door behind, tears stinging her hazel green eyes. She feared there was some truth to what Todd said. She wanted what was best for her son, but was it true, did she always jump at any chance to stop him seeing his father?
    A large part of Marcia Lachlan wanted desperately to start a new life. That was so hard, though, when she was still tied to her ex-husband by their son. A father and son deserved to spend time together. As a result Marcia found it difficult to break out and begin afresh. She felt as though she were in a rut, working part time five days a week at the local leagues club and sending Todd off to be with Neil every second weekend.
    Todd always came home telling her what a fantastic time he had. The weekends spent with Neil were one long boys own adventure. Playing and watching sport, lunches at McDonalds, trips to the movies. Then it was back to her and the drudgery of school, homework, brushing teeth and taking baths.
    It damned well wasn’t fair, Marcia thought. She went to the bathroom mirror, wiped the tears from her eyes with a tissue and brushed her long, brown hair. She was thirty-eight years old, carrying a little too much weight around the hips and she didn’t like the hard lines developing around her mouth. She’d met a man at the club, a local electrician. He was an old fashioned type, solid and reliable, a tall man with a big, hearty laugh. She knew he liked her.
    She wanted to start again but it was so damn hard …
    Much later, Todd crept from his room. The house was dark. He peered into his mother’s bedroom and saw that she was asleep. He watched the slow, rhythmic rise and fall of her chest, listened to her breathing, low and steady.
    He returned to his room and called his father’s number on his cell phone. He glanced at his bedside clock as the dial tone hummed in his ear. It was 11.20.
    Earlier, Lachlan had arrived home and listened to the TV news from the adjoining room while he fixed dinner in the kitchen. He lived in a small, one bedroom apartment, first floor, tiny balcony crammed with pot plants left behind by the previous occupant. Lachlan had made an attempt to look after the plants but he had no experience with gardening and he suspected they were beginning to wilt. It was a furnished rental, the furniture of a streamlined, angular style, considered modern ten years before. Now it looked dated, not to mention knocked about.
    The news broadcast made no impact on him. The mystery of Brian Parkes’ corpse had been imbedded in his mind all day and it wasn’t going to go away, no matter how hard he tried to shut it out.
    He decided on a treat for himself tonight and cooked a pasta, with meatballs, and tomato and basil sauce. He deliberately made it extra spicy. Lachlan had always enjoyed cooking. He found it satisfying and relaxing, the total antithesis of the stress in his job, and probably the last thing anyone expected of a homicide detective.
    He’d always got a kick out