Free The Revelation Room (The Ben Whittle Investigation Series Book 1) by Mark Tilbury Page A

should have.’
    Anne nodded. ‘Yes, I should. Your Nana used to sit in that
chair with me when I was little.’
    ‘I’ll have to go in a minute, Mum.’
    ‘Sometimes at night, when I can’t sleep, I go into the spare
room and sit by the window. I look at the Star of Dominic and say a little
prayer.’
    Something pricked the backs of Ben’s eyes.
    ‘It’s still shining bright. Maybe you’ll be able to see it
when you’re away from home.’
    ‘Maybe I will,’ Ben agreed.
    ‘They let me hold him after the birth. They let me have a
cuddle. Just for a little while. Then they took him away.’
    Ben’s initial anger melted away. It must have been so hard
for his mother. His father, too. Maybe it went some of the way to explaining
his father’s uncompromising attitude. He put the locket in his jeans pocket and
then held out his arms.
    His mother held him close. ‘You mean the world to me, Ben.’
    Ben thought of talcum powder and love. His eyes were
stinging like a bitch. All the air felt as if it had been sucked out of the
room. ‘I know.’
    ‘Take care, son.’
    Ben wondered if he’d ever see his mother again. ‘I will.’
 

Chapter
ten
     
    Halfway to Oxford on the bus, Maddie turned to Ben and
smiled. ‘You’re quiet.’
    Ben took a deep breath and then told Maddie what his mother
had told him about his baby brother.
    Maddie listened. And then: ‘Oh, Ben, that’s so sad.’
    ‘I can’t believe they never told me.’
    Maddie rubbed his arm. ‘I’m so sorry.’
    Ben looked out the window. He felt cheated. Cheated of
having an older brother. Someone to talk to after the lights went out. Someone
to share his dreams with. An older brother that could stand up for him when the
other kids were ribbing the hell out of him for having a stupid stammer. Or
frizzy hair. Or a hooked nose. Or for daring to breathe the same air as them.
God, he even wished he’d had a brother to fight and squabble with.
    ‘What was his name?’ Maddie asked.
    ‘Dominic. She gave me a locket.’
    ‘What have you done with the locket?’
    ‘It’s in my pocket.’
    ‘Can I have a look?’
    Ben fished it out and handed it to Maddie. She opened the
tiny clasp to expose a few strands of blond hair. ‘Bless him.’
    Ben squinted at the locket. ‘What’s inside it? I can’t see
too well without my glasses.’
    Maddie raised her eyebrows. ‘You wear glasses?’
    ‘Just for close-up stuff.’
    ‘Where are they?’
    ‘At home somewhere. I keep forgetting to put them on.’
    ‘That’s why you get so many headaches.’
    Ben nodded. That sounded a lot better than his own belief he
might have a brain tumour.
    Maddie closed the locket. ‘Do you want to put it on?’
    ‘No.’
    Maddie handed it back to him. ‘Are you all right?’
    Ben put the locket back in his pocket. How the hell was he supposed to feel? Other than cheated.
    ‘Your mum’s had to put up with a lot.’
    ‘That’s all we ever do, isn’t it? Put up with everything.
Take it on the chin and have a nice cup of tea.’
    ‘Not always, Ben.’
    ‘No? That’s what it feels like from where I’m standing.’
    ‘We’re going to help your dad. That’s doing something
positive.’
    Ben wanted to stay positive, but all he could think of was
failure. Failure and getting them both killed. They spent the rest of the
journey going over their cover stories. It took Ben’s mind away from trying to
make sense of his baby brother dying before he’d even lived.
    ‘What if they ask us something we don’t know the answer to?’
Ben said.
    ‘There’s not much we can do about that, is there? We can’t
pre-empt everything they may or may not say. We’re just going to have to blag
it.’
    ‘I’m not good at blagging.’
    ‘I find it works best to say the first thing that comes into
your head.’
    Ben picked at his jeans. ‘That won’t get me very far. My
head’s empty.’
    ‘Then just act dumb.’
    ‘Sounds more natural.’
    Maddie smiled. The sun had reddened