Page 111 of In Too Deep

Harrison spoke steadily on screen, appealing for information regarding Lauren Pike’s movements between Hull and Hartswick. Asking anyone who had seen her silver Ford Fiesta in recent days to contact police immediately. Jake fell back in his chair, folding his arms and watching him with his stomach twisting hard. Then the report cut back to the news presenter.

“…sources suggest Ms Pike may have been involved in sex work, and detectives are exploring links between vulnerable women operating between Hull and North Yorkshire…”

Donnie barked out a harsh, disbelieving laugh. “Here we bloody go. For fuck’s sake.”

Jake blinked up at him. “Alright, Dad—”

“No!” Donnie pointed at him. “Don’t start defending it.”

“Defending what?”

“That!” Donnie prodded his finger furiously at the television where they showed images of Lauren Pike. “Now they’ll all start, won’t they? Every bloody missing girl’ll suddenly have folk saying she were working the streets. Your mum’s been deleting comments about it all bloody afternoon.”

“Jesus Christ, Dad…” Jake pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Don’t Jesus Christ me in my own home.” Donnie jabbed a finger towards the screen again as he turned to Jake. “Places like Hull. Soon as they hear a girl’s gone missing, they’ll have her selling herself before she’s even cold.”

Teddy stopped eating. Stopped moving.

Maggie took herself off to the downstairs loo.

“Dad,” Jake warned. “Rein it in.”

But Donnie had worked himself too far into it. Years of grief and denial and buried fear suddenly clawed to the surface. Jake had seen his dad angry before. Seen him grieve. But this…it felt different. Less like anger and more like fear wearing someone else’s face.

“Rein it in?” Donnie’s voice rose, sharper. “Police all over bloody Hartswick. Television crews. Folk gossiping in pubs again. Dragging all that shit back up through this town. Now they’ll waste God knows how much time digging through every old rumour again.”

Jake stared at him. “Waste? The poor girl were murdered, Dad.”

“Aye, but she weren’t the first lass to make stupid choices, were she?”

“Maybe she didn’t have a choice.”

“Everyone has a choice. Jobs everywhere if you’re willing to graft. Always have been. Don’t need to spread your legs for money.”

“Fuck’s sake, Dad.”

Donnie stabbed a finger towards the television. “You get yourself mixed up in that sort of life, with them sort of people, what do you expect?”

Jake’s stomach turned. “You don’t know owt about what she got herself mixed up in.”

“I know enough.”

“Do you?”

Something crossed Donnie’s face, there and gone before Jake could make sense of it. But then Donnie looked away and picked viciously at a loose thread on the arm of his chair. “I know you go down that road, bad things happen.”

“So that makes it her fault?”

“I didn’t bloody say that.”

“You didn’t have to.”

Donnie tore the thread free. “What I’m saying is folk hear summat like this and suddenly that’s all they see. Young woman goes missing, she must’ve been on drugs. Must’ve been selling herself. Must’ve got mixed up with the wrong sort.”

Jake frowned. There was something beneath the anger. Raw and stubborn.

“You know what people are like,” Donnie went on. “They’ll start it all up again. Start deciding every missing lass were some whore selling herself for money.”