Silver Lining

Chapter 11

I had no idea where Ilish had gone but it was true that she'd left. Her room was still in the same condition it had been in when I'd checked it this morning, except for a few differences; the pile of clothes on her dresser was gone and her camera was gone from her bed, along with her school bag. I moved to her bedside table and shook her money box. Empty. Over the years Ilish had managed to hoard £675 in her piggy bank. Her bank card was also gone, so the £2039 in her account was probably gone too.

I headed down to the kitchen and checked the fridge. The two lucozades and several of the apples were gone, along with the pre-made sandwiches. I checked the cupboards and found the cereal bars were also gone. I didn't want to think about why she had run, but I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt.

I headed back up to my room and grabbed my overnight bag before clearing Ilish's most recent texts from my phone. I'd learnt a few things over the years and with a few numbers not even the police would be able to find them on my phone. I'd call them tomorrow morning. Right now I needed to get back to the car where Elliot was waiting so I had an alibi.

**

“Miss Keisha.” Patterson was at the front desk when I entered the station the next morning. Elliot was following me closely. “Got something to confess?”

News had obviously spread about my apparent guilt on the who issue. I could only glare at him. “I think you might.” He frowned up at me. “What did you tell my sister yesterday?”

“Miss McFadyen? That's classified.”

“yeah? Well you better pray I don't sue your ass.”

“Sue us for what?”

“For whatever running her from the town comes under.”

“What are you talking about?” Patterson was starting to go a little red in the face.

“My sister is missing you ignorant little man! You ran her out of town!”

“Have you checked the bars?”

“She's sixteen!” I must've subconsciously clenched my fists or something because Elliot's arm was suddenly wrapped around my waist.

“Well how do you know she's run off?”

I could tell that Patterson was waiting for me to flip and give him a reason to arrest me. “Because she left this.” Rather than flip off at the man I handed him Ilish's letter. He took it with a tissue covered hand and read it. The letter was simple and had been written a few days before the accident.

This place is suffocating me. I've done nothing wrong but I have to leave ~ Ilish

To anyone who knew Ilish would know she was clearly messing around, but it should do the trick.

**

The news that Ilish was missing spread quickly. And by quickly I meat that the whole hospital knew by the time we turned up to collect Xavier in the afternoon. I hadn't been held long at the station; I'd made sure to take photos last night and time stamp them so my alibi was fairly solid.

“I'm so sorry about Ilish.” Xavier smiled sadly as I wheeled him to the exit. “And two months before Christmas too.”

“I don't think that's the problem.” Elliot muttered from beside us.

I shrugged it off. “What's the reason for her disappearance?”

“Apparently the police wanted to question her about Luke Jeffreys' murder. How messed up is that!” Xavier and Elliot laughed. I bit my lip and avoided looking at them. Their laughter stopped abruptly and they both turned to look at me. Thankfully though we'd reached the car and they couldn't say anything as we helped Xavier into the backseat.

Once we were in the car, however, it was another story. “Ilish is wanted in connection to the murder?” Elliot exploded as I started the engine.

“I never said that. No one said that. You're jumping to conclusions.” I added calmly.

“The police want to question her and now she's missing!”

“No, the police don't want to talk to her! They already have!”

“And you didn't tell me? Is that where she was yesterday?” I remained silence. Elliot could be a pain in the arse but he wasn't stupid. “Oh, bloody hell Grace!”

“What? I don't have to tell you everything that happens! You're acting like we're freaking married!”

“I'm your boyfriend, Grace! That means you tell me important things like this!”

“Hey, people?” Xavier butted in from the back seat before I said something I couldn't take back. “Can we save the domestic until I'm not in the immediate vicinity. You know, a parent's anger is often reflected onto the kid, you know that right?”

Unfortunately both Elliot and I spoke at the same time. “Shut up, kid.”

“Okay, so the million dollar question is 'what do we do about Ilish'?” I bit my lip, trying to work out what would be the best thing to do. Truth be told, it wasn't the main thing on my mind last night. “I mean, are you going to go looking for her or what?”

I took a moment to think, eyes locked on the road infront of me. “No.”

“No?” Elliot twisted sharply in his seat, letting out a hiss of pain.

“Be careful, you freaking idiot!” I snapped before recomposing myself. When I was angry or upset, two things happened; I began to cuss and I said things I really didn't mean. Not a great thing when I had a missing sister to look for. “Look, Ilish knows what she's doing. I need to stay here to make sure that Jeffreys' real killer is caught before I find Ilish. There's stuff going on here that you two can't even hope to understand. You just need to trust me when I say that Ilish can look after herself, okay?”

Elliot nodded and I glanced in the rear-view mirror, catching Xavier's eye. For a brief second he looked at me like he knew and he hated me. But it was gone as soon as it had come. He cracked a smile and nodded too.