Page 52 of The Vanished

“And a donor egg?”

“No. Chrissy is Max’s biological mother.”

“Interesting,” DI Malone said under his breath. “Is it possible that Chrissy wants her son back?”

“She relinquished all rights and returned to the Czech Republic not long after Max was born. As far as I know, Logan and Chrissy have not been in touch since she left.”

“Do you have contact information for her?”

“I do not.”

“Do you at least know her surname?” DI Malone asked.

“No.”

“What about Rafe? Would he know how to find her?”

“You’d have to ask him.”

“Is Logan involved with someone new?” the detective inquired.

“I don’t believe so. And even if he was, why would they want to take Max?”

“I know it’s upsetting, Quinn, but I must understand every aspect of Logan’s life if I’m to find out what happened to him.”

Quinn took a calming breath. “I honestly don’t know, Detective. As a rule, Logan is not a secretive person, but we all keep things to ourselves, don’t we? And he’s already been hurt. Perhaps he was seeing someone but didn’t want to tell anyone until he was certain the person was someone special and they had a future together.”

“Might Max know?”

“I don’t think we should ask a five-year-old if his dad was seeing anyone.”

DI Malone sighed. “Well, I wouldn’t put it to him that way. But he might know if someone had been to the house or had spent the night.”

“I would really rather you didn’t question him,” Quinn said.

“Fair enough. I’m going to have a word with Rafe and Chrissy and see if anything shakes out.”

“And if it doesn’t?”

“Then we will explore other avenues of inquiry. At the moment, this is all we really have.”

“Can we go home?” Quinn asked.

“You can, but we can’t offer you protection, not unless we have reason to believe there’s a credible threat. The best I can do is make sure a patrol car passes your house several times a day.”

“Someone tried to take Max,” Quinn reminded him.

“Which is why we’re taking this very seriously. Do let me know what you decide.”

Quinn considered the situation. “We’re going to remain here until Sunday afternoon, as planned.”

“I think that’s a good idea. Please contact the local police department if you feel in any way threatened.”

“I will,” Quinn said and watched DI Malone disappear and the screen go dark.

If she had hoped that DI Malone would somehow reassure her, she felt even more at sea after speaking to him. And DS Coyle didn’t have much to add, but then this wasn’t her case. She was there as a matter of professional courtesy. The policewoman escorted Quinn into the reception area, handed her a card with a number to call should anything occur, and sent her on her way.

Quinn had just got in the car when Jude rang. She told him everything she had learned, and by the time she finished, she was crying, her vision too blurred by tears to drive.