Something Missing (Updated Weekly)

Chapter 11 - Erica's Warning

'D'you mind if we have a quick look, sir, just in case he is here?' DS Mackie said. Rita felt every muscle in her body tense.

'Yes. Er - no. Go ahead. Madre mia, I don't believe it. Again...' A shaken Federico came back to the living room as the officers thumped around upstairs. A muscle in his jaw was twitching. Nobody felt like talking. If that pizza turned up now, Rita had completely lost her appetite. Even Pepperoni had run out the cat flap into the back garden, leaving scratches through Rita's top.

'Well, he's not upstairs,' she heard another policeman say. 'Let's check the downstairs quickly.' Four officers trooped into the living room and the kitchen wearing thick fluorescent jackets. DS Mackie, the only one not in uniform, glanced at Rita but showed no recognition. She didn't know if she should be relieved at his professionalism or concerned in case he wondered why she was here.

'No, he's not here,' one of the other constables said. 'Sorry to disturb you. We might be back. We'll try the addresses you provided.' The door slammed and the policemen left as quickly as they had arrived. After a brief sharpen of claws, a black and white cat - she guessed the third one - shot past the table into the kitchen.

Her mind reeling, Rita could relate to that cat.

Nobody spoke.

Alfonso's hand found hers but she felt too keyed up to reciprocate. Jerry the light coloured tabby had walked back into the room and Rita followed him with her eyes, watched him follow the others towards the kitchen. To stave off her nauseous restlessness, she focused on the cat, visualised him sitting on her lap, imagined him walking through neighbourhood gardens chasing mice.

'I'm going out for a smoke,' Federico mumbled, following the cats towards the kitchen door. Rita was desperate to join him. She had stopped and started so many times, she knew it wouldn't end well. She didn't have to make the effort to fight the urge; her stunned body and frazzled brain wouldn't let her get up.

The time sat in silence felt like an eternity. When a key finally did turn in the lock, momentary relief washed through her.

But only momentary.

'Hola,' Matteo said, walking through the hallway into the living room as if nothing had happened.

Rita was the first to speak. She kept her voice gentle. 'How are you, Matteo?'

For several seconds, Matteo stared at her. For a moment he looked genuinely terrified, his eyes wide, his mouth open in a small O shape. Rita noticed the dark circles under his eyes, the few millimetres of stubble on his pale chin. 'Oh - the whole, leaving? I, er, I get like that sometimes. There was a lot of people in that hotel. I should have let you know, sorry.'

He took a breath, looking between the three of them. 'Sorry. I know it's weird. It was wrong of me to have just left without warning. I should have let you know I was going. But I guess you'd had enough of it too.'

There was silence. 'Or - you wouldn't be here at my dad's. Right?'

'Well, no.' Rita took another sip of wine. 'It was cancelled after the murder.'

Matteo seemed stunned. He shook his head, rocked back on his chair. 'What? That's a joke, right?'

'It's not,' Alfonso said. 'Didn't you see the news?'

'Wow. You're serious? Someone was murdered for real at the Crime Convention? That's mental.' Matteo stared at her, his eyes wide with disbelief. He took some crisps from the bowl and crunched loudly.

'Yeah. The event is cancelled, so Rita and I thought we'd stay round here,' Alfonso said.

'I was actually going to go back this morning. But I've been asleep most of the day. I had no idea it was actually cancelled. You didn't seem to like it. I thought you just bailed on it.' There was a defensive tightness in his voice. Rita's fingers twitched. A small screwdriver lay at the end of the table near a folded napkin. She hoped he hadn't noticed her glance at it.