Night Dancer

Twenty One

"Yeah I guess we do," he said, quietly. "Maeva, you and Mattie go back outside darlin'. I'll call you back in for dinner." Maeva looked like she would object but Bret nodded at her and she did as she was told. Josh tentatively headed for the door, but Bret stopped him.

"No Josh, you need to stay. Between us we need to figure out how to get Alyssa home. Don't we?" He addressed this to Liam who paled slightly but then nodded, glancing across at his son who was watching him through wary eyes.

"I want her home," he said and Josh released the breath he had been holding, glancing anxiously at Bret, but Bret displayed no obvious signs of anger or aggression, instead appearing calm and resonable.

"Then we need to find her and bring her home. We're gonna need to work together for that. Josh I need you to go through her phone, find all her contacts and ring them one by one," Bret said. Josh nodded and got up to fetch Alyssa's phone from the kitchen worktop where he'd placed it. "I'll head to the places she worked, see if she's turned up to work at all. And Liam, I think you'll need to contact the police." Josh's head jerked round at that and all the colour drained from his face. "Just as a precaution," Bret added.

"I can do that," Liam agreed, grateful that someone else was taking control of this situation. Bret nodded tightly; he didn't like what Liam had done but the man had just lost his wife and Bret of all people knew how being separated from someone you had loved for a long time could effect you. He'd not been innocent of taking his negative emotions out on Alyssa himself in the early days of knowing her and he was self aware enough to know he'd be a hypocrite of the worst kind if he held Liam entirely accountable for everything that he had done. Grief and depression were strong emotions and if channelled the wrong way always ended up ensnaring others in their web.

Josh opened Alyssa's phone and deftly typed in her passcode while Bret and his father watched. He flushed a little and shrugged.

"I'm her little brother, it's my job to spy on her and know her secrets."

"Well on this occasion I'm kinda glad you do," Bret said as Josh opened Alyssa's contacts and began to call them one by one. Liam got up from the table and went through to the other room with his own phone to make a call to the station while Bret gathered himself, shrugging on his jacket and telling Josh he'd head across to Fantasy Bookings and speak to Nick, Alyssa's actual boss to see if he knew anything.

***
Nick looked across at Bret, his expression filled with worry. He liked Alyssa and had been well aware that she was increasingly vulnerable, especially after the loss of her mother. Charles was sat next to him and they exchanged worried looks as Bret explained what had happened.

"So from what I understand Liam had gone to Masquerade to see Sullivan and saw Alyssa there. They had cross words and he told her not to come home. The upshot is she hasn't been seen since and that's now three days ago. Its uncharacteristic of her to disappear without trace like this. She cares too much about those kids to just disappear."

"What the hell was she playing at working at Masquerade?" Nick said and Charles sighed.

"A few of the girls head that way if they want more cash, Nick," he said, apologetically. Nick stared at his friend incredulously.

"And you know about this and haven't told me?"

"Sorry Nick but James pays a lot more..."

"He expects a lot more too," Bret said, grimly.

"You can't be happy she went there yourself," Nick said and Bret shook his head.

"I'm not and if we get her home I'll address that with her but for now the important thing is making sure she's safe."