“Phoebe,” she said in an excited voice. “I couldn’t get you on your phone, so I tried Luke’s. There’s an art exhibition you have to see with me!”
“Sass, I—”
“What’s wrong?” she interrupted.
“Tommy.”
“My God, what? What happened?”
“He’s missing, Sass. He’s just gone. We’re at the playground at Darling Harbour.”
“I’m there.”
Fifteen minutes later, Tommy was still missing.
Less than a minute after that point, not only Saskia— but Pria and Kate—were rushing up to me. The whole gang. I had no idea how Sass had been able to rally them and herself so quickly.
My friends’ faces were blanched with worry. They all loved Tommy. Sass, with her strawberry-blond waves spilling over her red city jacket. Kate, with her impossibly straight brown hair and gym clothing form-fitting her angular model’s body. Pria, with her warm dark eyes and shoulder-length blond hair and soft green dress. Sass worked for a company a couple of blocks from here, organising home renovation shows. Kate did brochure modelling but was mostly at home with her three-year-old twins. Pria, a single mother with a daughter, worked from a home office as a counsellor.
I was too numb to feel their sympathetic hugs, oblivious even to the December heat that had me complaining earlier.
Pria held my arms, her brown eyes crinkled and anxious beneath her thick fringe. “Honey, what can we do to help?”
“Pray,” I said, my voice cracking.
“We’ll spread out.” Kate tied her hair into a messy knot. “Maybe he’s scared and hiding.” She nodded firmly. “That’s what my twins used to do at that age.”
Sass whipped out her phone. “I’m calling the media.”
“The what?” I frowned. “What would—”
“It’s my job to know this stuff,” Saskia told me, her tone brisk and efficient. “If you need help in a hurry, call the media. Every minute counts, right? Well, we’re going to blast this across Sydney. Everyone in this city is going to know there’s a little boy missing, and they’re going to be on the lookout.” She stopped for a breath. “Trust me.”
While Saskia called up her media contacts, Pria and Kate raced away. I noticed then that Luke’s business partner—Rob Lynch—was talking with Luke.
Somehow, it panicked me that everyone was rushing down here. No one was treating this casually. No one was saying, never mind, Phoebe, he’ll turn up in a little bit. This was serious. And everyone knew it was serious.
Fifteen minutes later, Tommy was still missing. He’d been missing an entire hour. An army of people had joined the search, moving in swarms. The voices of strangers, male and female, called Tommy’s name. My son’s name. Until I wanted to scream at them: You’re going to frighten him. Stop yelling his name. Just . . . find him.
But they couldn’t find him.
Because he was no longer here to be found.