‘Mmm,’ was Laura’s reply to his statement.

‘Joe doesn’t appear to have suffered any ill effects.’

Laura put her hands over her eyes for a moment before trusting herself to speak. She didn’t want to lose her temper or start crying. She wanted to make herself understood without losing her composure.

‘Fenton, you can’t just look at how people are behaving on the outside to assess how they really are. Just because Joe is happily rushing off to meet his girlfriend doesn’t mean he has put the last two weeks behind him. Just because Frank is joking with him about buying flowers doesn’t mean he’s forgotten all about nearly losing him.’

Fenton ran his hand through his hair.

‘But Laura, they’re fine. Joe was so rapt to be involved in a case again, and solving it. I haven’t seen him this happy for ages. And the way Frank kept his cool while we were investigating was so impressive that…’

‘Oh for God’s sake!’ exclaimed Laura, whacking the table with her hand and causing her coffee to spill. ‘Frank does his best to keep himself and his brother out of trouble, and then gets left to pick up the pieces! Yes of course they get enthusiastic about solving cases with you because you’re always encouraging them! But it’s so dangerous! We almost lost Joe last year!’

‘He wasn’t anywhere near the car when it blew,’ said Fenton.

‘That’s not what I meant!’ exclaimed Laura in frustration. ‘Physically Joe wasn’t harmed at all, but he’ll never totally get over losing Iola. He still has nightmares, and Frank ends up being the one helping him deal with it all. There’s always going to be her birthday to get through, and the anniversary of the explosion. It won’t ever be over with!’

Fenton remained silent and looked down at the tablecloth. Perhaps there was something in what his wife was saying. It had been easier to convince himself that the boys could just bounce back from cases where their lives had been put in danger. He remembered the look Frank had given him when he had prevented him from sitting in on the interviews. How much had he really considered Frank’s feelings or how much pressure he felt himself under?

‘And I don’t even know where to start when I think of this Greta woman,’ Laura was saying. She said the name of her son’s kidnapper as though it caused a nasty taste in her mouth.

‘Laura, she clearly needs psychological help..’ Fenton began, but was cut off again.

‘Psychological help?! I’m starting to wonder whether you need the psychological help!’ said Laura, raising her voice in the way she promised herself she wouldn’t. ‘You agreed to put a seventeen year old boy undercover in a place run by that… that… woman! And you knew that two other young men had already been snatched from the very same place!’

It did sound crazy, thought Fenton. But he still couldn’t get passed the fact that there had been a good outcome. He wondered whether Laura was angling for the boys to give up detective work altogether. It would crush them! He knew they were as passionate about it as he was. They had to reach a compromise.

Laura was taking another sip of her coffee. She felt better for having expressed how she felt. Hearing about the photographing of Joe had made her physically sick. In some ways it was worse that learning that Jake had suggested that all three boys should be murdered! She put down her cup and sighed.

‘Fenton, I know the boys love solving mysteries and may want to follow in your footsteps when they’re older, but I want to have some say in what cases they get involved in. They shouldn’t be dealing with international terrorists and kidnappers. I’m not going to just stand by and let it happen again.’

Fenton met his wife’s intense blue eyes, so like his younger son’s. He shivered inwardly. He knew she meant it. He was trained to deal with tense, life-or-death situations, but his wife was giving him no room for negotiation where the safety of her boys was concerned!

‘Okay, Laura,’ he said quietly. ‘If there’s a case suitable for the boys to be involved in, I promise I’ll run it by you first.’

Laura smiled and reached out to hold his hand. It was her first show of affection towards him in days. Fenton revelled in her apparent forgiveness of him.

And he wondered how soon it would be before he would have to break his promise.