Hold Your Breath by Caroline Green Page B

Tara,’ said Leo with a sigh, ‘let’s get you home.’
    They got back into the car in silence and Leo started the engine. He wasn’t talkative now. In fact, he was glowering as they came out of the yard and moved into the
stream of traffic.
    Tara felt compelled to fill the space. She wanted to know what was wrong with Gianni but didn’t dare ask. But then Leo spoke.
    ‘Dad was a roofer,’ he said with no introduction. ‘Well, actually,’ he corrected himself, ‘he was an acrobat back in Palermo when Hope met him.’ He glanced at
her and smiled ruefully. ‘No word of a lie. He really was. Never had a single accident. Then he came to this country and the only work he could get was as a roofer. He came off a roof a few
years back and broke his back. He can walk a bit now but . . . things are really hard for him. He gets chest infections quite a lot because his upper spine was damaged.’ He gave a heavy sigh.
‘In fact, we were at A and E all Wednesday night.’
    Leo stopped speaking abruptly, biting his own sentence off. His cheeks were flushed and Tara understood somehow that he felt he’d been too open with a stranger. Should she ask about Will?
Swallowing, she spoke before she could talk herself out of it.
    ‘What d’you think of Will then?’ she said and hardly dared breathe, as Leo flicked a look at her. But his face was completely impassive and gave nothing away.
    ‘I think he’s a poser and a moron,’ said Leo. ‘Why?’
    Tara had to suppress a shocked laugh inside, despite the circumstances. Then she remembered why she was asking and felt a spasm of guilt.
    ‘He’s had an accident,’ she said, forcing herself to go on. ‘A bad one.’
    ‘God, really?’ said Leo, looking sharply at her. ‘What happened?’
    ‘Car hit him,’ she said, still hardly daring to breathe. ‘He’s in a coma.’
    Leo gave a low whistle. ‘Poor bloke. I don’t like him much, but that’s bad. Wonder if Mel knows yet.’
    Tara thought quickly. Leo seemed genuine, but she didn’t really know him at all. The gruff-but-kind-of-gentle exterior might be a complete front. She thought of an expression of her
dad’s then.
In for a penny, in for a pound . . .
    She took a deep breath and then let the words come.
    ‘Look, can I ask you something?’
    Leo turned and glanced at her, with a frown. ‘Yeah . . .’
    She had to get this right. She couldn’t let on that she wasn’t really a friend of Melodie’s. Not now. It was too late. Hopefully he would never have to know.
    ‘I know this is really stupid,’ she said in a rush, ‘but me and some of Mel’s mates are a bit worried because she’s not answering any messages since she went
away.’
    Leo’s expression revealed nothing at these words. He concentrated as he turned right onto another main road. They weren’t far from where Tara lived now.
    ‘Well, you know what she’s like with stuff like that,’ said Leo.
    Tara wanted to scream at him.
No, I don’t! Other than being a bit up herself and nasty, I have no idea what the hell Melodie bloody Stone is like!
    Tara forced a strangled laugh of agreement but pressed on. ‘Thing is, though, some of them have started saying that something’s . . . happened to her.’
    Leo turned and looked at Tara properly now. She still couldn’t read his expression and then he hooted a short laugh. ‘Nothing like a bit of melodrama, is there?’ said Leo.
‘Let me guess. Jada reckons she’s been kidnapped?’
    Tara laughed too, a laugh that was clear and false. She wondered if he could hear her echoing heartbeat reverberating around the car.
    ‘Yeah, typical Jada.’ Tara tried to soften her tone. ‘Uh, bless her.’
    What was she talking about?
    But he didn’t seem to notice her oddness.
    ‘You can tell Jada she’s fine,’ he said, ‘or at least, she was two days ago. Not sure how she’ll react to hearing about Will though.’ The car turned into
Tara’s road and she directed him towards her house. As they