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Chapters (59)
  1. Bad Friends
  2. Copyright
  3. Dedication
  4. Epigraph
  5. AFTER: DECEMBER
  6. BEFORE: JUNE
  7. Chapter One
  8. Chapter Two
  9. Chapter Three
  10. Chapter Four
  11. Chapter Five
  12. Chapter Six
  13. Chapter Seven
  14. Chapter Eight
  15. Chapter Nine
  16. Chapter Ten
  17. Chapter Eleven
  18. Chapter Twelve
  19. Chapter Thirteen
  20. Chapter Fourteen
  21. Chapter Fifteen
  22. Chapter Sixteen
  23. Chapter Seventeen
  24. Chapter Eighteen
  25. Chapter Nineteen
  26. Chapter Twenty
  27. Chapter Twenty-One
  28. Chapter Twenty-Two
  29. Chapter Twenty-Three
  30. Chapter Twenty-Four
  31. Chapter Twenty-Five
  32. Chapter Twenty-Six
  33. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  34. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  35. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  36. Chapter Thirty
  37. Chapter Thirty-One
  38. Chapter Thirty-Two
  39. Chapter Thirty-Three
  40. Chapter Thirty-Four
  41. Chapter Thirty-Five
  42. Chapter Thirty-Six
  43. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  44. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  45. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  46. Chapter Forty
  47. Chapter Forty-One
  48. Chapter Forty-Two
  49. Chapter Forty-Three
  50. Chapter Forty-Four
  51. Chapter Forty-Five
  52. Chapter Forty-Six
  53. Chapter Forty-Seven
  54. Chapter Forty-Eight
  55. A CONVERSATION WITH CLAIRE SEEBER
  56. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  57. About the Author
  58. By the same author:
  59. About the Publisher

But the pathway was empty, the gate banging in the wind.

‘God, where is he?’ she muttered, peering into the rain. I picked up my bag and stood behind her, waiting. A sense of unease pervaded me slowly. Something didn’t fit.

A huge gust of wind savaged the old tree so it bent its branches to the ground in supplication, and Bel and I unconsciously huddled together in the doorway. A small hand suddenly snaked in between us and we both jumped.

‘Hannah,’ Bel snapped, ‘get up the stairs NOW.’

And then Johnno burst through the door, soaking, his hair all stuck up in clumps.

‘God, it’s foul out there.’ Grabbing a fleece off the peg, he towelled his head. ‘I don’t know what that bloke was playing at but as soon as I came out, he screeched off. He’s gone, I’m afraid, Maggie.’

When I rang the cab company they said there was still a thirty-minute wait because of the rain. They hadn’t sent anyone yet.

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen

On Wednesday it rained all day. I’d slept badly, hounded by nightmares involving rain and flowers as big as Triffids, and DI Fox telling me off. During the day my mood only got bleaker as I worked up the ridiculous You’re Dumped proposal. I stared out of my tiny office window at the sheets of rain, despising myself, longing for the sandy beaches of North Cornwall. For the umpteenth time this week, I considered hurtling into Charlie’s office and resigning, never mind the consequences – but he was in Paris for the day, so my plan was foiled.

I went to get coffee around eleven, walking behind Joseph’s desk to the machine. He was swinging back and forth on his chair, talking loudly, oblivious to my presence. I heard him say, ‘Yes, seriously, I’m the director. We need a pair of Bose earphones, yeah, that’s right. Yeah – and the Sony. Fabulous. I can send a bike if it helps.’

I put my hand on his shoulder and he nearly fell backwards off the chair in shock.

‘I’d like a word, Joseph, please.’

He couldn’t have been more sulky if he’d tried as he stalked into my office. ‘What?’

‘What do you mean, what?’ I raised an eyebrow. ‘Who were you talking to?’

He shrugged. ‘Just someone. About props.’

‘And what props are those then?’

Joseph met my eye with watery grey ones.

‘You were on the blag, weren’t you?’

He scuffed his foot on the nylon carpet.

I sighed wearily. ‘Joseph, it’s the oldest trick in the book. Everyone does it, and it’s fine for a ticket to a concert or a club –but use your head. Don’t blag really expensive stuff – and don’t tell people you’re the director of a network show, for God’s sake. You’ll only get rumbled.’