Chapters (50)
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Dedication Page
- Contents
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Ninteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-one
- Twenty-two
- Twenty-three
- Twenty-four
- Twenty-five
- Twenty-six
- Twenty-seven
- Twenty-eight
- Twenty-nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-one
- Thirty-two
- Thirty-three
- Thirty-four
- Thirty-five
- Thirty-six
- Thirty-seven
- Thirty-eight
- Thirty-nine
- Forty
- Forty-one
- Forty-two
- Epilogue
- Letter From the Author
- Acknowledgements
- About the Author
I’m sure I saw Charlie yesterday afternoon in Farringdon. She was going into the chemist’s. I tried to catch her eye, not wanting to be unfriendly, but she blanked me. Hope all is good with you two. I’d like to meet up with her again, try to make amends for last time. I don’t want there to be any crap between us, anything that makes it harder for me to see you.
Anyway, hope all good with you. Call me.
S xx
I called her immediately.
‘I just got your email,’ I said.
She mimicked my voice. ‘Hi Sasha, how are you? I’m fine, thanks. How about you?’
‘Sorry. It’s just . . . are you sure you saw Charlie yesterday afternoon?’ I was light-headed, the walls of the flat closing in on me.
She hesitated. ‘I’m pretty sure it was her, yeah. Like I said, she blanked me. Though I don’t—’
‘What time was it?’
‘Um. I finished work early, got back into Herne Hill about four, so it would have been just after that.’
‘It can’t have been her. She’s in Newcastle on a training course.’
‘Oh.’ There was a long pause. ‘Well, I didn’t see her face. Not properly. She was ducking into the doorway.’
‘But you said you tried to catch her eye.’
Again, she took ages to respond. ‘Yeah. I meant I was waiting for her to turn her head. Maybe it was someone who looks like her, wears similar clothes.’
‘That must be it. Sorry.’
I hung up before Sasha could say any more. Had Charlie lied about going to Newcastle? She had given me the name of the hotel she was supposedly staying at so I looked up the number and called it. A young woman with a light Geordie accent answered.
‘Hello. I need to speak to one of your guests. Charlotte Summers.’
‘Do you have her room number, sir?’
I told her I didn’t.
‘Hold on.’
The line beeped for a while, then started ringing. If they were trying to put me through, at least that meant she was indeed at the hotel. I looked at my watch. It was five-thirty. Surely her training would have finished for the day. But then I was talking to the receptionist again. ‘Sorry, sir, there’s no answer. Can I take a message?’
‘No, it’s fine. Can you tell me when she checked in?’
An intake of breath. ‘I’m sorry, I’m not able to do that. But I can take a message.’
‘It’s all right. I’ll try her mobile.’