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
It was as if the gales blowing across the clifftop came down the wires and through the phone, knocking me backwards, a blast of ice that penetrated my entire body. The police officer who’d escorted me to the phone furrowed his brow as I staggered, grabbing hold of the payphone on the wall and almost collapsed.
I could hear Charlie’s voice from just a few hours ago. You swore on your life. You swore on your sister’s life.
I frantically tried to work it out. Could Charlie have got round to Harold’s in north London then down to Eastbourne in the time I’d been here? Yes, just about, with the hours I’d been kept waiting in the interview room and then in the holding cell.
‘Yeah, she came to see me,’ Tilly said in her chirpiest voice. ‘She wanted to take me out as a treat. Hold on, she wants to talk to you.’
Before I could shout out a warning to Tilly, Charlie came on the line.
‘Hello Andrew.’
Her voice was calm and measured. As she spoke, the wind seemed to drop, the roaring noise dropping to a low, undulating hiss.
‘Charlie. Whatever you’re planning to do, please, don’t do it. Tilly has never done anything to you.’
She laughed. It was the coldest sound I’d ever heard.
‘We’re having a lovely time,’ she said. ‘It’s hard to believe that so many people die every year in such a beautiful place.’
‘Charlie!’
There was a pause of a few seconds and I figured that Charlie was taking a few steps away from Tilly so she wouldn’t be overheard.
‘Tilly doesn’t know what you did to me,’ she said.
‘I know,’ I blurted. ‘She’s innocent. Charlie, I’ll do anything, say anything. Just please, please don’t—’
The police officer was watching me even more closely now.
‘I can’t hear you,’ Charlie said. ‘Too much interference on the line. You know, this is probably the last time we’ll ever talk.’ She sighed, sadness entering her voice. ‘I loved you, Andrew.’
‘Charlie, I loved you too.’ My voice was shaking. ‘Maybe we can—’
‘Shut up,’ she hissed. ‘You betrayed me. Do you really think I could forgive you?’
‘Charlie—’
The phone beeped. Insert another coin. I didn’t have any more coins.
‘I’m going to go now, Andrew. I’ll hand you back to Tilly.’
‘Please—’
The phone beeped urgently.
‘Say goodbye to your sister,’ Charlie said, and the line went dead.
Thirty-nine
Thirty-nine
I stared at the dead receiver in my hand. I was on the verge of hyperventilating. I scrambled in my pockets for another coin but had nothing. I wanted to scream.
‘Everything all right?’ said the police officer, coming over.