BooksBarbecue
Back Before You Were Gone
Chapters (58)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. One
  4. Two
  5. Three
  6. Four
  7. Five
  8. Six
  9. Seven
  10. Eight
  11. Nine
  12. Ten
  13. Eleven
  14. Twelve
  15. Thirteen
  16. Fourteen
  17. Fifteen
  18. Sixteen
  19. Seventeen
  20. Eighteen
  21. Nineteen
  22. Twenty
  23. Twenty-one
  24. Twenty-two
  25. Twenty-three
  26. Twenty-four
  27. Twenty-five
  28. Twenty-six
  29. Twenty-seven
  30. Twenty-eight
  31. Twenty-nine
  32. Thirty
  33. Thirty-one
  34. Thirty-two
  35. Thirty-three
  36. Thirty-four
  37. Thirty-five
  38. Thirty-six
  39. Thirty-seven
  40. Thirty-eight
  41. Thirty-nine
  42. Forty
  43. Forty-one
  44. Forty-two
  45. Forty-three
  46. Forty-four
  47. Forty-five
  48. Forty-six
  49. Forty-seven
  50. Forty-eight
  51. Forty-nine
  52. Fifty
  53. Fifty-one
  54. Acknowledgements
  55. An Eastbourne Murder Mystery
  56. Canelo Crime
  57. About the Author
  58. Also by Sheila Bugler

Emer stood in the small art gallery, across the road from the coffee shop, watching Dee. She was speaking to the woman Emer had talked to yesterday afternoon. Part of her wanted to cross the road and tell Dee she was here, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Maeve was right, it was better not to trust anyone until they knew exactly what was going on.

A moment later, Dee came outside and made a phone call. The sudden sound of Emer’s phone ringing made her jump. When she saw Dee’s name on the screen, she thought her cousin must have seen her. She diverted the call and waited for Dee to cross the road and confront her. Instead, Dee stayed on the phone – leaving a message, Emer guessed. By the time Dee had finished, another woman had joined her and handed Dee a disposable cup.

Emer watched as they crossed the road, holding her breath until they’d passed the gallery and were out of sight again.

‘Are you sure I can’t help you?’

The man running the gallery was clearly getting fed up with her lurking in here with no intention of buying one of the overpriced paintings on display.

‘I’m sure,’ Emer said. ‘Thanks.’

She stepped outside, checking up and down the street to make sure Dee was really gone. After listening to Dee’s message, she headed back to the fourteenth-century inn on the high street where Maeve was waiting for her.

They had travelled down from London the previous day, taking a train to Polegate and a taxi to Alfriston. Finding Annie’s house was easier than they’d anticipated. A quick chat with the woman running the coffee shop had given them the information they’d needed. Maeve had waited outside, while Emer spun the woman a story about being an old university friend of Annie’s. The woman had become quite animated, telling Emer how often Annie spoke of her uni friends and how happy she’d be to see one of them turning up in Alfriston. Except when they arrived at the house, it was empty.

At that point, Emer had wanted to give up and go to Dee’s house in Eastbourne. But Maeve had persuaded her to spend the night in Alfriston and try Annie’s house again the following morning. So they’d found a place to stay and spent the evening working out what to do next.