Chapters (58)
- Cover
- Dedication
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- 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
- Forty-three
- Forty-four
- Forty-five
- Forty-six
- Forty-seven
- Forty-eight
- Forty-nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-one
- Acknowledgements
- An Eastbourne Murder Mystery
- Canelo Crime
- About the Author
- Also by Sheila Bugler
As Emer was thinking about this, she remembered something: Maeve sitting across from her in the bar that afternoon in Galway, telling Emer what she’d do if she ever found the person responsible for what had happened to her family.
Emer speeded up, walking faster and faster until, by the time she reached the grounds of the hotel, she was running. There was no sign of Kitty or Maeve in the bar. She checked the toilets and the smoking area outside. Nothing. And when she dialled their numbers, both calls went straight to voicemail.
‘Can I help you?’
She looked around, saw the man working behind the reception desk was speaking to her.
‘I’ve lost my friend,’ she said. ‘Her name’s Maeve Ryan. She’s staying here, but I don’t know what room she’s in.’
‘I can’t give you her room number,’ the man said. ‘But I can look it up and call the room, tell her you’re here.’
‘Would you mind?’ Emer said. ‘That would be brilliant. Thank you.’
It felt like an age for him to check the computer in front of him. Emer had to resist the urge to swing the screen around and look for herself. How long could it take to find someone’s room number?
‘I’m sorry,’ he said, eventually. ‘Could you repeat your friend’s name?’
‘Maeve Ryan,’ Emer said. ‘Maeve is spelt M-A-E-V-E.’
He tapped something else into the keyboard while he looked at the screen, frowning.
‘We don’t have anyone with that name staying here,’ he said.
‘That’s not possible,’ Emer said. ‘I was with her here earlier.’
The man didn’t say anything, clearly waiting for Emer to accept that there was no Maeve staying at the hotel.
Emer ran outside to check the car park. Maeve’s hire car was still there. So was Kitty’s car. Which meant wherever they’d gone, they hadn’t gone far.
Back in the bar, she scanned the faces again, certain they had to be here and she’d missed them. But they weren’t there. Ignoring the shouts from the guy on reception, she ran up the stairs that led to the higher floors.
She ran along the corridors, shouting Kitty’s name. But it was like history repeating itself. Kitty was gone, almost as if she’d never been here at all.