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Back Before You Were Gone Save as PDF
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

And then, just as suddenly as it began, it was over. The punches stopped, and she was able to breathe as his body slipped off her and slumped onto the gravel beside her.

‘Emer?’

Fiona was standing over her, an iron poker in her hand.

‘Oh God, Emer. I’m so sorry. I should have acted faster. Are you okay?’

On the ground beside her, Robert groaned. He was still alive. She didn’t want him to be alive. She wanted to stand up and grab the poker and smash it down on him, again and again, until she’d killed him.

She might have done it, too. Except, as she pushed herself off the ground, a car turned into the driveway, screeching to a halt in front of them. A man Emer didn’t recognise got out of the car and came towards them.

‘Fiona, I came here as soon as I could. What the hell is going on?’

He had kind eyes, Emer noticed. Fiona said something, but Emer couldn’t hear her. The words were muffled, as if they were speaking through a wall of cotton wool. Emer could see Fiona’s mouth moving, and her hands, pointing at Emer and Robert, but Emer couldn’t make out what she was saying.

Something was wrong with her ears. Her legs had stopped working as well. She wobbled, trying to keep upright, but she couldn’t do it. Her legs collapsed and she fell forward, straight into the arms of the strange man with the kind brown eyes.

Forty-eight

At first, Dee thought the sounds were part of the stories unfolding inside her head. She was somewhere between sleep and wakefulness. Drifting through memories from years ago and moments in the future she’d never get to experience. Imagining Jake at different stages of his life, wondering how long it would take for him to forget her completely. Somewhere, in the middle of it, the voices had started. She thought they’d go away; part of her wanted them to go away so she could get back to Jake’s imaginary future. But the talking continued. She pressed her ear against the door.

There was nothing, at first. Then, when she was starting to give up hope, she heard footsteps. Feet crunching over the broken glass on the patio. The murmur of voices, followed by a scream.

She started banging on the door, shouting until her throat was raw, making as much noise as possible. But no matter how loud she was, no one came. How was it possible she could hear them but they couldn’t hear her?