BooksBarbecue
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Chapters (61)
  1. COVER
  2. About the Author
  3. Books by Emily Barr
  4. DEDICATION
  5. Prologue
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 18
  24. 19
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. 24
  30. 25
  31. 26
  32. 27
  33. 28
  34. 29
  35. 30
  36. 31
  37. 32
  38. 33
  39. 34
  40. 35
  41. 36
  42. 37
  43. 38
  44. 39
  45. 40
  46. 41
  47. 42
  48. 43
  49. 44
  50. 45
  51. 46
  52. 47
  53. 48
  54. 49
  55. 50
  56. 51
  57. Epilogue
  58. Acknowledgements
  59. Read on for an extract from …
  60. 12 December
  61. THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING

I don’t feel great, I replied, and that was true enough. I would never have done a thing like this before. I’d never once considered it: even when schoolwork was boring, I had to get on with it because it paved the way to more interesting things.

Can we talk later? She was persistent. I’m worried about you. If there was something going on you’d tell me, right?

I wrote: I’m fine. I promise. I set my phone to silent and put it away.

I walked over to Smith’s. Could I tell Izzy about Joe? I hated having secrets after everything she’d done for me. I hit the same barrier every time I tried to imagine it: she wouldn’t believe me.

How amazing, though, to be doing this detective work with Izzy at my side. Maybe there was a way.

I set off round Beachview, looking for security staff. I was going to be the busiest I could possibly be, to stop me from obsessing over what Joe might be doing, at a time that was both right now and twenty years ago. He had promised he’d try to find Mum, and if I did all this for him then he’d be more likely to be doing that one thing for me. The idea of my Joe and my mum occupying the same space made me feel very strange. It fuelled me to do every single thing I could for him today.

‘Excuse me?’ This security guard couldn’t have been working here when Joe went missing. He was young, with acne-scarred skin, and seemed friendly enough.

‘You OK?’ he said.

‘Yeah.’ I took a deep breath. ‘This is going to sound weird, OK? I know it is, but I’m looking into something. My cousin went missing around here in 1999, and I’m just hoping to talk to anyone who might have been around then. I’m not trying to be a, like, girl detective or anything.’

I cringed at myself for having said the words. I hated that the word ‘girl’ made the concept of ‘detective’ sound like a joke. I was a ghost detective, which was much cooler, but I couldn’t exactly introduce myself that way.

‘I just promised I’d help my aunt out,’ I said quickly. ‘She’s not well and she really wants me to talk to anyone who might have been around on that day. I mean, obviously you weren’t.’

He laughed. ‘Yeah, as weren’t you.’

I tried a bright smile. ‘Right? I was a few years off being born.’