I walk down to the corner of the street to wave down a taxi. Clinging to Aoife’s phone, I check the detective hasn’t called back before getting into the car. I ask the smiling taxi driver to take me to Reilly’s Bar on the quays near the Financial Centre. I have no intention of going to the bar but it’s the only landmark I can remember near Tara’s apartment block. Sitting in the back seat of the taxi, I take a few deep breaths. I know I’m crossing a line here. I do not know where this will end but I have to talk to Tara. I need to warn her. Suddenly, I wonder what I’ll do if she’s not there. She could be anywhere the Wednesday before her wedding. Probably running all over the town finalising things. God, I hope she’s there, that I don’t have to wait out in the cold again for hours for her to return home.

The taxi cannot go quick enough. Every traffic light is running against us. My fears are mounting as I consider what I’m about to do. What if Tara doesn’t believe me? She has to believe me. I have to be right; there is no other explanation for it. Tara is going to freak so close to the wedding, but she has to know what’s going on.

When the taxi eventually pulls up outside the pub, I get out and pay the guy. My heart is racing, my body trembling from both nerves and the ice-cold wind that’s racing down the quays.

The smell of beer slaps me in the face when I walk past the open door of the pub. A young man exits, crashing into me. I move on, telling him it’s okay but he repeats his apology over and over after me. ‘Sorry miss, sorry, Jaysus, sorry.’

When I get to the door of the apartment, I search through the numbers on the intercom until I get to 431.

Chapter Sixty-One

Tara

What? My head begins to spin. Really, could Faye be that mad? Poor Faye, is this my fault? Did I push her too far? A million thoughts rush through my head. Why didn’t she tell me? Did this breakdown have something to do with Avril Ryan? Faye seemed pretty normal to me the last time we spoke but I didn’t know at the time she was in therapy. I thought she was a doctor at the clinic. She let me believe she was.

‘When did you find this out?’

‘I got a bit suspicious when I spoke to her so I contacted her sister.’

‘You spoke to Deirdre?’

‘Yes, it was sad listening to her sister tell me how she had spiralled out of control. The girl I lived with and loved for so long was like a complete stranger. A mad woman.’

‘But…’ I have no words.