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Back The Bad Place Save as PDF
Chapters (72)
  1. Cover
  2. THE BAD PLACE
  3. Contents
  4. Copyright
  5. Dedication
  6. Epigraph
  7. 1
  8. 2
  9. 3
  10. 4
  11. 5
  12. 6
  13. 7
  14. 8
  15. 9
  16. 10
  17. 11
  18. 12
  19. 13
  20. 14
  21. 15
  22. 16
  23. 17
  24. 18
  25. 19
  26. 20
  27. 21
  28. 22
  29. 23
  30. 24
  31. 25
  32. 26
  33. 27
  34. 28
  35. 29
  36. 30
  37. 31
  38. 32
  39. 33
  40. 34
  41. 35
  42. 36
  43. 37
  44. 38
  45. 39
  46. 40
  47. 41
  48. 42
  49. 43
  50. 44
  51. 45
  52. 46
  53. 47
  54. 48
  55. 49
  56. 50
  57. 51
  58. 52
  59. 53
  60. 54
  61. 55
  62. 56
  63. 57
  64. 58
  65. 59
  66. 60
  67. 61
  68. 62
  69. 63
  70. Acknowledgements
  71. About the author
  72. An Invitation from the Publisher

Her mother lifted a trolley case inside. ‘Put the kettle on.’

‘What are you doing here?’ Sasha double-checked to make sure her father wasn’t following; wracked her brains to remember if she had made some kind of arrangement for her mum to visit. ‘Where’s Dad?’

In the kitchen, her mother fastened around her waist the apron that Sasha never wore, and looked grimly around the messy room, with its abandoned boxes, mugs and toast.

‘Oh dear.’ Ursula dropped her slippers to the floor and scooped the cat from the counter, where it was lapping milk from a cereal bowl. ‘I came just in time.’

‘Mum,’ Sasha asked again. ‘Where’s Dad?’

‘He’s at home.’ Ursula reached for the kettle. ‘I’m going to live here now.’

Sasha blinked. ‘Excuse me?’

She felt a breeze ripple into the kitchen. The front door was open, someone had gone outside.

Ursula waved vaguely at the sink. ‘I can’t even think about it until I’ve had a cup of tea.’

‘Mum, I have to go to work.’

‘Don’t you worry about me,’ said her mother sadly.

Sasha didn’t have time for this. ‘We’ll talk when I get back tonight.’

Raised voices came from the front and when Sasha got outside, pulling her car keys from her bag, she found Kev arguing with their neighbour.

‘You’re out of order.’ He stood in the middle of the street in his pyjama bottoms, jabbing a finger at the bins. ‘That’s your one, this is ours!’

Sasha turned to see Angel and Denny watching incredulous, her mother coming outside. A couple of neighbours observed the argument unfold; a passer-by lingered.

Nelson was trying to get a word in edgeways, but Kev had worked himself into a temper, and was taking the cardboard out of the bin and throwing it about.

‘You’re a total embarrassment!’ Angel screamed at her dad and ran inside, but Kev was too busy shouting at Nelson to notice.

Sasha didn’t know what had got into him lately, wished they had time to sit down together to discuss what on earth was going through his head. And then there was whatever the hell was going on with her mother…

Her phone buzzed in her bag and she fished it out, saw her detective sergeant’s name on the screen.

‘Ajay,’ she said quickly.

He must have heard the commotion in the background, and said uncertainly, ‘Everything okay?’

‘Of course.’ She waved at her mother to take Denny inside. ‘Sorry, I’m running a bit late.’

‘It’s not that.’ What DS Ajay de Vaz said next made the blood freeze in her veins. ‘A girl’s gone missing.’

7

Standing on the pavement in front of the house, Sasha gestured to the uniformed officer outside, give me a moment, and took out her mobile.

The call rang three times and dropped to voicemail.