Chapters (68)
- Cover
- Dedication
- NOW
- One
- BEFORE
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- NOW
- Twenty-One
- BEFORE
- 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
- NOW
- Thirty-Nine
- BEFORE
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- NOW
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- AFTER
- Fifty-Six
- Acknowledgements
- About the Author
Then, without warning, she almost bolted out, disappearing from view quickly in a flash of colour. The CCTV images continued, the doors to the lift eventually closing.
‘Wait,’ DI Bennett said, a small smile curling her lips.
Mark could see Joanna walking off into the distance. A few seconds went by, then someone else appeared.
A figure dressed in dark clothes. A hood covering his head, his footsteps purposeful and stalking.
‘Someone followed her,’ Mark said, squinting at the screen, as if he could magically make the figure turn around so he could see whoever it was.
‘That’s the last time we see Joanna,’ DS Cavanagh said, pausing the video and turning back towards him. ‘She’s followed onto the roof, then a few minutes later, this happens.’
The person who had followed Joanna appeared again. Mark held his breath, waiting to see the face of the person, then frowned when he could only see black.
‘He walks backwards,’ DS Cavanagh said, his voice flat and emotionless. ‘We’ve gone through the entire CCTV and he is always shielded from view.’
‘He knew where the cameras were,’ Mark replied, for his own benefit, rather than anyone else’s. ‘And it is a he, I’m guessing.’
‘It certainly looks that way from his build and the way he moves,’ DI Bennett said, turning away from the screen and facing Mark again. ‘Which means…’
‘Emily’s disappearance is probably unconnected,’ Mark finished for her. Although he could see that DI Bennett wasn’t exactly buying that thought. ‘As in, she wasn’t with Joanna on the roof of that building. Still, it’s some coincidence.’
‘It is,’ DI Bennett said, perching herself on the long table that took up most of the room. ‘Joanna hadn’t been seen for two days before this happens. Before she’s found at the bottom of the building, dead, yards away from Emily’s last known whereabouts.’
‘We need to find Emily,’ Mark said, understanding why he’d been brought in to see the video. ‘Even if we think they’re unconnected, we can’t say for certain.’
Bennett glanced across at DS Cavanagh, the look not really answering anything for Mark.
‘They’re possibly unconnected, but we don’t know. If there’s a chance they are connected, then obviously we can’t rule that out,’ DS Cavanagh said finally, unable to keep the look of confusion from his face. ‘Because, right now, we haven’t got a clue. The best we can come up with is that Joanna was having some sort of mental breakdown and that someone took advantage of that fact. We need to find Emily to make sure either she wasn’t involved, or…’
‘She hasn’t been a victim like Joanna too.’