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Back The Lucky Eight Save as PDF
Chapters (64)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Prologue
  4. Five Years Later
  5. One
  6. Two
  7. Three
  8. Four
  9. Five
  10. Six
  11. Seven
  12. Eight
  13. Nine
  14. Ten
  15. Eleven
  16. Twelve
  17. Thirteen
  18. Fourteen
  19. Fifteen
  20. Sixteen
  21. Seventeen
  22. Eighteen
  23. Nineteen
  24. Twenty
  25. Twenty-one
  26. Twenty-two
  27. Twenty-three
  28. Twenty-four
  29. Twenty-five
  30. Twenty-six
  31. Twenty-seven
  32. Twenty-eight
  33. Twenty-nine
  34. Thirty
  35. Thirty-one
  36. Thirty-two
  37. Thirty-three
  38. Thirty-four
  39. Thirty-five
  40. Thirty-six
  41. Thirty-seven
  42. Thirty-eight
  43. Thirty-nine
  44. Forty
  45. Forty-one
  46. Forty-two
  47. Forty-three
  48. Forty-four
  49. Forty-five
  50. Forty-six
  51. Forty-seven
  52. Forty-eight
  53. Forty-nine
  54. Fifty
  55. Fifty-one
  56. Fifty-two
  57. Fifty-three
  58. Fifty-four
  59. Fifty-five
  60. Epilogue
  61. Acknowledgements
  62. Canelo Crime
  63. About the Author
  64. Also by Sheila Bugler

The house had been extended to accommodate a big, modern kitchen with doors leading onto the garden. The kitchen was empty but there was a gap where one of the doors hadn’t been closed properly. Looking around, Rachel noticed a wooden gate at the end of the garden, leading into the wood behind the house. The gate was also open. Nudging Sam, she pointed to the gate, gesturing for him to get down there and take a look.

As he hurried across the perfectly manicured lawn, Rachel slid open the door and stepped inside the house. She stood in the kitchen, holding her breath, listening. When she didn’t hear anything, she moved slowly through the downstairs rooms. She could feel her heart, beating hard and fast, as she searched each room. Every time she pushed open another door, she expected to find either a dead body or a killer. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she looked up through the house. Two floors above her. A lot more rooms to search. And still no sign of Sam.

She walked back to the open kitchen doors, scanning the woods at the back of the house. She couldn’t see anything, but that didn’t mean there was no one out there. She needed to decide the best course of action: go and check if Sam was okay or search the rest of the house first.

A sudden sound from inside the house made the decision easy. She swung around, creeping through the kitchen and into the hallway, where she stopped and listened. There it was again. Banging. She stood stock still, trying to work out where the noise was coming from. It was coming from upstairs. Someone, or something, was up there.

It could be a trap, but she had to check it out. Two people already dead; she would do whatever it took to prevent a third murder. She moved carefully up the stairs, testing each step with her foot before stepping on it, trying to avoid creaking floorboards. When she reached the second floor, she realised the noise was coming from the floor above. She could hear a woman’s voice now, too.

‘Help! Let me out.’

‘I’m coming.’ Rachel ran up the final flight of steps.

‘Hello?’

‘In here.’

A room at the end of the landing. The door shut.

‘Clodagh?’ Rachel said. ‘Is that you?’

‘Oh. thank God,’ Clodagh said, from behind the closed door.

With a rush of relief, Rachel realised Clodagh sounded okay. Which meant she’d got here in time.

‘Adam’s locked me in,’ Clodagh said. ‘I’m trapped. You need to get me out before he comes back. It’s him. He’s the killer.’

Forty-eight