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Back The Lucky Eight
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

‘And I’ll see you tomorrow,’ Bella said. ‘Until then, stay safe, okay?’

Forty-nine

Day Thirteen

Clodagh was with Bella, walking through the Lanes on Wednesday afternoon, when the call came through.

‘That was Rachel Lewis,’ she said, hanging up. ‘They’ve found Adam. He’s been arrested and is being held in custody.’

‘Phew.’ Bella gave Clodagh a quick hug. ‘That’s good news, isn’t it?’

‘I suppose so.’

The truth was, she didn’t know how she felt. Adam had been a part of her life for thirteen years. He’d been her friend, her brother-in-law, then her boyfriend. She had never once, in all those years, considered he might be capable of murder.

‘Where did they find him?’ Bella asked.

‘He handed himself in,’ Clodagh said. ‘He stayed with Jake last night, then travelled down to Lewes earlier today, walked into the police station and asked for Rachel.’

‘It’s over then,’ Bella said. ‘We can stop being scared and suspicious of everyone. They’ve caught the killer.’

At the end of the street, one of the bars had set up an outside barbeque. The stink of charred meat hung in the air, choking Clodagh when she breathed in. Her stomach contracted; heat spread from her chest, sweat breaking out across her face and trickling down her back. There were too many people all around her, bodies pushing into her. Voices and laughter; music pumping from the bars and shops; seagulls screeching overhead. She needed to get out of here.

‘Come on.’ Bella’s voice cut through the noise, as she took Clodagh’s arm. ‘You look done in. Let’s go back to your hotel and grab your bags. After that, I’m going to drive you home.’

‘I’ll be fine in a few minutes,’ Clodagh said. ‘It’s the shock, that’s all.’

‘I know,’ Bella said. ‘It’s going to take time for it all to sink in. You’ve been so good to me over the years, Clodagh. Now it’s my turn to do the same for you.’

Except it wasn’t the same. The only reason Clodagh had gone out of her way to help Bella was to alleviate her own guilt. Not that it had helped. Because no matter how much she did, it would never make up for the fact that she had ruined Bella’s life.

The next few hours passed in a blur. Packing her bags, checking out of the hotel, sitting in the car while Bella drove her home. At one point, Bella had switched the radio on. But when the news came on and Adam’s arrest was the first story, she’d switched it off again and the rest of the journey had passed in silence.