BooksBarbecue
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

‘No.’ Rachel shook her head. ‘Let’s wait until we know for sure how Nick died. If the PM clearly shows his death was an accident, then maybe it doesn’t matter who Nick rowed with last night.’

On the walk back to the station, she felt edgy, impatient. The need to take action was tempered by the knowledge that there wasn’t anything constructive they could do until they had the post-mortem results. Until then, they would have to sit tight and wait. But Rachel wasn’t good at waiting. Especially not when her gut was telling her, loudly and repeatedly, that Nick Gilbert’s death was no accident. Someone had wanted him dead.

Ten

The knife rack was on the worktop to her left. As quietly as she could, Clodagh sneaked her hand forward and removed Adam’s beloved Miyabi chef’s knife. Eight inches of ice-hardened carbide steel. Gripping the handle tightly, she turned and lunged forward, knife out, screaming.

‘Clodagh! It’s me. Stop!’

The moment of recognition almost came too late. She stopped with the blade centimetres from the woman standing in front of her.

‘Jesus, Bella. What the hell are you doing here?’

‘I needed to see you.’ Bella took several steps back, her hands up as if to protect herself.

The surge of adrenaline that had given Clodagh the courage to grab the knife and face the intruder was gone, leaving her empty and exhausted. She dropped the knife onto the worktop. The sound of metal on marble made Bella flinch, causing the familiar feelings of guilt clawing at Clodagh’s insides. She didn’t have the strength to put on the front she always needed when dealing with Bella.

‘How did you get into the house?’ she asked, remembering the footsteps she’d heard earlier when she was upstairs.

‘The front door was open,’ Bella said. ‘I should have rung the doorbell, I know. But I was worried Adam would answer and it’s you I’m here to see, not him.’

‘I heard someone outside,’ Clodagh said, ‘walking around the side of the house. Was that you?’

‘Guilty as charged. I wanted to avoid Adam, so I thought I’d try the garden first. I know you often like to sit out there in the evenings. When I couldn’t find you, I came back around to the front of the house. Then I saw the door wasn’t fully closed and, before I knew what I was doing, I’d pushed it open and come inside. I can see now how stupid that was, but you’ve got to understand, my head’s all over the place. I’m sorry. I probably shouldn’t have come. I just really needed to see you.’

Bella’s voice cracked and Clodagh’s guilt expanded until she could taste it at the back of her throat – bitter and raw and impossible to get rid of.