Liv stormed back to the writing room. Her eyes bore into the screen. She kept hearing imaginary sounds and jerked around to see what they were. How had Chloe known Essie was supposed to be attending Dubfest? What else did she know?

She looked around for the striped tie, only to find it had gone. She frantically searched under the desk and around the room. Liv touched her collarbone and pictured Chloe stuffing the tie into the back pocket of her jeans. Did she recognize it from somewhere, or was she trying to mess with her head?

She felt naked without it, as if a piece of Georgia Rory had been snatched from her.

Had Chloe discovered enough pieces of the puzzle to pull a full picture together? How long would it take her to realize Essie hadn’t been in the apartment for months? And what would the journalist do with this information? Perhaps the photos in Essie’s award room had given her new contacts to approach.

Liv felt so helpless. The apartment was her haven, somewhere she felt safe. And now it had been invaded. Her skin crawled and she wanted to scratch it raw.

Would Chloe dig her talons into Hank next?

Liv googled him once more, looking for information the journalist might have missed. She patiently scrolled through page after page until she found a link to a PR company. Buried among the information, she read,

Hank’s Bar.
VIP private opening. Invitation only.
Thursday, September 5.

Bingo.

It was only a week away and she congratulated herself for finding it.

Liv felt like she’d discovered a twenty-pound note in an old handbag. She smiled to herself and noted the date down so she wouldn’t forget it.

However, when she tried to work on Book Twenty again, words stuck in her head and refused to come out. It felt like Chloe had broken some kind of spell.

24

MARKET STALLS

When Anthony finally arrived back from Bologna, he messaged Liv, asking to meet her at the Pentecost and Wilde offices. Liv arrived too early and meandered around outside the cream stone building for a while. There was an engraved brass plaque on the wall and three besuited men talked together in the reception area. It all looked very stuffy. Anthony had been gone for two and a half months and she wondered if he’d be pleased to see her or not.

Liv kept glancing at her watch and struggled to breathe in the early September heat. After Chloe’s intrusion, she couldn’t bear the thought of being hemmed into a small meeting room. She fingered the scarf she wore around her neck. It belonged to Essie and its tag made her itch.