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Back The Midnight Man Save as PDF
Chapters (70)
  1. Title Page
  2. Contents
  3. Copyright
  4. Praise for Caroline Mitchell
  5. Also by Caroline Mitchell
  6. Dedication
  7. Epigraph
  8. Prologue
  9. 1
  10. 2
  11. 3
  12. 4
  13. 5
  14. 6
  15. 7
  16. 8
  17. 9
  18. 10
  19. 11
  20. 12
  21. 13
  22. 14
  23. 15
  24. 16
  25. 17
  26. 18
  27. 19
  28. 20
  29. 21
  30. 22
  31. 23
  32. 24
  33. 25
  34. 26
  35. 27
  36. 28
  37. 29
  38. 30
  39. 31
  40. 32
  41. 33
  42. 34
  43. 35
  44. 36
  45. 37
  46. 38
  47. 39
  48. 40
  49. 41
  50. 42
  51. 43
  52. 44
  53. 45
  54. 46
  55. 47
  56. 48
  57. 49
  58. 50
  59. 51
  60. 52
  61. 53
  62. 54
  63. 55
  64. 56
  65. 57
  66. 58
  67. Epilogue
  68. Acknowledgements
  69. About Caroline Mitchell
  70. About Embla Books

‘I didn’t mean to upset you. Look.’ He grabbed a pen from the table and scribbled on the notepad on her desk. ‘It’s the name of a small private conspiracy site on Facebook. We just want to help.’

‘We?’ Sarah said, aghast. Voices rose from the hall as her colleagues returned. Richie raised a hand. ‘No pressure. Just … just think about joining. It’s a safe space.’

As Yvonne walked in, Sarah turned to her computer, but not before she caught a flash of annoyance on her face.

‘Shouldn’t you be going home, Ms Part-Timer? The grown-ups have work to do.’

The friend act hadn’t lasted very long. Sarah quietly shut off her computer before rising from her chair. Her thoughts crowding in, she grabbed her bag from the floor and walked out the door.

23

‘Guess I seized the wrong blooming day,’ Sarah muttered, her car seat upholstery giving a little wheeze. She was shaking from frustration, thinking of a million comebacks she would never have the courage to say. In just one line, Yvonne had humiliated her yet again. So much for rule three: Don’t take any crap. Maybe she deserved it, after leaving them short-staffed for so long. Maybe they needed an outlet, given David wasn’t there to face up to what he had done. Perhaps it was a case of keeping her head down and riding the storm.

She looked up through the windscreen. The sky was heavy with impending darkness and she had the town hall meeting to attend tonight. Her thoughts returned to Richie and his bizarre request for her to join the Facebook group. She’d known him for a few weeks before she left CID for a year. Why hadn’t he asked her then? Perhaps he’d been gearing up to it before she went off sick. Decades had passed since Blackhall. It was reasonable to think she could handle it, given she was an adult now. But more to the point, there were people in the world who were looking at the bigger picture. For years, her father’s actions had haunted her. She never thought he was capable of such cold-blooded acts, but during her many counselling sessions, she was told to accept it and move on. She thought of her little brother, so innocent and sweet … a ball of grief lodged in her chest. ‘Don’t cry, you silly sausage,’ she whispered to herself as she swallowed back her tears. It would be good if she could get through one day of adhering to her self-imposed rules. Even if it was only rule five: Act normal. But how could she when the past wouldn’t let her go?