Chapters (64)
Louisa’s legs felt cold, weak. This wasn’t real. It was one of her hallucinations and she’d come of out of it in a minute, if she didn’t panic.
The dead woman could not be standing with her in the beer garden. It was impossible.
There’s a rational explanation for this.
Louisa closed her eyes tightly again. When she opened them, the dead woman would be gone.
‘I’ve been trying to get to you,’ a voice said.
Louisa felt a shift in her bowels. This wasn’t the same as the other hallucinations.
It seemed very real.
She opened her eyes to face whatever was in front of her.
48
THE REVELATION
‘I’ve been trying to get to you,’ the woman repeated. ‘Without Oliver catching me.’
Louisa’s cheeks filled with air and she blew it out slowly, recovering now that she faced the woman. Faced the truth.
Melissa Dunmore.
‘Where have you been? How come the police haven’t found you?’
‘I’ve been careful. Not used my mobile, not bought anything with any of my cards, no withdrawals. I’ve done nothing that would offer any proof of me being alive and well.’
‘You wanted people to think you were dead? How could you put your family, your friends through that?’
‘I have my reasons. One in particular that you should be familiar with.’
Louisa wasn’t sure which specific reason she was referring to, but it was safe to assume it could be related to running away from something in her past, or hiding from the repercussions of a bad decision. Or could she be alluding to something else? Had Oliver told Melissa what Louisa had done all those years ago? But if she did, what could she do about it now? It wasn’t as if Melissa could threaten her with the police. Firstly, she had no evidence. And secondly, Louisa did. She had evidence that put Melissa at the scene of a death – even if the police were yet to realise it had been a crime, she would bet that if she showed the police the drone footage, they’d look at the circumstances again, investigate further. Louisa held the cards here.
‘I don’t know what you mean,’ Louisa said. ‘But I do know about Tiff. That you were there, at her place the day she died. I’ve seen the evidence – Tiff had a drone, and you are clearly visible on the footage. It was you who hurt her, wasn’t it? Why? I don’t understand.’
‘I didn’t hurt her.’ Melissa shook her head, spiral curls bobbing around her face. ‘What happened to Tiff was not my fault. I just went there because I always felt sure she knew more about my sister’s disappearance than she said at the time.’
‘So, you did know Tiff?’
‘I knew of her, yes. Knew her type.’