BooksBarbecue
Back When I Lost You
Chapters (81)
  1. Cover
  2. About the Author
  3. Dedication
  4. Prologue
  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. Fifty-six
  61. Fifty-seven
  62. Fifty-eight
  63. Fifty-nine
  64. Sixty
  65. Sixty-one
  66. Sixty-two
  67. Sixty-three
  68. Sixty-four
  69. Sixty-five
  70. Sixty-six
  71. Sixty-seven
  72. Epilogue
  73. Acknowledgments
  74. Read More
  75. Prologue
  76. One
  77. Two
  78. Three
  79. Four
  80. Follow Merilyn online
  81. Dedication

‘Maybe, but you can’t wipe out a phone call.’

‘Yes, but what does that tell us? We know she made the call because we have a witness who matches her to the CCTV printout. But that’s all we’ve got. We can’t do the usual checks on the call data because it’s a phone box, so it’s just random people making random calls.’

‘Possibly, but Carla can work wonders with phones. I wouldn’t give up hope yet.’

He was right, but she wasn’t sure even Carla was that good. ‘OK, let’s get back. We’re late for the meeting as it is.’ And with one last look at the phone box, she got in the car and jacked up the air conditioning.

Forty

Then

Aoife is on the ground, her body still. The cut from her head has started to bleed onto the floor. I scream and Alf slaps me, his face ashen.

‘Shut up.’

We stand there, staring at her, and my legs are shaking so much I think I’m going to fall down. Alf moves to the door and for a minute I think he’s going to leave me there alone with her and I panic. But then he turns the lock in the door and pulls down the blind, and I look back to Aoife.

I can’t see if she’s breathing. I try to go towards her but my body won’t move. ‘Aoife,’ I call.

‘I said, shut up. Let me think.’

I wait.

‘Fuck.’ He’s rubbing the back of his head, hard, staring down at Aoife.

‘Shouldn’t we call an ambulance?’ I dare to say, then freeze as he glares at me.

‘No.’

No? Anger starts to push away at the edges of my panic. No? ‘We can’t just leave her – she needs help.’ I start to walk towards her, slowly, judging Alf’s reaction with each step.

I’m standing above her and looking down at her red hair, pale face. Her eyes are closed, mouth slightly open, and I notice her hand is cradling her stomach, fingers frozen in an attempt to protect her child.

I bend down and smooth her hair aside. ‘Aoife?’ I whisper. ‘Aoife, it’s all right, I’m going to help you.’

I lean in, aware of Alf’s stare on my back. Her face is so white I’m afraid to touch it. ‘Aoife,’ I whisper in her ear. ‘Aoife, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I love you – please wake up.’

I can’t see her chest move so I reach out to feel a pulse, pressing hard into her neck, desperate to feel her heartbeat against my fingers.

There is nothing. I pull my hand back and sit on my heels. The muscles in my body have gone to jelly and the room starts to spin.