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

Nell almost winced. She’d not seen Bremer like this, and certainly not to Carla, and she wasn’t keen on his bullying tone.

‘I assume we haven’t got a scene layout yet, so how can we tell where the witnesses were standing or what they could see? We need to be able to place them on the rooftop to be sure what Carla says is correct.’

Bremer glared at her, but she went on. ‘Surely that’s worth a look?’

‘You want to go and look at the scene?’ Bremer asked.

‘Why not? You’ve given us a day to look into it, and it seems as good a place to start as any.’

Bremer looked between her and Carla. ‘Fine. But I want this closed, Nell. CID want to close this because their stats are scraping the floor, and they only agreed to give it to me because their analyst is off sick, so they see it as a way for us to do their work for them.’

Nell wasn’t sure why he’d even bothered if he was so convinced Carla was barking up a dead end, but she just said, ‘Of course, sir.’

‘You go too, Carla. Check out all the angles you need to in order to get this off my desk. I want Paul to stay behind in case anything comes in in the meantime, and Nell’ – he stood – ‘if it does, I want you back here pronto.’

Nell gave a mock salute. ‘Received and understood.’

Picking up her Marlboro Lights she winked at Carla. ‘Come on, one for the road.’ But as she followed the analyst down the corridor – all trademark pencil skirt and white-blonde hair – Nell hoped this wasn’t Carla’s way of creating work for them so she could take her mind off her home situation. Because, as sympathetic as Nell was to that, and as much as she trusted Carla’s intuition, her hangover had its limits.

Three

I don’t believe it’s possible to wake up knowing someone is dead, but if I did, I’d be convinced I knew Alice was gone. I’m lying in my narrow childhood bed, sheets too thin for the cold room, mattress too hard for adult bones, and all I can feel is a sense of absolute hopelessness and loss. I try to tell myself it’s nerves at the reunion last night, at not being able to find Alice to warn her not to go, and I want to get back home to Simon to be reassured all is still as it was.

Downstairs, my parents are seated at the dining table, places set for breakfast just as they were every morning of my childhood. The feeling in the room is austere; despite the expensive ornaments and vases, silverware on decorated plates, and I take my seat in silence just as I always did.