‘Hey.’
He walks towards me, and I wipe my mouth, praying there are no traces of chocolate on my face or lips.
I ate the cake too quickly and my stomach feels bloated and heavy. Cursing myself for being such a greedy cow, I push the plate away and sit like an oversized lemon waiting for him to reach my table. A strand of hair is tickling my face, but I’m too scared to brush it back in case he sees how badly my hand is trembling.
‘Nice place you’ve got here,’ Shane says. He’s standing in front of me now, so close I have to crane my neck to look up at him.
‘Get you a drink?’ he asks, like it’s the most natural thing in the world. I can barely hear him through the pounding inside my head, blood pumping too fast, making me light-headed and dizzy.
I must have replied, because by the time my head’s stopped spinning, he’s already at the bar. I watch him wait his turn, gesturing to a woman who’s also waiting to go ahead of him. It’s kind of him and I don’t understand why Ella frowns when she sees him do it. She’s in the middle of serving someone else, so Shane has to wait until she’s finished to order.
He’s up there for ages, talking to Ella while she gets our drinks, and afterwards too, leaning forward while he speaks to her. When he picks up the glasses, I see her face. She looks different. Her eyes are bright and wide open, and she has an angry patch of pink on each cheek, like she’s been slapped.
I watch her watching him as he crosses the bar and puts our drinks on the table. He pulls out a stool and sits opposite me, blocking her. But even if I can’t see her, I know she’s looking at us, her eyes boring into the back of Shane’s head like she wants to see right inside him.
I realise this isn’t the first time they’ve met. There’s a history there, something between them that I’m not a part of. And I know with a heavy certainty that Shane didn’t come here tonight to see me. He’s here because of her.
Ten
Dee
Dee had invited Louise and her kids over for lunch on Saturday. She wanted to find out everything her cousin had discovered about the dead woman. Because she had made a decision. She was going to use all the skills and knowledge she’d acquired in her twenty years as a journalist to find Katie and Jake. And once she found them, she was going to protect them from predatory hacks like her ex-husband.
It was another blisteringly hot day. A cloudless blue sky and an ocean as smooth and still as a sheet of glass. When she’d finished preparing lunch, she sat on the deck, going over the notes she’d made on her laptop earlier that morning.
After Melissa’s visit, she had tried to find the ‘something interesting’ the woman had claimed Billy had uncovered. An internet search for Katie Hope yielded 44,400,000 results. She tried to narrow this down by cross-referencing the results against the information she already had from her mother’s filing cabinet. The only definite match she got was with the software company in Shoreditch who had given Katie a reference when she moved to Eastbourne. When she visited the company’s website, though, all she got was a link to a page that no longer existed, naming Katie as one of the employees.
The company was called Hexagon Consultancy. According to their website, they created ‘digital solutions that people want to use’. They were also involved in something called ‘the internet of things’. Which as far as Dee could work out was about getting household appliances like your fridge and TV and cooker connected to the internet. The website didn’t give her any information that was actually useful, like how big the company was, what job Katie had done when she worked there, or why she’d given up her job when she moved to Eastbourne.
The doorbell rang. At the same time, Dee heard the sound of little feet running around the side of the house towards the back.
‘Auntie Dee!’ Daisy, Louise’s elder child, threw herself at Dee.
‘How’s my favourite niece?’ Dee said, lifting the girl in her arms and swinging her around.
‘I’m not your niece,’ Daisy said. ‘I’m your first cousin once removed.’
‘If we’re cousins,’ Dee said, ‘why do you call me Auntie Dee. It should be plain old Dee, right?’
Daisy rolled her head in the direction of her mother, who was trotting carefully over the shingle after Daisy’s younger brother Ben.
‘She says it’s rude not to.’
‘And what do you think?’ Dee asked.
‘What does she think about what?’ Louise asked.
But Dee couldn’t answer, because Ben was demanding her attention now, pulling at her top until she bent down and gave him a hug.
‘How you doing, little man?’ she asked.
Ben frowned, and Dee’s heart juddered as she wondered what was wrong with him.
‘Not little,’ he said. ‘I’m four now. That’s big.’
‘Not as big as me,’ Daisy said. ‘Five is bigger than four.’
‘You’re both big,’ Louise broke in. ‘Now then, who wants to go for a swim before lunch?’
From the shouting and laughing that followed, it was clear the kids couldn’t wait to get into the sea.
‘I’ll take them,’ Dee said. ‘Why don’t you grab a chair and relax in the sun for a bit?’
While Louise set about getting the children ready, Dee went inside to change into her swimming costume. It was an old one and, like everything else she owned, about two sizes too small for her. She stuffed her flabby bits into as much of it as she could, yanking it down over the tufts of pubic hair that pushed out from the bottom, then wrapped a towel around herself and ran back outside.
‘Thanks so much for this,’ Louise said. She held up her phone. ‘I’ve got a ton of emails to work through.’
‘Still working on the hit and run?’ Dee asked.
‘No one’s come forward to identify her yet,’ Louise said. ‘How can a woman die like that without anyone missing her?’
‘Auntie Dee.’ Ben pulled Dee’s towel. ‘I want to go swimming.’
‘Tell you what,’ Dee said to Louise, as if the thought had just occurred to her. ‘Why don’t you pick my brains over lunch? We can eat out here and I’ll set up a picnic blanket on the beach for the kids so we can talk without any interruptions. And afterwards,’ she looked at Ben and Daisy, ‘you can get an ice cream from the freezer and watch a movie if you like.’
Louise smiled and her whole face lit up. Not for the first time, Dee thought there must be plenty of men who’d do pretty much anything to feel the warmth of that smile.
‘That would be great,’ Louise said. ‘Thanks, Dee.’
‘Can we go swimming now?’ Ben said. ‘Please?’
‘Try and stop me,’ Dee said.
She took one of their hands in each of hers and the three of them ran to the water. At the last moment, she dropped her towel and tiptoed into the icy-cold sea, marvelling at the children’s ability not to notice how bloody freezing it was. She stayed in for as long as she could, lifting each child in turn, swinging them up and out of the water then dropping them down again, taking care to hold onto them so their heads didn’t go under. She remembered all the times she’d done the same thing with Jake, the sound of the little boy’s laughter all around her. It was impossible to think she’d never do that with him again.
* * *
After lunch, Louise sent the children inside to watch a film. She kept the living room door open so she could keep an eye on them.
‘I’m working on the theory that someone is helping Katie,’ she said, tucking her feet under her body, the way she did when she was settling in for a long chat.
‘What makes you think that?’ Dee asked.
‘They haven’t vanished into thin air. Someone has to be hiding them.’ She paused, chewing her lip as though she was thinking about saying something but was unsure whether it was a good idea or not.
‘Spit it out,’ Dee said. ‘Whatever you want to say, I doubt it will shock me.’
‘I was thinking about what you said that night we met for dinner,’ Louise said.<
br />
Dee frowned, unsure what her cousin was referring to.
‘About hacking Katie’s phone?’ Louise said. ‘I mean, I know I was really against it, but at the time, I thought Katie was dead, remember?’
‘Ah.’ Dee shook her head. ‘I’ve already looked into it, and I don’t think it’s an option. After the phone-hacking scandal, things changed. It’s almost impossible to access someone’s voicemail these days.’
‘I guess if it was that easy, some other journalist would have already done it by now. You’ve tried calling her, I assume?’
‘Every day,’ Dee said. ‘But all I get is her voicemail. I’ve lost count of how many messages I’ve left. You said you think someone is helping her. Any ideas who that could be?’
‘Not so far,’ Louise said.
‘I’ve been thinking about the relationship between Katie and the dead woman,’ Dee said. ‘They must have been close. She was wearing Katie’s top. But it was more than that. It was… everything. Her hair was the same, she was dressed like Katie – not just the T-shirt, but the jeans were the type Katie wears. She even had a pair of Birkenstock sandals that I’ve seen Katie wearing. I know this sounds mad, Lou, but it’s almost as if she was pretending to be Katie.’
‘She borrowed some of Katie’s clothes,’ Louise said. ‘Which means they must have known each other. Stop that, Ben! He’s started picking his nose. It’s disgusting, but I can’t get him to stop. Isn’t it more likely that the dead woman was a friend or a sister or something? Ben, I said STOP IT!’
‘I guess,’ Dee said. ‘Except if she had a sister or a friend coming to visit, why didn’t she tell me?’
‘Maybe she didn’t know. It could have been a surprise visit.’
Dee thought of how hung-over she’d been that afternoon. No wonder she’d made such a stupid mistake.
‘I should have paid more attention,’ she said.
‘You were in shock,’ Louise said. She leaned down, reached into her bucket-sized handbag and pulled out an iPad. ‘Did you know Katie’s father was murdered?’
‘God, no,’ Dee said. ‘I knew her parents were dead because I asked her about them once. But she never told me that. Poor Katie. Are you sure about this, Lou?’
‘I think so,’ Louise said. ‘She worked at a software company in London before she moved here.’
‘Hexagon Consultancy,’ Dee said. ‘They wrote a reference for her.’
‘I managed to track down the CEO this morning. He didn’t want to speak to me at first, but I worked my charm on him. He gave me some background information on Katie – where she went to college, her qualifications, previous work experience. Enough to narrow things down a bit. Katie was a remote worker. The company’s based in London but she was living in Bristol when she worked for them. She grew up in Hither Green, in London. A man called Gus Hope was murdered in a London pub in 2008. He had a daughter called Katie. I’ve checked it all out and the dates match. I’m pretty sure it’s the same woman. Do you remember what you told me one time about coincidences?’
Unbidden, Dee heard Billy’s voice. You say coincidence, Dee, but I say there’s a pattern. You can’t see it yet, but that doesn’t mean it’s not there.
‘I remember,’ she said. ‘How was he murdered?’
‘He owned a pub,’ Louise said. ‘A fight broke out between a punter and one of the bar staff. Katie’s dad stepped in, tried to stop things escalating and ended up getting killed.’
‘How awful,’ Dee said. She thought of poor Katie, living a semi-reclusive life out here by the sea, and wondered if the tragedy had been one of the reasons she’d moved here.
Louise typed something on the iPad, and handed it to Dee.
‘Here,’ she said. ‘See for yourself.’
It was an archived piece on the website of the South London Press. Short and factual, the piece stated that a local man had been given an eight-year prison sentence for the manslaughter of Gus Hope. According to the article, Gus Hope was a widower and father to eighteen-year-old Katie. The story was dated May 2009.
‘I wonder why she never told me,’ Dee said, although she already knew the answer. Katie was a very private person. Any questions Dee asked about her life before Eastbourne were politely rebutted. In the end, she had given up asking because it was clear to her that Katie didn’t want to talk about her past.
‘It happened a long time ago,’ Louise said. ‘I know it’s terrible, but people move on, don’t they?’
‘I guess.’
‘She must have had other family,’ Louise said. ‘And friends. I mean, she got pregnant, so she was clearly living some sort of life.’
‘She left it all behind her when she moved here,’ Dee said. ‘Whatever friends and family she had, she never mentioned them and no one ever came to visit her. Did the Hexagon guy tell you why Katie left? I wonder why she stopped working with computers and started teaching piano instead.’
‘She handed her notice in,’ Louise said. ‘Crispin didn’t know why she decided to leave.’
‘Crispin?’
‘Hexagon’s CEO,’ Louise said. ‘I’m meant to be meeting him on Monday, in fact. I’d arranged it all and then, right after it was sorted, Martin called from the golf course to tell me he’s taken on an extra shift. Flying out tomorrow evening and won’t be home until Wednesday morning. I’ve told him before not to do that without checking with me first, but it’s like speaking to a brick wall. Why is it that he thinks my job is less important than his?’
Dee could think of plenty of ways to answer that question, but she knew Louise wouldn’t like any of them, so she kept quiet.
‘I’ve tried to reschedule things with Cris,’ Louise said. ‘But he’s going to India on Monday evening for a week. It’s such a pain. Jen’s covering an emergency town council meeting on Monday, so she can’t go, and Daisy’s got a hospital appointment and I can’t change it.’
‘There’s nothing wrong, is there?’ Dee asked.
‘Something not quite right with her hearing,’ Louise said. ‘She’s having some tests to see if she’ll need grommets. I told you about it a few weeks ago.’
‘Yes, of course you did,’ Dee said. ‘Why not let me take Daisy to the hospital? I’d be more than happy to do it, you know that.’
‘That’s really kind.’ Louise shook her head. ‘But it should be me or Martin.’
‘Well how about I go to London and speak to Katie’s old boss?’
‘You?’
‘Why not? If he’s got any information that will help us find out what’s happened to Katie and Jake, we need to speak to him as soon as possible.’
‘We?’ Louise said.
‘Katie’s my friend,’ Dee said. ‘I can’t sit around twiddling my thumbs and waiting for the police to find them. Going to London, knowing I’m helping you at the same time, it makes sense, doesn’t it?’
‘I thought you wanted to put the journalism part of your life behind you.’
‘I never said that,’ Dee replied. ‘And even if I had, that’s not what this is about. I get that it’s your job to write about this. And I respect that because I respect you. But it’s not like that for me. I need to know I’m doing all I can to find them. Let me do this, Lou. Please?’
‘If I say yes,’ Louise said, ‘do you promise to tell me everything you find out. Not just on Monday, but after that as well. No more keeping things from me, even if Ed Mitchell tells you to.’
‘I promise.’
Louise nodded. ‘Okay then. Cris is a real sweetie. I’ll send him an email later. Let him know someone else is coming in my place. I’m sure it will be fine.’
Dee reached across the table and squeezed her cousin’s hand. ‘Thank you,’ she said.
Crispin Marsden. Her first real lead. Dee could feel it. That familiar fizzing inside her body, synapses snapping and connections being made, her mind already starting to build the narrative of Katie’s life, leading up to the murder of a young woman who looked just like her.
Eleven
Katie
Eleven years earlier
That night was the start of something. Maybe his first visit to the pub was because of Ella, but it’s me he keeps coming back for. There’s a connection between us; one of those things you can’t make up. It’s either there or it’s not.
Roxanne’s been so lovely. I can tell she’s happy for me by the way she keeps smiling over and winking at me when he’s not looking. And the way she teases me about him when he’s not around. I don’t mind. It’s kind of nice, to be honest; makes me feel like someone else, almost.
Ella doesn’t like us hanging out together. She’s jealous. Shane says she’s too uptight for any bloke to be interested. We spend hours bitching about her. Right after that first night, he told me about her. They used to go out with each other. He’s said it was nothing serious, and I want to believe him. Which is why I don’t ask for any details. He says it’s in the past and he doesn’t want to talk about it. But that’s a lie, because most of the time, Ella’s the only thing he does want to talk about.
‘She thinks she’s better than everyone else,’ he says. ‘See the way she won’t even smile at that poor bloke who’s chatting to her? Like it would hurt her face if she tried.’
It’s Sunday night and we’re in our usual corner. Whispering, heads close together, because the pub is quiet and we don’t want anyone to overhear what we’re talking about.
‘My dad only hired her because he felt sorry for her,’ I tell him. ‘Her father died a while back and I think her family’s struggling a bit. Money stuff, you know.’
‘Really?’
He seems to find that interesting and doesn’t say anything else for a bit. While I’m waiting for him to speak, I ask him if he wants another drink.
‘Sure.’ He smiles, and the knot in my stomach melts away, relieved that he’s okay and we’re okay. He gets like this sometimes, quiet and a bit moody. It freaks me out, because every time it happens, it reminds me of Mum. Her moods shifted and changed all the time. You never really knew where you were with her. The sick feeling I used to get when I realised I’d got it wrong, that’s what it’s like when Shane goes into one of his dark places.
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