‘I hope he does rot, but I’m not going to benefit from what he’s done. What are you going to do?’
Tamara doused her cigarette and lit another one. She looked up sadly, her cheeks stained black from all her tears. ‘I am going to cry forever for my angel.’
A soft knock came on the front door. Ruby went to answer it.
Lisa Sheridan stood there with Maggie in her arms and Tyrone clutching her hand.
‘I need to speak with Tamara,’ she said. The wind caught her hair and blew it across her harried face.
‘I … I’m not sure that’s a good—’ Ruby began.
‘Tell her to come in,’ Tamara said. ‘We have a lot to talk about.’
Ruby stood back and watched the sad little family move past her. ‘Where’s Jack?’
Lisa nodded towards the street.
Ruby went down the concrete steps and stood beside the young boy. ‘Jack?’
He was staring down the road at the boarded-up house that had seen the slaughter of the Doyle family twenty years previously.
‘It was there all the time,’ he whispered. ‘We walked by it every single day, me and Gavin. We knew there was a house there, behind the hoarding, but we never sneaked in or went near it. Do you think there was a supernatural force keeping us away?’
Ruby put her arm around him and hugged him. ‘Whatever it was, it’s gone now.’
‘They’re all gone. Gavin and that woman Faye and my dad’s … Charlie’s half-brother Aaron. All murdered. Why?’
‘I don’t know, Jack. But that house wasn’t evil. Charlie was.’
‘He wasn’t always, you know. He used to be caring and loving. But when he thought he was going to die, he changed.’ Ruby thought those were wise words from an eleven-year-old. He added, ‘It’s like the past was resurrected and he continued where he had left off at fourteen years old.’ He looked up into her face, pleading. ‘I’m afraid the same will happen to me.’
‘No, Jack, it won’t, because Charlie wasn’t your real dad. And hey, listen. This is the best bit ever. I’m your big sister. How cool is that?’
‘Gross,’ Jack said, but beneath the sorrow swimming in his eyes, Ruby saw the faintest glimmer of a smile.
Jeff Cole stood on the pavement outside number 2 Church View. He could hear the forensic people working inside. Pulling up floorboards, tearing plaster from the walls. A white-suited technician appeared at the door, struggling beneath the weight of a toilet bowl. Jeff wanted to go in, to bear witness to the continuing search of his aunt’s house. He wanted to tear every last tile off the walls, to twist out the nails from each piece of timber and hinge. He wanted to dismantle the house one cement block at a time, to fling the tiles from the roof and shout at the top of his voice. He wanted to destroy it; only then could he forget what it had been.
Instead he stood in silence at the crime-scene tape while the light breeze whipped around him, and mourned Faye and their unborn child. He didn’t mourn his cousin Polly. He couldn’t remember much about her, if he was totally honest. But the more he thought back to the time when he was a boy and tried to see it through the eyes of a man, the more he recalled the drunken, drug-fuelled existence of his aunt and uncle. Had Patsy really stayed silent about the death of her daughter because of a threat to his own life? Or – and he assumed now that this was the more credible scenario – had she not wanted to bring the gardaí to her door, where they would discover evidence of her collusion in covering up two crimes and confirmation of her drug habit?
He would never know.
He took a last look at the window with its yellowing curtains, and for a second he thought he saw Faye standing there, her hair soft and light, her smile wide and infectious, her hand cupping the little bump that would grow no bigger. He thought he heard her laughing and calling him. Thinking was driving him crazy.
He walked slowly away, his six-foot frame now slouched and sorrowful. He had a funeral to organise.
Epilogue
Two weeks later
Lottie sat with Boyd in the sitting room. He had a glass of wine in his hand. Grace was in the kitchen talking with Chloe and Katie. Sean was upstairs on his computer and Louis was fast asleep. Rose had dropped off a cooked dinner, but Lottie had no appetite.
‘Do you think your friend Father Joe could marry us?’ Boyd said.
‘You’re divorced. We can’t have a church wedding.’
‘Oh, does that mean he can’t officiate at my funeral either?’
‘Stop talking like that.’
‘Only asking.’
‘Anyway, he can’t.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because he’s on a sabbatical.’
‘Another one? That man is out of the priesthood more than he’s in it.’
‘He’s trying for full access to his daughter. It’s awkward for him.’
‘I should say it is.’ Boyd sipped his wine.
Lottie looked longingly at the glass in his hand and took a slug of her Diet Coke. ‘He’s been denied his daughter for so long, like his mother was denied all knowledge of him, so I understand it. Though he could take my daughters for a while if he wants them.’
Boyd laughed heartily.
It was good to hear that sound. When she looked at him, she felt her love grow another root, though the roots were constantly being tangled with the winding ivy of guilt. She could not undo her love for Adam. She couldn’t unlove him. She couldn’t unlove Boyd, either. She had to learn to live with the ghost of one love while experiencing the newness of another.
‘Everything I do, Boyd, I do for my kids, but they don’t get it.’
‘That’s because they’re kids.’
‘Katie and Chloe are so-called adults. Why aren’t they satisfied?’
‘Like I said, they’re still only kids.’
‘Katie wants to move to New York with Louis,’ she said, tears nipping at her eyes.
‘When?’
‘Soon. That’s not a safe place to raise a child.’
‘Can’t be much worse than Ragmullin. Listen, Lottie, I’ve told you before and I’ll tell you again, you have to let them go.’
‘I can’t. I love all of them equally, but I love little Louis differently. I can’t bear not to have him around me. I missed so much of my kids’ childhoods. I was working every hour that God gave. I don’t want to miss my grandson growing up.’
‘You’re overcompensating because Adam is no longer here, but you have me now.’
‘I know that, Boyd, but it’s a different kind of love. Children find a home in your heart, and when one of them leaves, a big fat hole remains that nothing can fill. Adam left me like that, and I try to cram it with work, but it’s just fleeting. I need a constant.’
‘I’ll be your constant,’ he said, and trailed his arm around her shoulder. ‘And if Farrell suspends you, you’ll have plenty of time to do all the things you can’t do because of work.’
‘Like what? Join a knitting group with my mother.’
He laughed again and she smiled. He sat up straight and put his glass on the coffee table. ‘I’ve got an idea.’
‘Go on. Dazzle me.’
‘You know how Leo is talking about giving you Farranstown House?’
‘What about it?’
‘Well, why not go over to the States with Katie. Help her settle in and at the same time meet up with Leo face to face and see what he’s up to.’
‘That’s the best idea you’ve had in ages, Boyd.’ And she knew in her heart that was what she’d been leading up to all along. ‘On one condition,’ she added.
‘Anything.’
‘You have to finish your treatment, and when you get the all-clear, we can go together.’
‘A honeymoon? I’ll drink to that, but first I have to do this.’
He leaned over and drew her face to his, and Lottie let herself be kissed by the man she realised she loved more than he would ever know.
From upstairs came a loud cry.
L
ouis was awake.
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Books by Patricia Gibney
The Detective Lottie Parker series
1. The Missing Ones
2. The Stolen Girls
3. The Lost Child
4. No Safe Place
5. Tell Nobody
6. Final Betrayal
7. Broken Souls
8. Buried Angels
Available in Audio
The Detective Lottie Parker series
1. The Missing Ones (Available in the UK and the US)
2. The Stolen Girls (Available in the UK and the US)
3. The Lost Child (Available in the UK and the US)
4. No Safe Place (Available in the UK and the US)
5. Tell Nobody (Available in the UK and the US)
6. Final Betrayal (Available in the UK and the US)
7. Broken Souls (Available in the UK and the US)
A Letter from Patricia
Hello, dear reader,
Sincere thanks to you for reading my eighth novel, Buried Angels.
I’m so grateful to you for sharing your time with Lottie Parker, her family and her team in this the latest book in the series. I hope you enjoyed Buried Angels, and I’d love it if you could follow Lottie throughout the series of novels.
You can connect with me on my Facebook author page and Twitter. I also have a website (which I try to keep up to date). If you would like to join my mailing list to be kept informed of my new releases, please click here:
Sign up here!
To those of you who have already read the other seven Lottie Parker books, The Missing Ones, The Stolen Girls, The Lost Child, No Safe Place, Tell Nobody, Final Betrayal and Broken Souls, I thank you for your support and reviews. And if Buried Angels is your first encounter with Lottie, I hope you are in for a treat with the previous books in the series.
I’m embarrassed to ask, but I’m always humbled when readers leave reviews, so it would be fantastic if you could post a review on Amazon, or indeed on the site where you purchased the eBook, paperback or audio book. It would mean so much to me. And thank you so much for the reviews received so far.
Thanks again for reading Buried Angels.
I hope you will join me for book nine in the series.
Love,
Patricia
www.patriciagibney.com
The Missing Ones
Detective Lottie Parker Book 1
Buy it now!
The hole they dug was not deep. A white flour bag encased the little body. Three small faces watched from the window, eyes black with terror.
The child in the middle spoke without turning his head. ‘I wonder which one of us will be next?’
When a woman’s body is discovered in a cathedral and hours later a young man is found hanging from a tree outside his home, Detective Lottie Parker is called in to lead the investigation. Both bodies have the same distinctive tattoo clumsily inscribed on their legs. It’s clear the pair are connected, but how?
The trail leads Lottie to St Angela’s, a former children’s home, with a dark connection to her own family history. Suddenly the case just got personal.
As Lottie begins to link the current victims to unsolved murders decades old, two teenage boys go missing. She must close in on the killer before they strike again, but in doing so is she putting her own children in terrifying danger?
Lottie is about to come face to face with a twisted soul who has a very warped idea of justice.
Fans of Rachel Abbott, Karin Slaughter and Robert Dugoni will be gripped by this page-turning serial killer thriller, guaranteed to keep you reading late into the night.
Get it here!
The Stolen Girls
Detective Lottie Parker Book 2
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The young woman standing on Lottie’s step was a stranger. She was clutching the hand of a young boy. ‘Help me,’ she said to Lottie. ‘Please help me’.
One Monday morning at dawn, a young woman and her son visit the house of Detective Lottie Parker, begging for help to find a lost friend. The same day, the body of a young pregnant woman is found.
Could this be the same girl?
When another victim is discovered by the same man, with the murder bearing all the same hallmarks as the first, Lottie needs to work fast to discover how else the two were linked. Then two more girls go missing.
Detective Lottie Parker is a woman on the edge, haunted by her tragic past and struggling to keep her family together through difficult times. Can she fight her own demons and catch the killer before he claims another victim?
The Stolen Girls is a gripping and page-turning thriller that will leave you breathless. Perfect for fans of Rachel Abbott, Karin Slaughter and Robert Dugoni.
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The Lost Child
Detective Lottie Parker Book 3
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They placed me in here and threw away the key. I look down at the gown they’ve put on me. I want my own clothes. I don’t know how long I’ve been here.
An elderly woman is found murdered in her own home, and Detective Lottie Parker and her partner Detective Boyd are called in to investigate. When they discover that the victim’s daughter is missing as well, they start to fear for the safety of the whole family…
Two days later as a nearby house is set on fire and with the body count rising, Lottie and her team begin to unpick a web of secrets and lies, as the murders seem to link back to a case investigated by Lottie’s father before he took his own life.
With little knowledge of what really happened to her father, Lottie knows this is a case that could give her some answers. But how much does she want to know? And how far is Lottie prepared to dig to uncover the truth?
The Lost Child is a thrilling page-turner from the bestselling author of The Missing Ones and The Stolen Girls that will have you guessing right to the very last page. Perfect for fans of Rachel Abbott, Angela Marsons and Robert Dugoni.
Get it here!
No Safe Place
Detective Lottie Parker Book 4
Buy it now!
Her bare feet stuck to the frost as she ran. She wanted to scream out loud, but she knew he’d find her if she made a noise. As she stopped to listen for his heavy footsteps, she wondered if she would ever make it out alive…
As funeral mourners stand in silence at Ragmullin cemetery, a deafening cry cuts through the air. Lying crumpled at the bottom of an open grave is the bloodied body of a young woman, and Detective Lottie Parker is called in to investigate.
Knowing the body can’t have been there long, Lottie wonders if it could be Elizabeth Bryne, a young woman who vanished without trace just days earlier. And with a new boss who seems to have it in for her, Lottie is under pressure to solve both cases quickly.
As two more women go missing from Ragmullin, Lottie and her team fear there is a serial killer on the loose. And the disappearances are strikingly similar to a cold case from ten years earlier. Could history be repeating itself?
As journalists begin to interfere with Lottie’s investigation, she fears the killer is about to strike again. Lottie is in a race against time to find the missing women, but the killer is closer than she thinks. Could Lottie be his next target?
If you love Angela Marsons, Robert Bryndza and Rachel Abbott, you’ll love the latest pulse-pounding thriller from Patricia Gibney. No Safe Place will keep you guessing until the very last page.
Get it here!
Tell Nobody
Detective Lottie Parker Book 5
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The boy’s body was so white it was almost transparent. But that’s not what caused the nausea to rise up her throat. He was so young. His body was unmarked, surrounded by a halo of plucked wildflowers.
One hot summer evening, eleven-year-old Mikey Driscoll is on the way home from playing with friends. Two days later, his body is discovered on a bed of wildflowers by some local teenagers.
The case is assigned to Detective Lottie Parker and this time it’s personal. The victim was a close friend of her son, Sean, from the run-down Munbally estate on the other side of town. Sean tells his mother Mikey was behaving normally before he died, but Lottie can’t help but feel that her son is keeping something from her…
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