by Louise Voss
‘Good,’ he said, clearing his throat. ‘Do keep in touch, won’t you, Lynn? Let me know next time you’re in the area, so you can come round for dinner with me and Sheryl? Or you and I could go out for a spot of lunch, if it’s a school day, for old time’s sake?’
He winked self-consciously, but all I could think of was that ‘our’ pub was now forever sullied by the memory of Adrian and me drinking rosé in the garden, right before he almost killed me.
‘Sure,’ I said, smiling at him – although now I’m in Jersey, I think it’s fairly unlikely I’ll be back over any time soon. Timmy the cat was willingly adopted by Naveeta and her girls. I’ve got Maddie and Geoff up the road, and Ben and Jeanine are coming to stay for a week as their next trip – a less challenging holiday than usual for them, in deference to her pregnancy.
‘Sounds good,’ says Ellen, about my interview. ‘I come over to Jersey quite a lot. Hospital visits for my diabetes, and I have a few friends over there who I like to visit.’
‘Well, I’ve got a spare room if you ever need one,’ I say impulsively, immediately hoping that if she does take me up on it, it will only be for one night. I’m pretty sure we’ll never be best mates, but at least I’ve done what I came to do, and it feels like a weight off my mind.
I’ve kind of run out of things to say to her now, but I’m glad I came.
‘Thanks for agreeing to see me,’ I say eventually, as we watch a fishing boat chug into the harbour, a cacophony of gulls swirling in its wake.
‘I appreciate you coming.’
She nods magnanimously but I don’t find, as I would have done last time, that I want to punch her in the throat. I wonder if she is less annoying, or if I was under so much stress back then that I was oversensitive to everything? The latter, I’m pretty sure.
An hour later when Max the Cab arrives to take me back to the airport, I say to Ellen what I ought to have said when I first met her, instead of letting myself get so uptight: ‘I’m really sorry for your loss.’
‘Thank you,’ she says, and we hug awkwardly. ‘Please let me know when Ben’s baby arrives. I’d like to send it something. Perhaps maybe even visit one day.’
‘I will,’ I say, and smile at her.
THE END
Acknowledgements
Never has a book taken me so long nor gone through so many drafts! Consequently I have people to thank:
TEAM ORENDA! The amazing, legendary powerhouse that is Karen Sullivan, of course, surely the hardest-working woman in publishing, who made it all possible, and who makes a lot of other stuff possible for many other people too. It’s greatly appreciated. Big thanks also to West Camel, Sophie Goodfellow, Liz Barnsley, Luke Speed and to all the other Orenda authors for welcoming me in. I’m very happy to be part of the gang.
Huge thanks to Veronique Baxter and Laura West at David Higham for all their hard work and support, editorially and practically.
The Slice Girls: Susi Holliday, Steph Broadribb, Alex Sokoloff, Harley Jane Kozak and AK Benedict for sisterhood and encouragement in numerous different ways, but especially to Susi for specific pharmaceutical advice, and most definitely to Alexandra – AK – for being the first reader of the almost-finished version and giving me such detailed insightful and encouraging feedback – still can’t believe you read it so quickly and thoroughly!
For various bits of research advice and/or emotional support: Hayley Webster, Will Franks, Amanda Jennings, John Rickards, Franco Iannelli, Chris Phillips, Nick Laughland.
The Lilies: Nik Waites, Helen Russell and Jenny Groome, but specially Nik for invaluable research help with this one.
The Alderneyites: Rachel Abbott, Tish McPhilemy, Alex Flewitt, Chris Rowley. Hope to get over to see you all again this year.
The Locals: Particularly Heath Jackson for friendship and boat inspiration and Simon Alcock, as always, for procedural advice, and also all my other local pals too.
My neighbourly neighbours Trish Hawkins and Andrea van der Schyff for printing stuff out for me when my elderly printer refused to.
All my crime-writer friends and colleagues, especially those of you in That Group. Ian Patrick, first reader of a very early version, for his encouraging and helpful words. And lastly, Tammy Cohen, for the best suggestion for a murder weapon I’ve ever used in a book.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Over her eighteen-year writing career, Louise has released books through pretty much every publishing model, from deals with major traditional publishing houses (Transworld and Harper Collins), to digital-only (the Amazon-owned Thomas & Mercer) and self-publishing. In 2011 she and co-author Mark Edwards were the first UK indie-published authors to hit the No. 1 spot on Amazon. She has had twelve novels published in total, six solo and six co-written, a combination of psychological thrillers, police procedurals and contemporary fiction. Louise has an MA (Dist) in Creative Writing and also works as a literary consultant and mentor for writers at www.thewritingcoach.co.uk. She lives in south-west London and is a proud member of two female crime-writing collectives, The Slice Girls and Killer Women.
You can follow Louise on Twitter: @LouiseVoss1.
Copyright
Orenda Books
16 Carson Road
West Dulwich
London SE21 8HU
www.orendabooks.co.uk
First published in the United Kingdom by Orenda Books 2018
Copyright © Louise Voss 2017
Louise Voss has asserted her moral right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the written permission of the publishers.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978–1–912374–11–3
eISBN 978–1–912374–12–0
