No Safe Place(Detective Lottie Parker #4)(32)

‘Where are you off to?’ Cillian said as the brothers left the pub together.

‘Home,’ Finn said.

‘We need to meet with Dad this week.’

‘Why?’

‘It’s Lynn’s tenth anniversary. On Sunday.’

‘I hadn’t forgotten.’ Finn looked up at the night sky. ‘The first one without Mother. Do you think we should do a fresh appeal?’

‘Not going to bring her back, is it?’

‘You never know,’ Finn said.

‘It might send Dad over the edge. According to Keelan, he’s lighting candles. She says he’s in a bad way.’

‘Was he ever any other? The fucking bastard.’

‘Hey, keep it down. No need to tell the world.’

‘You always did like to bury the truth, didn’t you?’ Finn pulled his collar tighter to his throat and walked away from his brother.

‘You know what, Finn, you’re a piece of shit,’ Cillian shouted.

‘And we both came from the same family.’ Finn kept walking, talking over his shoulder. ‘You’re no angel, Cillian O’Donnell. I know you. Don’t ever forget that. I know all about you.’





Twenty-Six





The mirror wasn’t doing her any favours tonight. Gilly O’Donoghue wasn’t used to the art of applying make-up. A scrape of lipstick was her usual fare. At least she liked the short cut of her hair. It was handy, especially when wearing her peaked garda hat.

‘You’ll have to do,’ she told her reflection.

She was meeting her friend Mollie in Danny’s Bar because Kirby had had to cancel their Wednesday-night date due to some surveillance job. She’d rung Mollie, who’d agreed to meet up tonight even though she had to be up early for the train every morning.

Gilly had been going out with Kirby for the last four months and trying to keep it quiet at work. But it was hard to hide a secret from a crew of gardaí. Kirby was at least ten years her senior. It didn’t worry her. He actually looked a lot older than that, if she wanted to be totally honest with herself. Probably all the extra weight he carried around his stomach. Could she get him to go jogging with her? She’d ask him.

‘I’m running a bit late,’ she said to the empty bedroom. Better let Mollie know. Tapping the phone, she called her friend. It rang out. She tried again. Same result. She checked the time: 9.45 p.m. Maybe she was in the pub already and couldn’t hear the phone.

Gilly grabbed her coat from the back of the door and left her flat. She hoped Mollie wouldn’t be mad at her.



* * *



The night was dark. The stars had fled, and the frost had disappeared along with them. It was still cold, but he could feel rain in the air.

He thought about Elizabeth. Dammit, he had thought she’d never be found. Had he been careful enough? He had disposed of her phone. Taken it apart. Dropped pieces of it out of the train window and along the streets of Dublin. He’d dumped her handbag into a rubbish bin behind a pub. Was there anything else he needed to be mindful of?

Her clothes were in the skip inside the cemetery wall. That was the reason he’d been there in the first place. Thought the bitch was still in a flatline state. He’d spent ages at the lake with her, undressing her. Dunking the clothes into the water and putting them into black bin bags, ready for the skip. The guards would probably find them now, but he’d been careful. There shouldn’t be any of his DNA on them.

He’d stashed her in one of the caravans at the lake until it was time to move her. He couldn’t risk leaving her there. Maybe he should have done, because her escape from the car had changed everything. And directed him to his next conquest.

He smiled when he thought of the new one waiting for him. He still had her belongings. In the morning, her phone would meet the same fate as Elizabeth’s, and the laptop would be suitably disposed of on the other side of the city. He’d bagged her clothes and boots, and stuffed them into a charity recycle bin outside Tesco.

All was taken care of.

He was free to play.



* * *



Mollie’s Canal Drive apartment was in darkness. She hadn’t been in the pub, and it was unlike her not to let Gilly know that she’d changed her mind about going out.

When she got no response from ringing the bell, Gilly hammered on the door. Standing on the top step, she looked around at the bleak surroundings. In the distance, she could see the lights of the town shining brighter than the solitary lamp at the corner of the block.

Careful not to slip, she made her way down the steps. That was when she remembered she had a key. Mollie had given it to her a while ago, just in case. You never knew when you might need a bed for a night. She made her way back up to the door.

Surely she was overreacting? But now she was here, she might as well check. It couldn’t do any harm, other than wake Mollie up from an early slumber. Rummaging through the multitude of keys on her key ring, she tried two before the door eventually opened inwards.

Stepping inside, she fumbled along the wall for the light switch. ‘Mollie? You all right?’

No one in the kitchen. Cereal was caked to a bowl in the sink. No sign of an evening meal having been cooked. Not even takeaway boxes or wrappers. Gilly made her way to the bedrooms. Both empty.