Page 101 of Sisters

‘Doing what she likes, eh?’

Abby smiled.

‘Little sister?’

‘How did you know?’

‘It is always the same. I too have one. Carmen. She never did any wrong. My mother forgive her everything. Even when she cut my doll’s hair!’ Rosa laughed. ‘I was so upset but Mama told me I should not have left the scissors on the table. It was my fault.’

‘It’s always our fault,’ said Abby.

‘And she is five years younger, so she never had to do any chores.’

‘Mine neither,’ said Abby. ‘My mother would let her play instead. Or watch TV.’

‘Carmen would never get told off.’

‘Ellie always got sweets when she fell over.’

‘But at least they got the old clothes. When we had grown too big for them.’

Abby laughed. ‘True. Where is your sister now?’

‘I kill her.’

Abby froze.

‘Joke.’

‘Oh my God.’

‘Sorry. But sometimes you feel like it, no?’ Rose mimed encircling someone’s neck with her hands.

Abby shrugged.

‘So who is this man that your sister is with?’

‘Someone we met in France. We’re on a...road trip,’ said Abby. ‘We bumped into this guy a few days ago. He’s also travelling. Been cycling the Camino de Santiago trail.’

‘How nice that they arrange to meet up again here in Spain.’

‘No, it wasn’t like that. We actually thought we’d never see him again. Then Ellie gets a message from him – turns out he’s only down the road. It was a total coincidence...’ Abby trailed off as her brain started to wake up, see the cliff she’d been wandering towards in the fog. ‘Oh my God.’

‘Is everything all right?’ asked Rosa.

Abby stood. Quickly got some money out of her purse and put it on the table. ‘Yes...I need to go.’ She tried to maintain a calm demeanour. ‘Thank you, Rosa. The coffee was wonderful.’ Then she hurried out of the cafe, dread seeping right through her. Knowing it wasn’t a coincidence at all.

SEVENTY-SEVEN

Baroni heard a muffled sound that she couldn’t quite identify. She pushed the headphone in close to her ears, straining to hear more. Whatwasthat? And where was her plant? Why wasn’t he speaking? Why weren’t either of them speaking? It was making her nervous.

She looked across at her techie guys and saw a grin slowly creep across the face of one as enlightenment dawned on him.

‘What is it?’ she asked quickly. But she didn’t need to wait for an answer as she heard distinctive heavy breathing. Heaving breathing interspersed with kissing. It was still muffled but now she’d identified it, she knew it could be nothing else.

What the...?Where was the mike? It obviously wasn’t still on his body. Baroni grimaced. Fredrik must have removed it, and by the muffled sound, he’d hidden it under something.

The radio burst in. ‘Any more from the suspect?’ asked Santini from outside.