Night Falls, Still Missing: the gripping psychological thriller perfect for the cold winter nights by Helen Callaghan

Author:Helen Callaghan [Callaghan, Helen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780718189419
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2020-07-23T00:00:00+00:00

25

Kirkwall Airport, Orkney, January 2020

‘This is the last flight from Glasgow tonight, yeah?’

Fiona was back at the airport with Jack in tow, but once again Judy hadn’t been on the plane. She realised, with a little start of shock, that she had never expected her to be. Already she was tapping on the number, lifting the phone to her ear, prepared for the futile ringing.

When it was answered, her shock left her stammering.

‘Who is this?’ a male voice asked peevishly.

Hugo. Why was Hugo answering the phone? Where were they?

But wherever he was supposed to be, he had hold of Judy’s phone now, and he sounded furious, as though she had interrupted something important. In the background she could hear voices and movement, the droning rise and fall of someone talking hurriedly in Spanish, being answered in the same language.

Judy must still be on Majorca.

‘Hugo? Is that you? It’s me, Fiona Grey. I’m here at Kirkwall waiting for you …’

‘Well, she won’t be arriving any time soon.’

‘What? I don’t understand …’

‘She’s had a heart attack,’ he said, clearly enunciating each word, as though Fiona was an imbecile. ‘She collapsed in the taxi on the way to the airport.’

‘What?’ Fiona’s fingers were numb around the phone. ‘Is she all right? Where is she now?’

‘In hospital, where else would she be?’ he snapped. ‘Look, I have to get back to her …’

‘But Hugo, wait,’ she said, stumbling over the words. ‘What happened, exactly?’

‘She had a shock. She got a call from the police in Scotland,’ he said. ‘Apparently they found Madison’s car in the sea up there.’

‘Madison’s car? You mean the rental car?’

‘I haven’t time for this. They’re taking Mum in for a scan now.’

‘But did they find Mads?’

‘I don’t know. They say it was driven off some cliffs into the ocean.’

‘What …?’

It was too late. He had hung up on her.

Fiona didn’t really remember much of what followed. She stumbled backwards from the inquiry desk, staring at the phone, too bewildered to speak.

‘Fiona, what do you want to …’ Jack re-emerged – he’d gone to the bathroom. ‘What is it?’

‘Mads …’ She merely stared up at him, her eyes huge. ‘They found her car. In the sea.’

He stood there, stock-still, utterly silent. His blue eyes were unreadable.

‘You know what,’ he said after a long moment. ‘Let’s just sit you down before you fall down.’

∗ ∗ ∗

Her car, she kept trying to explain to Jack as he drove the van back towards Stromness through the rough winds and buffeting rain, she had to get her car. She had left it in Kirkwall, at the hotel.

‘Forget about your car. It’ll be fine. I’ll call them when I get in.’ Jack leaned low over the wheel, and the grey cast had not left his face. He snorted. ‘I don’t think you’re in a condition to drive, anyway.’

He was speeding, at least twenty miles over the limit, and with the bad weather and the thickening darkness she was growing afraid. It wasn’t clear to her that he should be driving either.

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