Sister, Liar, Suspect, Sleuth by Lisa Nicholas

Author:Lisa Nicholas [Nicholas, Lisa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloodhound Books - crime, thrillers & mysteries
Published: 2025-03-04T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Mila disembarks the train at Manchester Victoria station. She has only her rucksack containing the items she arrived with a few weeks ago. She wears the same jeans and hoodie, clumpy boots grounding her. The slip of paper Nikolai gave her is in her pocket.

The phone lies discarded in a bin. She briefly turned it on, saw Fabien’s messages. The last text had read:

He knows your real name; please get in touch and let me help.

Fabien has betrayed her and now she will have them after her. She must find Xristina before it is too late: for her, and for the children.

Her hair is dirty and she is cold, because whilst the summer days and early evenings in Lancashire have been surprisingly warm, when the darkness comes, the chill descends, and the minutes go very slowly.

Mila stayed the night in an old fisherman’s hut Fabien had pointed out as he relayed his family’s history and talked of the beauty of his home village. At dawn, she had taken the direct footpath over the fields back to the village railway station, too early even for dog walkers, avoiding the main paths and roads, passing no houses until she emerged from the alleyway by the church, and watched for the train arriving, hidden around the corner, not wanting to spend a moment more than necessary on the platform where she might be seen.

She had bought her ticket from the rusty old machine in the corner. One or two early birds were commuting, but she didn’t recognise them. Given that she was recent village news, she kept her head down all the same. They didn’t look up from their phones. They wouldn’t be looking for her yet, Mila had thought. They wouldn’t even know she was gone until later that morning.

From the map of multi-coloured lines representing the rail services in the small village station, she had worked out that to get to Alderley Edge she would need to change at Manchester. Now she is here, she realises that the train to Nikolai’s son’s house departs from Manchester Piccadilly, which is actually across the city and not accurately represented by the connecting lines on the train station wall back in Farlington. There are trams, but they are confusing, and the train station is full of people jostling and swearing and drinking from paper cups.

Mila decides to walk. She checks the map of the city, makes a mental note and closes her eyes. The image of the mess of streets dances on her inner lids. She buys a coffee and borrows a pen. She uses the napkin she takes from the counter to draw her route to the station.

Even with the map, the busy city centre is an attack on all her senses. Her own city never overwhelmed her; it was a blanket, her family and friends and familiar cafés and bars its beating heart, its air, and its soul. There are smells of grease emitting from little burgundy trailers offering fried sausages and bacon.

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