The Secret Voices by MJ White

Author:MJ White [White, MJ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hera
Published: 2022-04-15T00:00:00+00:00

The dreams were becoming more frequent now; Hannah’s voice a prominent feature most nights. Daniel said it was most likely caused by Cora’s brain reviewing her experience. Nothing to worry about, he’d insisted, keen to hear more of the police case instead. But a thought kept returning to her mind and it wouldn’t go away: what if I’m the only one who can help Hannah?

It scared her to think that she had heard Hannah’s voice and the struggle the child was facing but was powerless to do anything. Maybe finding information from the tattooed man in the café could help. Cora reminded herself that she was here to help Hannah. She had to stick close to the man, no matter what.

A throaty cough beside her made Cora start and look up to see the café owner grinning down. ‘Nasty business, that,’ he nodded at the paper.

Cora glanced across to Shaun Collins but he hadn’t moved. Quickly, she turned a handful of pages to reach the relative blandness of the public notices section. ‘It is.’

‘Same bastard what done it last time, they reckon.’

‘Hm.’ Please stop talking about it…

He put down her flour-dusted bacon roll and a grubby-looking white mug of rust-coloured tea. ‘Last thing we need in St Just. Though we did a roarin’ trade from these newspaper blighters last time the papers came up.’

‘I’ll bet.’

‘Do you know,’ the man continued, uninvited, resting his stonewashed denim-clad behind on the edge of Cora’s table, ‘I reckon that poor young lad carkin’ it saved this place when it ’appened. Sad as it was, ’course. Turned my profits right round and I pretty near got on first names with all of ’em.’ He gave a wistful smile. ‘Happy times.’

For the love of all things good, go away!

Shaun Collins pushed back against his pine chair with a sudden squeak and Cora thought she was going to faint. He didn’t stand or turn, but the bristle in the jutting shoulder blades was unmistakable. Just at the point when Cora was ready to make her escape, the café owner took the hint and vacated her table.

The stuffy interior of the café swam as the blood drained from Cora’s head and she battled to keep her breathing in check. She watched the proprietor saunter back behind the counter as a small woman with a face like thunder burst in through the plastic strip curtain covering the entrance to the kitchen and jabbed the man violently in his ribs.

‘Hush your bloody mouth, Murdo. Don’t you know nothin’?’

‘What y’on about?’

‘That poor gal’s kin is there,’ she hissed back, her whisper louder than a shout. ‘You stupid or what?’

Cora saw a twitch in Collins’ shoulder but moments passed and he didn’t move again. Behind her, the not-so-subtle row ensued, the café owner’s wife quickly moving on to more of her husband’s failings. Cora took her mug in both hands and drank, feeling the shaking in her shoulders and wishing she could run. The tea was thick and cloying in her mouth, the heat almost unbearable, but she needed something to distract her from the rising panic.

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