LITMIR.BIZ

Скачать книгу

I hope you find her.”

      Cassie took a sip of her beer. It was icy cold, rich with malt.

      The manager was scrolling through her phone.

      “We have not had any Jacqui here in December. Or in November,” she said, and Cassie’s heart sank.

      “Wait,” Tim said. “I remember someone.”

      He closed his eyes, as if thinking back, while Cassie stared at him anxiously.

      “We don’t get many Americans here, so I recall the accent. She didn’t book a room, she came in with a friend who was staying here. She had a drink and then left. She wasn’t blonde; her hair was brown, but she was very pretty and looked a bit like you. Perhaps a few years older.”

      Cassie nodded encouragement. “Jacqui is older.”

      “The friend called her Jax. We started chatting when I served her, and she told me she was staying in a small town. I think it was an hour or two from here. Now, of course, I can’t remember the name of the town.”

      Cassie felt breathless to think that her sister had actually been here. Visiting a friend, going about her life. It didn’t seem as if she was broke or desperate or a drug addict or in an abusive relationship, or any of the other worst-case scenarios that Cassie had worried about whenever she thought of Jacqui, and wondered why she’d never been in touch.

      Perhaps family just hadn’t meant that much to her and she hadn’t felt the need to reconnect. Although they had been close, it was adversity that had forced them together, having to survive their father’s rages and the unstable home life. Jacqui might have wanted to put those memories behind her.

      “I didn’t know your memory for faces was so good, Tim,” Gretchen teased. “Or is it only the pretty girls?”

      Tim grinned, looking abashed. “Hey, she was gorgeous. I was thinking of maybe asking her out, but then I found out she wasn’t staying in Milan, and thought she probably wouldn’t be interested in me anyway.”

      There was a chorus of protest from the other girls.

      “Silly! You should have,” the girl next to Cassie insisted.

      “I didn’t get the right vibe from her, and I think she would have said no. Anyway, Cassie, if you give me your phone number, I’ll do my best to remember which town it was. I’ll message you if I do.”

      “Thank you,” Cassie said.

      She gave Tim her number and finished her beer. It seemed as if everyone else was ready for another round and would carry on talking until past midnight, but she was exhausted.

      She got up and said goodnight to them before heading off to have a hot shower and climb into bed.

      It was only as she pulled the bedcovers back that she remembered, with a shock, that her anxiety meds were still in her suitcase.

      She had suffered the consequences of skipping tablets before. It was difficult to sleep if she was behind on her medication, and she was more likely to have vivid nightmares. Occasionally, she ended up sleepwalking, and Cassie felt nervous if that should happen in this shared dormitory.

      She could only hope that her own exhaustion, together with the beer she’d had, would keep the bad dreams away.

      CHAPTER FOUR

      “Quick. Get up. We need to leave.”

      Someone was tapping Cassie’s shoulder, but she was tired—so tired she could hardly open her eyes. Fighting her exhaustion, she struggled awake.

      Jacqui was standing by her bed, her hair a glossy, perfect brown, wearing a stylish black jacket.

      “You’re here?” Excited, Cassie sat up, ready to give her sister a hug.

      But Jacqui turned away.

      “Hurry,” she whispered. “They’re coming for us.”

      “Who’s coming?” Cassie asked.

      She thought immediately of Vadim. He had grabbed her sleeve, torn her jacket. He’d had plans for her. She’d managed to escape, but now he had found her again. She should have known he would.

      “I don’t know how we can get away,” she said anxiously. “There’s only the one door.”

      “There’s a fire escape. Here, let me show you.”

      Jacqui led her down the long, dark corridor. She was wearing trendy ripped jeans and high-heeled red sandals. Cassie padded behind in her worn trainers, hoping that Jacqui was right and that there would be an escape route here.

      “This way,” Jacqui said.

      She opened a steel door and Cassie recoiled as she saw the rickety fire escape. The steel stairs were rusting and broken. Worse still, the stairway only went halfway down the building. Beyond that there was nothing but an endless, dizzying drop to the street far below.

      “We can’t go out that way.”

      “We can. We must.”

      Jacqui’s laughter was shrill, and staring at her in horror, Cassie saw that her face had changed. This wasn’t her sister at all. It was Elaine, one of her father’s girlfriends, the one that she had hated and feared the most.

      “We’re going down,” the evil blonde woman screamed. “Down you go, you first. Show me how. You know I always hated you.”

      Feeling the rusty metal tremble as she touched it, Cassie began to scream, too.

      “No! Please, no. Help me!”

      Shrill laughter was her only response as the fire escape started to give way, breaking under her.

      And then other hands were shaking her.

      “Please, wake up! Wake up!”

      She opened her eyes.

      The dormitory light was on, and she was staring up at the dark-haired twins. They were looking back at her with expressions of combined worry and annoyance.

      “You have been having many nightmares, screaming. Are you all right?”

      “Yes, I’m fine. I’m sorry. I have bad dreams occasionally.”

      “It is disturbing,” the other twin said. “Is there anything you can do to stop this? It is not fair on us; we are on day shift and have to work twelve hours today.”

      Cassie felt racked with guilt. She should have realized that her nightmares would cause major disruption in a shared room.

      “What’s the time?”

      “It is now four-thirty a.m.”

      “I’ll get up,” Cassie decided.

      “Are you sure?” The twins glanced at each other.

      “Yes, I’m sure. I’m so sorry for waking you.”

      She clambered out of bed, feeling dizzy and disoriented from lack of sleep, and quickly pulled on her top in the dark. Then, grabbing her purse, she left the room and closed the door quietly.

      The lounge was empty, and Cassie sat down on one of the couches, curling her legs up on the cushion. She had no idea what she should do now, or where she should go.

      It would be inconsiderate to risk disrupting her roommates’ sleep another night, and she couldn’t afford a private room even if one became available.

      Perhaps she could if she got a job. She didn’t have a working visa, but from what the others had been saying last night, if the work was for less than three months, nobody in Italy minded too much if it was done on a tourist visa.

      Working would make her stay here affordable and buy her some time. Even if Tim didn’t remember where Jacqui was staying, her sister might try to contact her again.

      Cassie headed to the notice board to see if there were any jobs available.

      She hoped to find a waitressing job, as she was experienced in waiting tables and would feel confident applying. However,

Скачать книгу