The Silent Speak
by Val Collins
Publication date: February 23rd 2021
Genres: Adult, Thriller
Synopsis
PROLOGUE
She read the note again.
Twice in the past three years, similar notes had been splashed all over the newspapers. She knew immediately what it meant, but her brain wouldn’t allow her to process it. For several minutes she just stared at it. Her lips formed words that never came. When her brain caught up, it went straight to denial.
This could not be happening.
Things like this did not happen
in ordinary families.
Not in families like hers.
She pulled down the door handle. The door was unlocked. That was a good sign, right? She would go into the house and find everything exactly as it had always been. There just had to be some simple explanation for that note. Yes, she nodded to herself, relieved to have come to a decision. She nudged the door open and put one foot on the wooden floor. The house was eerily quiet. No kids running around. No noise from the kitchen.
‘Now don’t panic,’ she muttered to herself. ‘Everything will be fine. Just go inside.’
She tried to lift her foot, but
her brain wouldn’t cooperate. Hands shaking, she pulled out her mobile and
dialled 999. She was still frozen in the doorway when the police arrived.
ONE
It took Aoife a few seconds to realise Conor wasn’t
listening. His eyes were focused on a point behind her head, and his face had
taken on that wooden expression, the only expression he had shown her in the
first few months of their acquaintance.
‘Is something wrong?’
Conor didn’t appear to hear. He
pushed back his chair and walked away. Aoife glanced behind. She saw a woman
hurry towards him. They met in the centre of the room. The woman wore jeans and
a rain jacket. She had shoulder-length chocolate-brown hair, pulled back into a
tight ponytail. She was a little older than Conor, probably in her
mid-thirties. Not stunningly pretty by any means, but good looking. She was
gesticulating wildly as she spoke. Conor answered her in a low voice. For the
sake of appearances, Aoife picked at her food, but she concentrated hard,
trying to catch their words above the noise of the crowd. Conor’s voice was a
low hum, but she clearly heard the woman say ‘not answering my calls’ and ‘what
do I have to do to get…’
Abandoning any pretence at
politeness, Aoife turned in her chair and stared. Conor now had his hand on the
woman’s arm and was leading her towards the exit. She jerked her arm away. Her
eyes met Aoife’s. She said something which Aoife didn’t catch and tried to push
past Conor. Conor’s hand was on her arm again, but this time his grip was
tighter. The woman tried to yank her arm away but was unable to get free. There
was a lull in the conversation as people watched the drama. The restaurant
manager approached. He and Conor exchanged a few words. The manager took the
woman’s other arm and they led her to the door. The woman struggled but
couldn’t escape. As the manager went to close the door behind her, she turned
to face them. Again, her eyes met Aoife’s. She was crying.
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