Page 40 of Final Betrayal

He lurched upright and fell to the floor, his legs caught up in a swirl of white cotton sheets. Where was she? What had she done to him?

Stumbling around the room, he searched the closet, the bathroom, looked out into the corridor. Back inside, he leaned against the door.

Bernie Kelly had disappeared.

He checked his wallet. Cards okay. Cash gone.

He grabbed his phone and rang Lottie Parker.

TWENTY-ONE

The drive back to Ragmullin relaxed Lottie’s brain a little. The rain cleared and a pink sky lit up the horizon as she sped along the motorway. Her phone buzzed and she was tempted to ignore it. The number came up as unknown, but she knew it off by heart now. She tapped the screen to answer and was glad she’d put it on hands-free mode.

‘Lottie? Is that you?’

‘Who do you think it is, Leo? I’m sorry I missed meeting you today, but work got a little hectic.’ She indicated and took the slip road off the motorway. ‘I’ll be back in the office in ten minutes if you want to give me a call then.’

‘No, no. Don’t hang up. This is serious.’

His voice was frantic, and Lottie clutched the steering wheel, her knuckles turning white. ‘What’s happened?’

‘She’s gone. Bernie. She’s disappeared.’

‘What the hell? Leo, what have you done?’

‘Listen up. There’s no point in taking this out on me. What I did, I did for the benefit of us both. But now she’s gone.’

‘Where are you? You sound drunk.’

‘I think she drugged me. My head is in bits. The room’s spinning around me …’

‘Where are you?’

‘The Joyce.’

‘Don’t move. I’ll be there as soon as I can.’

She hung up.

Called Boyd.

And pressed the accelerator to the floor.

‘I can do without this shit right now. What a mess.’ Lottie stormed through the lobby of the Joyce Hotel.

‘Calm down,’ Boyd said. ‘You can’t do anything if you get yourself into a state. Let’s see what the man has to say for himself before you explode.’

Belfield was sitting at the bar, a tumbler of what looked like whiskey in front of him. He turned as Lottie strode towards him. The urge to slap him was greater than the fear of what Bernie Kelly might be up to.

‘How could you?’ she said. ‘Why on earth would you want to take her out of a secure facility?’

‘I’m sorry. I wanted to know the truth.’

‘And you thought you’d get that from a lying, conniving, murderous bitch, did you?’

‘Whatever I thought, I know now that I was wrong.’

Lottie stuffed her hands into her jacket pockets. Safer there. God, she needed a Valium, or a Xanax. A crutch on which to lean all her worries. But she’d ditched her habit. New home, new life, new Lottie. She felt Boyd’s hand on her elbow, steering her towards the stool beside her half-brother.

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