Читать книгу Saving Sophie: A compulsively twisty psychological thriller that will keep you gripped to the very last page - Sam Carrington, Sam Carrington - Страница 29

Mondays were generally sluggish to start, but so far, the store might as well have been closed; the footfall was pitiful. With tired eyes, Sophie gazed at the other assistants on the ground floor of the department: each had a similar unfocused, thousand-yard stare on their perfectly made-up faces. As if this Monday wasn’t going to go slowly enough. She allowed her head to loll back, then she shifted her weight from one leg to another and fidgeted with her gold-effect chunky necklace before letting out a loud sigh. It was only ten fifteen. Not only that, but Amy hadn’t shown up yet, her beauty counter was still unoccupied. Surely she’d be in, her message on Facebook last night had said as much. Sophie needed her to be here. Please let her just have overslept.

Irina was heading in Sophie’s direction, her thin frame carrying the latest dress from the clothes concession she worked on, located a few down from Sophie’s. On days like today they’d pass the time with idle chit-chat, and normally Sophie was glad to oblige, but she wasn’t in the mood now. Any talking she planned on doing was in order to find out what had happened on Saturday night. Meaningless chat was simply a waste of breath and precious time.

‘You lost, Sophie? You look to distance in daze.’ Irina’s once thick East European accent was diluting by the day to Sophie’s ears. ‘No Amy?’ She spread her hands, pushed her mouth down at the corners.

Sophie shook her head. ‘It’s not looking good for her turning up now, is it?’ She turned her attention to Irina. Half of her wanted to tell her about Saturday, get her thoughts. The other half didn’t want to go into it with her; it was Amy she needed to speak with.

‘She ill?’

‘Possibly. She did send a Facebook message though, said she’d be in.’ Sophie fidgeted with her fingers, Irina wincing at the sound of cracking knuckles.

‘Come now. Tell Irina all about it. Something not right with you today.’ Her dark eyes looked into Sophie’s, searching. Ten years Sophie’s senior, Irina had good instincts when it came to deciphering Sophie’s feelings.

Sophie smiled and put her hand on Irina’s forearm. ‘Thanks, but I can’t. If I start talking about it now, I’ll just cry and then I’m bound to get a customer immediately.’

‘Ha. Have you seen it?’ Irina swept her arm in front of her. ‘Place dead today.’ She accentuated the word ‘dead’. Sophie shuddered, closing her eyes tight.

‘What the matter?’

‘Really, Irina, it’s been a dreadful weekend.’ Her voice caught, her eyes blurred. She blinked rapidly.

‘Oh no, sorry, Sophie. What happened?’

‘A friend was … my friend …’ Sophie wiped at her nose with the back of her hand.

Irina pulled out a tissue from the sleeve of her dress, handed it to Sophie. ‘It clean.’

‘She was killed, Irina. Murdered.’

Irina’s hand flew to her mouth, then to her chest. ‘No way. How? Where?’

‘Here. Coleton. She was found …’ Sophie swallowed hard. ‘In the wasteland, you know, just off the roundabout before Shafters.’

‘No. Way,’ Irina repeated, her face blanched. ‘Which friend?’

‘It … it was Erin.’ A small sob burst from her, setting off the inevitable chain reaction. Irina moved in, enveloping Sophie in a tight hug, containing her shuddering body within her wiry arms.

A breezy, casual voice interrupted the embrace. ‘Perhaps you shouldn’t have come in.’

Sophie’s head snapped up, she pulled away from Irina. ‘Amy.’ Her voice cracked, her face crumpling again. Seeing her friend now, the first time since she’d believed her to be dead, resulted in the response she’d expected when she’d first been told about the discovery of the body. Delayed reaction was a bitch, she concluded.

A trickle of customers made their way towards them. Sophie hurried to the customer changing cubicles, checked her face in the full-length mirror, then returned to the counter with a wide, fake smile. The potential customers thankfully walked on by Sophie’s department, heading for Irina’s.

‘I’ll check back on you as soon as I can.’ She rubbed Sophie’s forearm, then rushed back to her concession, leaving Amy standing facing Sophie.

‘I’m so glad you’re okay,’ Sophie placed the palm of her hand on her chest, ‘I thought … everyone thought it was you, Amy.’

‘I know, I know.’ Amy made no move to reach out to Sophie, no hug, no trademark air kiss. ‘I had no idea of all the drama, you know how it is.’ She smiled. ‘I bumped into Jonathan after you left and one thing led to another.’

‘Jonathan from the dating site? I haven’t even met this guy yet.’ Sophie searched Amy’s eyes.

‘Yes, him. And you will, I’m sure.’ She gave a coy smile. ‘Anyway, best get to my counter before Boss Man lays into me. I’ll catch you later, at lunch.’ Before Sophie could continue, Amy swanned off. She noted her friend’s appearance was less than the usual perfect today, so, despite the perceived lack of interest or concern, it had obviously affected her. Erin and Amy weren’t – hadn’t been – the closest of friends, certainly not like Sophie and Amy, and there had been tension between the two, but surely she was feeling just as gutted as her about this.

Erin. Murdered. Sophie still couldn’t get her head around that. Being here felt surreal, Erin being dead just not credible. And now Amy was distant, behaving oddly. Nothing made any sense any more. Nothing added up.