Sisters - Michelle Frances Page 0,86

Even as the words left his mouth, he felt stupid.

Baroni looked at him. ‘Oh, I think she’s very much a criminal. In fact, it seems she’s clocking up quite a list of misdemeanours: leaving the scene of an accident, damage to personal property, making off without payment, murder, and now . . .’ – she paused and he felt himself tense – ‘it seems they’ve driven off from a petrol station without paying too. This morning. Caught on CCTV,’ she added, in case he questioned it.

Matteo felt her watching him.

‘So, are you going to call?’ she prompted. ‘Only, her sister might thank you for it, before she gets hurt too.’

He glowered. ‘Her phone will be switched off.’

‘If it is, leave her a message. Tell her how much you want to see her, that you’re worried about her.’

Matteo looked up the hill, saw Santini strutting about, champing at the bit to get involved.

‘Don’t shut me out, Matteo,’ said Baroni. She glanced up at Santini with a flicker of a frown. ‘It’s in your wife’s best interests.’

Matteo took out his phone and dialled Abby’s number. As he suspected, it went straight to voicemail. He turned his back on Baroni.

‘Abby, it’s me. I know you didn’t make it to the hotel. What’s happened? I want to help. I’m here for you. Call me as soon as you can.’

He hung up, just as a white zipped-up body bag was carried down the hill, right past the car window. He looked away.

A phone rang. Matteo jumped, but it was Baroni’s.

‘Pronto.’

She listened for a while and Matteo saw her face flicker with interest. She clocked him watching her and got out of the car so she could continue the call in private. Matteo frowned as she walked away, deep in conversation.

SIXTY-FOUR

They’d been driving for two hours and not seen one police car. A cautious sense of security began to creep its way into Ellie. Maybe the man hadn’t yet been discovered. Maybe the cashier in the petrol station hadn’t reported their theft. Or maybe he had but the police were too stretched to deal with it.

The sun had strengthened and Abby had lowered the roof. Driving with the heat of the sun and the wind against her skin made Ellie feel incredibly alive. They were a part of the rising hills, the winding roads. She could reach out a hand as they brushed past trees. Kites wheeled overhead, searching for prey. The landscape was within them as they were in it. They went miles on empty roads, passing through tiny villages, avoiding the major highways and towns.

‘It’s beautiful, don’t you think?’ asked Ellie.

‘Um-hum.’

‘You go to many places with Matteo?’

‘Not really.’

‘You don’t want to?’

‘It’s not that,’ said Abby. She shrugged. ‘He works.’

‘But the weekends?’

‘It’s not always easy to fit around his shifts. And when he’s on nights . . . well, he sleeps in the day.’

Ellie looked at her sister. ‘You could go someplace on your own?’

‘It’s not the same, is it?’

No, thought Ellie, it isn’t. ‘But don’t you get . . .’

‘What?’

‘Bored?’

Abby gave a small laugh. ‘Bored? Course not!’

‘How do you fill your days?’

‘Plenty of things. There’s loads to do.’

Ellie went to open her mouth.

‘And don’t ask me to list them all because I’m trying to drive.’

Ellie recognized denial when she saw it but kept quiet.

A tiny hamlet, barely marked on the map, suddenly became a small cluster of shops and houses. It was quiet, just a few locals going about their daily business.

‘Shall we stop?’ asked Abby. ‘I could really do with a coffee.’

They pulled up on the edge of a small square dotted with orange trees. Their dark, waxy leaves gleamed in the sun, the fruit beginning to ripen. A stone basin sat atop a raised wall, above which was a gargoyle’s flattened face, water pouring from its open mouth.

The girls left the car and made their way over, splashing water onto faces, necks and under armpits. Refreshed, they found themselves drawn to the shops, and joined a crowd of locals in a bakery. The queue inched forward incredibly slowly, each customer a regular and enjoying a full conversation with the staff. Ellie began to feel dizzy in the heat.

‘Do you mind if I just get a bit of fresh air?’ she asked Abby.

She stepped out of the oven-heated shop and, seeing that the other side of the street was in shade, crossed over. She came face to face with a boutique and her eye was immediately caught by a dress in the window.