The Women Who Ran Away - Sheila O'Flanagan Page 0,43

Or adding passwords to documents. I didn’t know he’d been to the Jules Verne museum either, though I suppose on one of our trips he could’ve gone without telling me. I thought he spent a lot of his time in his last months reading the old college stuff he’d saved on his laptop,’ she added. ‘Being nostalgic, you know, not devising treasure hunts. I guess I didn’t really know him at all.’

Deira gave her a sympathetic smile but remained silent.

‘That bit about the Atlantique.’ Grace gathered herself and spoke more firmly. ‘Maybe there’s a boat called Atlantique inside the museum?’

‘Maybe,’ said Deira. ‘Let’s think about it a bit more. We’ll work it out eventually, I know we will.’

Grace admired her confidence. And she hoped she was right.

She FaceTimed Aline before going to bed that evening, telling her that the crossing had been smooth and her journey to Nantes uneventful. She added that she’d had dinner with Deira O’Brien, whom she described as a friendly woman she’d met on the ferry.

‘I’m glad you’ve had some company at least,’ said Aline, who was sitting on the sofa in her pyjamas, her legs tucked beneath her. ‘Is this Deira woman going in the same direction as you?’

‘She’s driving to Bordeaux tomorrow,’ said Grace. ‘She hadn’t planned on staying in Nantes at all but she had a minor accident and needed to break her journey. Which was lucky for me, otherwise—’ She broke off. Although Aline knew that she’d been bringing Ken’s ashes with her, Grace hadn’t said anything about the treasure hunt. Because on the surface it might have been a fun game devised by her late husband to keep her amused on the trip to Cartagena (albeit with some kind of reward at the end), but Grace couldn’t be entirely sure that there hadn’t been some other kind of motivation behind it. And that wasn’t something she wanted to share with her daughter. Although, she thought suddenly, perhaps Aline would have some ideas about future clues. After all, Deira wouldn’t be around for the next one.

‘Otherwise what?’ asked Aline.

‘Otherwise I would’ve probably eaten in the hotel on my own and it was nice to go out.’ Grace decided to keep the treasure hunt to herself for the time being.

‘You will take care on the road, won’t you, Mum?’ Aline said. ‘I know you’ve broken your journey into short stages, but even so, it’s a lot to do on your own.’

‘I’ll be grand,’ said Grace. ‘It’s good for me.’

‘All the same, I wish I could have come with you.’

‘You’re busy with your husband, your child and your job,’ said Grace. ‘You couldn’t possibly have given me the time.’

‘Nevertheless . . .’

‘Please don’t worry about me, Aline,’ said Grace. ‘I’ll call you tomorrow from La Rochelle.’

‘I remember when we went there. It was lovely.’

It had been their last complete family holiday together, and although Aline, at seventeen, hadn’t been all that enthusiastic and insisted she’d be just as happy staying home by herself, it had ended up being one of their most enjoyable visits to France.

‘Yes, it was,’ said Grace. ‘Anyhow, I had an early start this morning and I’m pretty much whacked now. So I’m off to bed and I’ll talk to you tomorrow.’

‘Goodnight, Mum,’ Aline said. ‘Love you.’

‘Love you too,’ said Grace.

She put the phone on the nightstand, got into bed and, for the first time in months, was asleep within minutes.

Chapter 14

Loire-Atlantique, France: 47.1987°N 1.6537°W

She was in a deep sleep when a loud, insistent alarm startled her into wakefulness again. It took her a moment to realise that it wasn’t her phone but the hotel’s fire alarm. She slid her feet into the soft shoes she’d left beside her bed, opened the door and went into the corridor. Other guests were already there and heading for the fire escape. She sniffed the air but couldn’t smell any smoke and was already thinking that this was a false alarm when there was a loud bang from outside the building, followed by a terrified shriek.

Grace’s heart began to beat faster, but she stayed calm even as the woman behind her tried to push past.

‘We won’t get out any more quickly if you do that,’ she said, in the controlled voice she’d used during her years of cabin-crew experience. ‘Don’t rush, there’s plenty of time for everyone.’

The woman looked at her in surprise, but in reaction to Grace’s quiet authority she stopped pushing and followed her down the stairs and through the reception area