Christie Barlow - The Lake House

One More Chapter

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First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Publishers 2020

Copyright © Christie Barlow 2020

Cover design by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 2020

Cover images © Shutterstock.com

Christie Barlow asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780008413071

Ebook Edition © December 2020 ISBN: 9780008413064

Version: 2021-03-03

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

A Letter from Christie

Acknowledgments

Thank you for reading…

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About the Author

Also by Christie Barlow

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About the Publisher

For Gary Barlow,

I’m now single so please call me… in fact hold that call… in my mind every guy I’ve met has been an arsehole so if you are an arsehole I never want to know. *Sighs*

So I think it will be best just to stay friends.

Ella Johnson’s life was in turmoil. She just couldn’t understand how this could even be happening to her. She’d barely slept in the last forty-eight hours and was consumed with worry and confusion, as her whole world was shattering around her.

Her fiancé, Dr Alex James, had gone to work as normal on Monday morning but had never come home. There was no trace of him; his mobile phone no longer connected, their brand-new Range Rover had vanished and there had been no withdrawals from their bank account. None of it made any sense, and Ella checked her mobile phone and local news reports for the umpteenth time that day.

Hours earlier, with the constant pain of not knowing what might have happened to Alex twisting in her heart, Ella had been sitting at the kitchen table in front of two policemen, giving a statement.

‘And nothing out of the ordinary happened between you? An argument, perhaps… anything?’ The police constable was poised with his pen.

With tears rolling down her cheeks Ella shook her head. ‘Far from it. We cuddled in bed and Alex brought me a cup of tea, like he has done every morning since he moved in.’

‘And how long have you lived together?’

‘Ten months,’ replied Ella, remembering the day they’d met like it was yesterday. ‘But we’ve been together for just over a year… we’re getting married next year!’ Ella was distraught and none of this made any sense. They’d already picked the venue, organised the invitations and, knowing how difficult it was getting time off work, Alex had booked his leave already.

‘And Alex’s friends, have you spoken to them? Has he been in contact with any of them?’

Ella was silent for a moment. ‘I’ve never met any of his friends.’ She knew as soon as the words left her mouth that it sounded lame, but although Alex spent a lot of time mentioning friends and colleagues, after he’d finished his shift at the hospital, he always wanted to spend time with her alone, which of course she never objected to.

‘Never? How about work colleagues?’

Ella noticed a look pass between the two officers. ‘No, but Alex talks about them all the time and he plays football with them every Thursday night… five a side.’

‘At which sports club?’ The policeman was poised with his pen again, waiting for Ella’s answer.

‘Christ, I don’t know.’ She stood up and raked her hands through her hair. ‘All these questions.’ Ella was beginning to feel a little agitated. They shouldn’t be here talking about football – they should be out looking for Alex. ‘I’ve never asked! He goes and plays football, then comes home.’

‘Try and keep calm, Miss Johnson, take a seat. These are just standard questions, so that we can try to build a picture of Alex’s routine,’ the officer soothed.

‘You need to get out there and find him. He can’t just disappear off the face of the earth with no trace. Something has happened to him, I know it. He wouldn’t do this to me, he messages me all the time.’ Ella’s voice wavered as she sat back down at the table.

‘And his phone? Have you rung his phone since Alex has disappeared?’

Ella nodded. ‘Yes, of course I’ve rung his phone. I’ve lost count of the times I’ve rung his phone, but all it says is my call can’t be connected. Alex never has his phone switched off. Please, please just find him!’ she pleaded.

‘We’ll do our very best. It’s our job to investigate, and our first stop is the City Hospital.’

‘Good, because they wouldn’t tell me anything.’ Ella was taking in huge gulps of air as she tried to catch her breath. ‘They said they can’t give out any information about any member of staff, due to data protection.’

‘Leave that to us. Have you got anyone who can come and sit with you?’

Through her tears all Ella could manage was a nod. ‘My friend Callie is on her way. She’s travelling from Scotland, but her train gets in…’ Ella glanced up at the clock on the wall, ‘any time now.’

Both policemen stood up. ‘That’s good. We’ll be back in touch after we’ve visited the hospital.’

‘Will that be today?’ Ella just wanted answers.

‘Yes, hopefully today.’

Hearing a knock on the door, Ella’s eyes widened. She scraped back her chair and rushed to the door. ‘Alex… Alex!’ she shouted and flung the front door open… to find her friend Callie standing on the doorstep.

Feeling like her legs were going to buckle underneath her, Ella held on to the door tightly. ‘He’s got a key, Alex wouldn’t be knocking, he’s got a key.’

Callie opened her arms wide and grabbed on to her friend. Ella could feel her whole body physically shaking. ‘Thank God you are here. I can’t believe this is happening.’ Once again, a tsunami of tears ran down her cheeks.

‘I’m going nowhere,’ replied Callie, noticing the two policemen standing behind Ella. ‘Is there news, have you found him?’

Ella shook her head and let go of Callie as the police constables walked outside.

‘We’re going to the hospital now and we’ll be in touch as soon as we have some more information.’

‘Thank you,’ replied Ella, watching them head out towards the police car that was parked outside.