Stephen Edger - Little Girl Gone

A division of HarperCollins Publishers

www.harpercollins.co.uk

KillerReads

an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

Copyright © Stephen Edger 2018

Cover design © HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 2018

Cover photograph © Shutterstock.com

Stephen Edger asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue copy 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.

Ebook Edition © November 2018 ISBN: 9780008320607

Version: 2019-05-13

For Hannah, Emily, and Ethan, my world

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page Little Girl Gone STEPHEN EDGER A division of HarperCollins Publishers www.harpercollins.co.uk

Copyright KillerReads an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF www.harpercollins.co.uk First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd Copyright © Stephen Edger 2018 Cover design © HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 2018 Cover photograph © Shutterstock.com Stephen Edger asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work. A catalogue copy 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. Ebook Edition © November 2018 ISBN: 9780008320607 Version: 2019-05-13

Dedication For Hannah, Emily, and Ethan, my world

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

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Chapter 47

Chapter 48

Chapter 49

Chapter 50

Chapter 51

Chapter 52

Chapter 53

Chapter 54

Chapter 55

Chapter 56

Chapter 57

Chapter 58

Chapter 59

Chapter 60

Epilogue

A Message From Stephen

Keep Reading …

Acknowledgements

Also by Stephen Edger

About the Author

About the Publisher

The wipers squawked as they battled to keep the windscreen clear.

‘I’m going to be late,’ Alex Granger muttered to herself, as she strained to see through the gap in the condensation rapidly rising in front of her. Glancing down momentarily she switched the blower to full, the sound of the rushing warm air drowning out the radio.

A giggle from the back seat caused Alex to look up at the rear-view mirror. ‘At least you’re happy enough,’ she said, adding a smile as her eyes met the blonde girl grinning back at her.

A car horn sounded from behind, the driver gesticulating that the traffic lights had finally turned green. Raising her hand in acknowledgement, Alex lowered the handbrake and moved forward, looking left and right for the name of the road where the car park was located. And as if her prayers had been answered, she spotted a large blue ‘P’ on the next street sign, and indicated to the right. The driver behind gave a second blast of his horn as he swerved around her.

‘What’s the hurry, arsehole?’ Alex shouted at the window, suddenly realizing that CarolAnne could hear. Looking back at the reflection of her two-year-old daughter, Alex quickly apologized. ‘Just ignore Mummy’s crazy words.’

Carol-Anne giggled again.

The windscreen still wasn’t clearing, and as Alex spotted the entrance to the car park up ahead, she realized the car’s fans weren’t even aimed at the windscreen. Adjusting the dial, she silently cursed Ray for not putting them back. Her husband had borrowed her car the night before to go to the gym, and she was certain he must have interfered with the way she liked the car to be set up; she’d had to move the seat forward when she first got in that afternoon. She’d remind him when she saw him later, she thought. Right now there were more important things to worry about, like finding a parking space, dropping Carol-Anne at the crèche, and running to her interview. She should have phoned ahead and postponed the interview when traffic had been far heavier than she’d anticipated. It had been the only interview she’d been offered out of the dozen or so jobs she’d applied for in the previous three months, and she hadn’t wanted to make the wrong first impression. Arriving late wouldn’t be a good start though either, she knew.

‘Think positively,’ Alex reminded herself, as she pulled the car through the entrance and began to hunt for a free space.

Carol-Anne giggled and sang away to herself in the back.

‘Tell Mummy if you see an empty space,’ Alex hummed along, as she glanced left and right, completing a full tour of the single-level car park, reaching the exit without luck. She was about to give up when she spotted a yellow umbrella, moving towards one of the cars behind them. Reversing towards the bright glow, Alex lowered the passenger window and called out, ‘Are you going?’

The woman beneath the umbrella looked over and smiled. ‘Yes, in a minute. Do you want my space?’

‘Please, you’re a lifesaver.’ Reversing further to allow enough space for the SUV to pull out, Alex waited for the woman to lower the umbrella, duck into the car and finally drive away.

‘Someone up there must be smiling down on us today,’ Alex mused at Carol-Anne’s reflection; although whoever it was, they could have done something about the weather; arriving looking like a drowned rat wouldn’t help her nail that first impression.