Marnie Riches - The Girl Who Had No Fear

Published by Avon

An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

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London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins 2016

Copyright © Marnie Riches 2016

Marnie Riches 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 © March 2016 ISBN: 9780008203993

Version 2018-01-24

For Christian. May your salsa always be extra picante and your cerveza always cold.

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Prologue: Cambridge University Library, 30 March

Chapter 1: Amsterdam, an Apartment in Bilderdijkkade, 25 April

Chapter 2: Bilderdijkgracht, 27 April

Chapter 3: Hmp Belmarsh, Thamesmead, Southeast London, 27 April

Chapter 4: Mexico, Chiapas, 29 May

Chapter 5: Amsterdam, Police Headquarters, Then, Bouwdewijn de Groot Lyceum, Apollolaan, Then, Floris Engels’ Apartment in Amstelveen, 28 April

Chapter 6: Cambridge, Huntingdon Road, Then, Stansted Airport, 29 April

Chapter 7: Amsterdam, Mortuary, Later

Chapter 8: Amsterdam, Police Headquarters, Later

Chapter 9: Amsterdam, Van Den Bergen’s Apartment, Then, Melkweg Nightclub, Later

Chapter 10: Amsterdam, Melkweg Nightclub, Then, Leidsegracht, 30 April

Chapter 11: Amsterdam, Sloterdijkermeer Allotments, Later

Chapter 12: Amsterdam, Reguliersdwarsstraat, 1 May

Chapter 13: Amsterdam, Keizer’s Basement Nightclub, 14 May

Chapter 14: Amsterdam, Police Headquarters, 15 May

Chapter 15: Mexico, Chiapas Mountains, Then, the Border With Guatemala, 29 May

Chapter 16: Amsterdam, Academy of Architecture, Waterlooplein, Then, Police Headquarters, 18 May

Chapter 17: 35,000ft Above Germany, 20 May

Chapter 18: Czech Republic, Prague, Žižkov District, Later

Chapter 19: Amsterdam, Keizersgracht, 21 May

Chapter 20: Mexico, Yucatan Jungle, 30 May

Chapter 21: Amsterdam, Ijselbuurt, Then Keizersgracht, Later, 21 May

Chapter 22: Amsterdam, Police Headquarters, Later

Chapter 23: Amsterdam, Van Den Bergen’s Apartment, 22 May

Chapter 24: Mexico, Cancun Airport, 26 May

Chapter 25: Honduras, Tegucigalpa, Later

Chapter 26: Mexico, a Cancun Police Station, 27 May

Chapter 27: Honduras, a Barrio in the Mountains Above Tegucigalpa, at the Same Time

Chapter 28: Amsterdam, Onze Lieve Vrouw Hospital, 28 May

Chapter 29: Mexico, Yucatan Jungle, 30 May

Chapter 30: Mexico, Hotel Bahia Maya, Cancun, Then, the Yucatan Jungle, 30 May

Chapter 31: Mexico, Elsewhere in the Yucatan Jungle, at the Same Time

Chapter 32: En Route From Tegucigalpa, Honduras to Palenque, Mexico Via Guatemala, 27 May

Chapter 33: Amsterdam, Red-Light District, 30 May

Chapter 34: Mexico, Hotel Bahia Maya, Cancun, 1 June

Chapter 35: Mexico, Palenque Town in Chiapas, 28 May

Chapter 36: The Caribbean Sea, Just Off the Coast of Mexico, 1 June

Chapter 37: The Netherlands, a Warehouse in a Dockside Location, at the Same Time

Chapter 38: The Caribbean Sea, Off the Coast of Mexico, at the Same Time

Chapter 39: Mexico, Hotel Bahia Maya, Cancun, a Little Later

Chapter 40: Mexico, Chiapas Mountains, 29 May

Chapter 41: Groningen, Chembedrijf Corporate Head Office, 1 June

Chapter 42: Mexico, Yucatan Jungle, 30 May

Chapter 43: Mexico, Cancun Airport, 1 June

Chapter 44: Mexico, Hotel Bahia Maya, Cancun, Later

Chapter 45: The Middle of the Caribbean Sea, Later

Chapter 46: Mexico, Yucatan Jungle, 1 June

Chapter 47: Amsterdam, Paradijs Restaurant, Amstel, 2 June

Chapter 48: Mexico, Hospital Galenia, Cancun, 2 June

Chapter 49: Amsterdam, Schiphol Airport, 4 June

Chapter 50: Amsterdam, Van Den Bergen’s Apartment, at the Same Time

Chapter 51: Rotterdam, Dockside, the Port of Rotterdam, Later

Chapter 52: Amsterdam, Van Den Bergen’s Apartment, a Short While Later

Chapter 53: Amsterdam, a Houseboat on Prinsengracht, at the Same Time

Chapter 54: Amsterdam, Van Den Bergen’s Apartment, Then, the Red-Light District, at the Same Time

Chapter 55: Rotterdam, a Dockside Warehouse, Port of Rotterdam, a Short While Later

Chapter 56: Amsterdam, the Cracked Pot Coffee Shop, at the Same Time

Chapter 57: Amsterdam, Onze Lieve Vrouw Hospital, 5 June

Chapter 58: Onze Lieve Vrouw Hospital, Moments Later

Acknowledgements

Keep Reading …

About the Author

By the Same Author

About the Publisher

When the lights went out in the University Library stacks, George held her breath. Looked around in the murk. But all she could see from the vantage point of the rickety desk where she had been reading was the glow from outside. The setting sun, pregnant with demonic menace, reflected on the Cambridge spires some way off to the east of the library, making the jagged rooftops look like the gaping, reddened maws of giant prehistoric beasts. Behind her were only the long shadows cast by the bookshelves; row after claustrophobic row, stacked to the ceiling with dusty old books. Anyone could hide among them in this twilight. The arsehole that had been following her … could he be lying in wait?

‘Who’s there?’ she shouted, her voice quivering. Her breath steamed on the sharp air.

No answer.

She picked up a heavy Old High German dictionary that had been left behind on the desk by some undergraduate. Held it high above her, poised to bring it crashing down on an attacker’s head, should she need to.

The lights came back on suddenly, making her squint. She shrieked at the sight of a flustered-looking librarian, who in turn yelped at the spectre of a combative George, wielding the tome.

‘Dr McKenzie!’ the woman said, taking a step back and clasping her hand to her fleece-clad bosom. Almost tripping over her own feet, shod in the utilitarian leather flats that were popular with senior citizens and the bunion-afflicted.

Horrified, knees buckling with embarrassment and relief in equal measure, George set the dictionary down on the desk beside her. She smiled apologetically at her would-be victim. ‘Mrs McMahon. I’m so sorry. The lights went out. I got spooked.’ She clutched her purple mohair cardigan around her, shivering with adrenalin as much as the cold. ‘You know how it is.’

The ageing librarian pursed her lips and tapped on the face of her watch. Spoke with stretched out East Anglian vowels that belied her haughty attempts at received pronunciation. ‘It’s 7 p.m. The library’s closing in fifteen. And after all these years, a Fellow, of all people, should remember that the lights are on timers in the stacks.’