Alex Day - The Missing Twin - A gripping debut psychological thriller with a killer twist

Once more, Fatima’s card was spat back out at her, emphatically. Puzzled, and with a knot of anxiety forming in her belly, she joined the queue which was only fractionally shorter now than it had been when she arrived. She had never taken much notice of their financial position before; she hadn’t had to. Fayed, older than her by ten years, already had a well-established business when they had met, fallen in love and got married. Fatima had been happy to take care of the children whilst he made the money. They were well off and she was able to continue studying English in her spare time, with the goal of going to university to do a degree in English literature when the girls got a bit older. She had plenty of time – she was only twenty-three.

Reaching the front of the queue, she handed her card to the cashier.

‘I don’t know why the machine wouldn’t process my request,’ she said, feeling the need to explain herself. The man tapped numbers into his screen and then looked at her incredulously. He had small, narrow eyes and a mean mouth.

‘It’s nothing to do with the machine,’ he explained, speaking very slowly as if she were extremely stupid. ‘It won’t give you any money because you haven’t got any.’

The mop handle clanged angrily and water sloshed onto her bare feet as Edie lugged the bucket into the cabin and began to clean, making wide, bad-tempered arcs across the tiles. Three cabins in two-and-a-half hours was too much, especially when so many of the guests were absolute slobs, leaving dirty dishes in the sink that she had to wash up and making sure that they’d messed up all the beds so that she still had to make them again even if they hadn’t actually been slept in.

She snatched a clean sheet from the pile she had dumped on the sofa and snapped it out across the double bed in the main bedroom, tucking it in haphazardly. Really, if anyone thought they were paying for hospital corners, they had another think coming. Pillowcases next, then the same to the single beds in the twin room. She swept the floor, whisking the grains of sand swiftly across the tiles so that they flew and caught the light like mini crystals. Slowly, she backed towards the door, dragging the bucket with her and cleaning right to the threshold. She paused to flick the air-conditioning off and stepped outside into the broiling heat. Fumbling for the key in her pocket, she could feel sweat gathering on her forehead and trickling down her back and legs, running from the nape of her neck to her shoulder blades. The door slammed as she pulled it closed.

The next cabin on her list was number 15, which brought back a few fond memories. She’d spent an interesting night there with two Serbian lads whose willingness to muck in together and get themselves – and her – into some gravity-defying positions had been entertaining to say the least. Not so much fun in here now though, she mused wryly to herself, pulling pubes out of the shower trap and trying to rid the sink of a tide mark of grime. Eleven o’clock already and still one more cabin to go. It was simply too much.

It was after midday when she locked the door of her third cabin and emptied her bucket out, slinging the water towards the roots of one of the parched olive trees nearby. She turned around, pushing her hair behind her ears with the back of her free hand and jumped out of her skin. Standing motionless in front of her was a man. Edie shrieked and then, realising who it was, clapped her hand to her mouth to suppress it. Zayn. She glared at him.

‘Not funny, Zayn, not funny at all. You nearly killed me.’

‘Sorry, Eeedie.’

In contrast to Stefan the chef, Zayn stressed the first part of her name so that it rhymed with an elongated ‘seedy’. Seedy-Edie – she was surprised the boys at school had never come up with that as a nickname, but they were mostly too preoccupied with Laura to bother their heads with her.

‘It’s OK,’ she conceded, feeling a twang of guilt at how sad and perplexed he looked and sounded. ‘Did you need me for something, because I’m in a bit of a hurry.’

‘Why are you in such a rush? And looking so angry?’

Edie suppressed a quiver of irritation that slid through her; she could do without an interrogation right now. ‘Sorry, Zayn. It’s not you – I’m just mystified about where Laura’s gone, that’s all.’

‘Laura?’ Zayn’s bushy eyebrows knitted together in further puzzlement. ‘I don’t know any Laura. Who is she?’ Edie sighed in exasperation; Zayn was evidently another one of those unobservant people who couldn’t tell them apart, who thought identical twins were exactly the same in every respect, from appearance to number of fillings in their teeth and bra cup size. Whereas in fact Edie not only had no fillings to Laura’s three but also was a D cup to Laura’s C.

Zayn was staring at her expectantly, waiting for an answer. Slowly, it dawned on Edie that she was forgetting a crucial fact. Neither Zayn, nor anyone else, had actually met Laura nor even known of her existence. No one at all other than Edie had seen her when she arrived at the resort. Edie had been in no hurry to advertise her presence, partly because she had wanted to keep her to herself for a few hours at least, partly in case Vlad made a fuss about someone freeloading and partly, of course, to make sure Laura didn’t get anywhere near Vuk before Edie herself had had a chance to consolidate her position.

‘Laura’s my sister. My twin sister,’ she explained, a flicker of irritation causing her to frown. ‘She came yesterday but now she’s disappeared and I don’t know where she is.’

Zayn said nothing for a moment. Then, gently, he asked, ‘But can’t you phone her and find out?’

For one fleeting second, Edie thought that Zayn had come up with the answer, the easiest and most obvious way to make contact with Laura. And then something Laura had said whilst they were drinking drifted back to her. She’d had her phone stolen along with everything else and had no money to replace it. That was one reason why she hadn’t so much as sent a text to alert Edie to her imminent arrival. She had suggested that, if Edie didn’t mind lending her the dosh, that’s the first thing she would do in the morning. This morning, right now, Laura had intended to take the scooter into the town and buy a new phone. Edie would have told her where to go, drawn a map of the old town which was so confusing with its maze of cobbled alleyways and passages. She would have asked her to buy homegrown strawberries from one of the old women in the marketplace to bring back for them to feast on. But none of that was happening now and, as Edie thought about it, tears began to trickle down her cheeks. Honestly, it was too bad of Laura to leave her in the lurch like this.

‘No, I can’t,’ she snapped back at Zayn. She folded her arms angrily over her chest. ‘She doesn’t have a phone right now.’

‘That is not good,’ answered Zayn, his brow furrowed in concern. ‘But don’t worry!’ He released the frown and smiled at her encouragingly.

‘We’ll look for her, we’ll find her.’ He cast his gaze skywards, narrowing his eyes as he searched for the right words. ‘How do you say in English? I’ll put my thinking cap on and see what I can come up with.’

Edie shrugged. ‘Yeah, thanks Zayn. That’s great.’

He was trying to help, and she appreciated it, but in all honesty what would he be able to do? Being sweet and kind wasn’t what was required right now. To work out Laura’s whereabouts she needed someone with natural authority about them, someone who knew how to kick ass. A description which exactly fitted Vuk. She also needed someone who could console her for the brevity of the time she’d had with her adored sister. Surely he’d be back from whatever boat trip he was on soon? Suddenly she felt desperate for him, for the soulmate that she was sure he was beneath his taciturnity and undemonstrativeness. She yearned for arms around her, strong and capable arms. Vuk’s arms.