Eighteen Kisses Page 7

  ‘Sort of,’ she said. ‘It’s like a hot needle continuously jabbing into your skin. But it’s so worth it… What are you going to get?’

  ‘A treble clef.’

  ‘Cool.’

  She handed me the Coke and I sat up on one of the barstools.

  ‘I got this one to remind me never to give up,’ she said, pointing to her wrist. ‘To remind me never to stop looking for her.’ I nodded. It broke my heart to hear her say that.

  ‘So, you ever been here before?’ she said, resting her elbows on the bar.

  ‘Nope, but I’ve heard about your Acoustic Tuesdays,’ I said. ‘They sound deadly.’

  ‘Yeah, they’re pretty cool all right. We’re always sworn to secrecy about who’s playing; we can’t tell a soul. Rumours circulate, of course, but we can’t confirm or deny them. I’ll never forget the time U2 walked out there,’ she said, pointing to the raised stage in the corner. ‘That was crazy. We do Acoustic Tuesdays once a month, then we have karaoke every Friday, which is usually good fun, although it does get head-wrecking after a while, listening to people crucify your favourite songs. And on weekends we get a DJ in; he plays rock and indie, mainly the popular stuff, but it’s a lot better than most of the crap they play in the clubs around here.’

  ‘How long have you worked here?’ I asked.

  ‘Since I left school,’ said Hazel. ‘I planned to take a year out and then go to college, but I guess I sort of fell in love with this place. Every night there’s something different going on. I’m assistant manager now, so it’s pretty sweet. Matt was saying you might want to ask me some questions?’ she said. ‘About the party?’

  ‘Yeah, if that’s OK?’ I said. It was weird hearing her refer to him as Matt, like they were friends or something. I guess he would have spent a lot of time talking to her while he was working on the case though.

  ‘Sure,’ she said with a smile. She sat up on the bar and swung her legs round, so that she was sitting right beside me. ‘Ask me anything.’

  Hazel had such an air of confidence about her; she gave off that vibe that some people just have, like they don’t really care what anybody thinks.

  ‘The night Kayla went missing, did you notice anything strange about her?’ I asked. ‘Was she in a good mood?’

  ‘Yeah, the thing is, she was in a great mood. And if she hadn’t been I’d definitely have noticed, or she would have told me.’

  ‘So you two are close?’

  ‘Yeah, really close. We get on great, but we also have screaming matches when she steals my clothes and breaks my CD cases. We’re just like regular sisters.’

  ‘When did you first notice she was missing?’

  ‘Well, I went to sleep kinda early. I’d been working all day and was wrecked. My boyfriend Barry and I went out to get chips around one, then we went to bed. But Libby woke me at about four a.m., saying she couldn’t find Kayla anywhere. The last time I’d seen her, she was dancing with her friend Amy. I’m a bit older than Kayla and Libby, so I’d spent some of the party in my room with Barry watching TV. I didn’t want to cramp their style. I was basically there to make sure the house didn’t get trashed. Not that Kayla’s friends are likely to do that; they’re all pretty well behaved.’

  ‘Can you remember what happened when Libby woke you?’

  ‘Yeah, she was in a panic, saying she’d looked everywhere, but she couldn’t find Kayla. I knew something was wrong straight away – you know when you just get a feeling? I called Kev, her ex, and asked if she was with him. He just said “I wish” and then hung up. Libby and I phoned all of her friends, but nobody had seen her. I remember having the horrible thought that maybe someone had abducted her. The others were out looking to see if she’d tripped and hurt herself on her way home, but I knew something was seriously wrong.’ Although Hazel talked about Kayla like she was still here, I got the feeling that she wasn’t as optimistic as Libby and Ellie – that she was a bit more realistic. The tattoo, especially, seemed like a remembrance of her life rather than a reminder to keep looking for her.

  ‘Some creep did this,’ she said. ‘He tore our lives apart. I’m so glad you’re going to find him, Jacki.’

  She touched my arm. I felt so sorry for her.

  There was a knock on the door. Hazel walked over to it, again moving so gracefully it was almost hypnotizing.

  ‘Delivery for Hazel Byrne,’ said the guy outside.

  ‘Thanks, hun,’ said Hazel as she signed for it. I was sure I saw the delivery guy blush. She seemed like the kind of girl who could have anyone she wanted. The kind of girl people wrote songs about. She walked back across the bar like she owned it. She was a punk-rock princess and this was her palace.

  Hazel dropped the box down on the counter.

  ‘You know,’ she said, ‘sometimes I wake up in the morning, and for one second I forget all this has happened. It’s just so unbelievable. I thought we lived in the safest part of Dublin.’

  ‘Libby gave me one of Kayla’s necklaces,’ I said, taking it out of my pocket. ‘Hope that’s OK?’

  ‘Oh yeah, that’s cool. She likes that one; she wears it a lot. So… what exactly do you do? Do you, like, use something that belongs to the person to help lead you to them?’

  ‘Yeah,’ I said. ‘Something like that.’

  ‘That’s crazy. Ooh, you should meet my friend Lauren. Actually, she was at the party so you’re probably going to meet her anyway. She does fortune-telling in George’s Street Arcade; she’s into all that supernatural stuff. Anything like that freaks me out. But I think there’s probably some truth to it all.’

  ‘Well, I know there is,’ I said.

  ‘In a way I suppose I find it comforting,’ she continued. ‘Even though it scares me. My mum died when I was thirteen, so I like to think there’s something there after you die. I like to think that I’ll see her again.’

  ‘My dad died when I was nine,’ I said. She nodded. We didn’t need to say anything. No ‘I’m so sorry to hear that.’ We both got it; we understood.

  ‘Did Kayla ever come here?’ I asked.

  ‘Yeah,’ said Hazel. ‘She loves taking pictures at the gigs, and if there was somebody playing on Tuesdays that I knew she really wanted to see I’d text her and tell her to come down. We aren’t meant to tell anybody, but I know Kayla can keep a secret. One time, Robert Smith from the Cure was here, and she was so excited. She loves them. When we first moved in with Kayla and her mum, Anna, and I heard they were her favourite band, I knew we were going to get along.’

  I remembered the Cure song from my dream – ‘Pictures of You’ – barely recognizable on the radio. It took all my concentration not to dwell on the image of the man in the balaclava.

  The door of the bar opened and Sergeant Lawlor came in.

  ‘Hi, Matt,’ said Hazel cheerfully. ‘Can I get you anything?’

  ‘No, thank you, Hazel,’ he said abruptly. ‘I’m going to take Jacki to meet the rest of the team.’ He turned to me. ‘Sorry I’m late. We better get going; they’re waiting for us.’

  ‘See you soon,’ said Hazel with a smile.

  I followed Sergeant Lawlor through Temple Bar, across the road and over to Ming’s. Again it was deserted, apart from two men sitting at a table in the corner. One looked older than Sergeant Lawlor and had a grey moustache. The other was a lot younger; he had short blond hair and was fairly good-looking, if you were into the conventionally attractive type.

  I walked behind Sergeant Lawlor over to the table and sat down. ‘This is Sergeant Ray Harte,’ he said, pointing to the younger man. ‘And this is Detective Sergeant Tony Lonergan.’ They both shook my hand.

  ‘We’re happy to have you on board,’ said Tony, although he didn’t sound like he meant a word of it. He seemed to be eyeing me with suspicion, like I was some sort of imposter. Ray, on the other hand, smiled at me, and was considerably less intimidating.

  ‘It’s amazing what you can do,’ said Ray. ‘Really amazing. Delighted to have you
working with us, Jacki.’

  ‘Jacki is going to interview the eight suspects,’ said Matt.

  ‘So that’s what we’re calling them now,’ said Tony with a smirk.

  ‘I think Matt might be on to something with that,’ said Ray. ‘As you know, I’ve worked on the case from the beginning, and I think there’s something seriously strange about the whole thing.’

  ‘As do I,’ said Matt. ‘Jacki has already met with some of them, haven’t you?’

  ‘Well, just three so far,’ I said. ‘Her friend Ellie, and her sister Libby. And Hazel, of course. I asked Libby for an object of Kayla’s; I’m hoping it will help me connect with her.’

  ‘And she gave it to you?’ said Matt.

  ‘Yeah, she gave me a necklace. Why?’

  ‘I’m just impressed, that’s all,’ he said. ‘I didn’t think she’d be so cooperative.’

  I was glad I’d impressed him, although getting a necklace was a long way from solving a murder.

  ‘I still think we’re looking at a serial killer,’ said Tony.

  ‘You weren’t there at the initial investigation,’ said Matt. ‘There was a lot of conferring going on. Some of the anguish hinted more at guilt than grief. It’s been two years now, and they’ve had time to get used to the lies, practise what they’re going to say. This is messy, which is why I think Jacki’s help is invaluable to us right now.’

  It sounded like he was trying to convince Tony that my presence was justified.

  ‘You can’t seriously think that the serial killer is a myth?’ said Tony.

  ‘Oh no, I don’t. I know he’s out there,’ said Matt. ‘I just don’t think he killed Kayla Edwards.’

  ‘I certainly wouldn’t trust that Calum guy,’ said Ray. ‘I don’t like him at all. And Andrew Hogan is a right creep.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ I asked.

  ‘He has a record,’ said Ray. ‘Aggravated assault.’

  ‘I’d prefer not to influence Jacki,’ said Matt. ‘Let’s see what she comes up with herself.’ It looked like Matt hadn’t told me everything, but I suppose that didn’t matter. Like he said, too much information might cloud my judgement. I was wary of jumping to conclusions, and also of ruling anybody out, for that matter.

  ‘I better get going,’ said Tony. ‘Nice to meet you, Jacki,’ he added, but his tone was still harsh. He put on his jacket and left.

  ‘Sorry about that,’ said Matt. ‘He’s a bit sceptical.’ That still wasn’t an excuse to be rude, but I didn’t care. I knew better than to let people like him upset me. Matt believed in me; that was enough. And I was sure that when I came up with answers for Tony he wouldn’t be so dismissive.

  ‘Can I ask you something?’ said Ray.

  ‘Yeah, go ahead,’ I said.

  ‘Aren’t you… afraid of the ghosts?’ His voice turned to a whisper.

  ‘I’ve learned it’s the people you need to be more scared of,’ I said flatly.

  ‘Well,’ said Matt, ‘there’s no arguing with that.’

  Chapter 9

  The next day Hannah and I and my two other best friends from Dublin, Sophie and Ross, sat on the grass in a circle in St Stephen’s Green, enjoying the evening sunshine.

  Hannah, Ross and I had been friends since primary school. And then in first year we’d tacked a poster to the noticeboard saying BAND MEMBERS WANTED. I sang and played guitar, Ross played lead and Hannah played saxophone, but we needed a drummer and a bassist. Ross had insisted on putting the poster up on the very first day of secondary school. ‘What’s the rush?’ I’d said.

  ‘Jacki, we can’t let any Travis Barkers or Cliff Burtons slip through our fingers.’ Funnily enough, ours was the only band notice up there. We’d held auditions in the auditorium at lunch.

  After a half-hour of us sitting there, staring at the door, a short girl with a purple streak in her hair walked in. She was wearing black patent Doc Martens with her grey uniform, the sleeves of her jumper were rolled up and she was carrying two battered drumsticks.

  ‘Hey, I’m Sophie,’ she said.‘I hear you need a drummer?’

  ‘Yeah, but you’ll need to audition,’ said Ross, eyeing her suspiciously. She then played an awesome drum solo, and we offered her the position on the spot. It turned out she’d done a ‘Drum Skills for Beginners’ class when she was seven, then taught herself the rest. We’d all been friends ever since.

  Electric had been fairly uneventful that day – Dillon and I had been split up and given different tasks. I’d stuffed lots of envelopes with invitations for the Electric Unsigned gig, and Dillon had helped with the album reviews. The sun had shone all day and the office, with its huge windows, was unbearably warm. I was happy to be outside now. While we chatted, Sophie laid back with the sun on her face, Hannah made a daisy chain and Ross checked out any girl who walked by in shorts. Luckily his and Hannah’s brief romance last year hadn’t affected their friendship – they sort of acted like it had never happened, which Sophie and I were happy to go along with.

  The Green was packed. Some people sat by themselves, reading or relaxing; others sat in twos or lay side by side, their fingers intertwined, and the rest sat in groups like ours – pockets of people dotted across the grass. Kids ran past carrying ice pops, and tourists examined maps, trying to decide on their next stop. The super-prepared had packed sandwiches and picnic blankets; Ross let us sit on his jacket as the grass was still damp from yesterday’s rain. It was perfect, but I wished Nick could have been there. I really missed him and wanted to see him, especially now that everything was all right between us.

  ‘All I’m saying,’ said Ross, ‘is that you’d probably be the first to go.’ Sophie had made the mistake, on this fine evening, of posing the question, ‘Which one of us do you think would be most likely to survive a zombie apocalypse?’

  ‘I would not be the first to go,’ said Hannah, abandoning her daisy chain and dropping it on to her lap. ‘And why the hell does everyone think Ross would be the last one standing?’

  ‘He can run pretty fast,’ I said, batting away a wasp that was buzzing dangerously close to Ross’s head.

  ‘And he has the whole height thing going on,’ added Sophie. Ross is six feet tall, although at one point in primary school I actually towered above him. I like to remind him of that sometimes.

  ‘Right, who do you think would be the second last to die?’ asked Hannah.

  ‘Sophie,’ said Ross and I in unison.

  ‘She’s got the whole brain thing going on,’ I said. Sophie was always getting top marks in school. I was good at maths and pretty good at music too, but Sophie was good at everything.

  ‘Then Jacki,’ said Ross, ‘because you know there’s something tough beneath that cute exterior. Sorry, Hannah, but you just don’t have the street smarts.’ I didn’t mind them thinking I’d be third; the idea of wandering round the world with hardly anybody to share it with didn’t appeal to me much anyway.

  ‘I would too survive a zombie apocalypse!’ whined Hannah. Ross looked back at her blankly.

  ‘Say I’d survive a zombie apocalypse!’ she said sulkily. ‘SAY IT!’

  ‘I’m not gonna lie…’

  ‘Say iii-t,’ she said, adding in some fake crying for effect.

  ‘Fine,’ said Ross, in the most unconvincing tone ever. ‘You’d survive a zombie apocalypse.’

  ‘Why, thank you,’ said Hannah. ‘I’d have to agree.’

  I could see him in the distance, walking alone in our direction. I sat up straighter and pushed my shades on top of my head. The others hadn’t seen him yet, but he’d spotted me, and he was smiling.

  ‘I’ve taken a stage-combat class, you know,’ said Hannah.

  ‘Yeah, that zombie won’t know what to do when you fake drop-kick him,’ said Ross with a snort.

  ‘I’m just sayin’,’ said Hannah.

  ‘Please, Hannah,’ said Ross. ‘Don’t fake karate-chop me, pleeeease.’ He and Sophie burst into giggles. They were still giggling
when Dillon arrived at our side.

  ‘Hey,’ I said.

  ‘Oh, hey, Dillon,’ said Hannah, throwing Ross one final glare.

  ‘Hey, guys,’ he said, taking off his glasses and cleaning them with his white T-shirt, exposing his bare stomach for a second. I looked away quickly, realizing I’d been staring. I don’t think anyone had noticed.

  ‘What you up to?’ said Hannah.

  ‘I was just picking some stuff up for my mum. I’m heading home now.’

  ‘Wanna hang out for a while?’ said Ross.

  ‘Nah, I can’t, I told Mum I’d clean the car. I better go.’ I plucked at the grass, trying not to think about the fact that I would actually have quite liked him to stay. Honestly, I don’t know what was wrong with me. I must have been missing Nick too much.

  ‘See ya tomorrow, Jacki,’ Dillon said.

  ‘Yep.’ I looked up to see him smiling. ‘Tomorrow.’

  I watched him walk away, across the grass and down the path, until he was out of sight.

  ‘Did you hear he kissed Maggie at her party the other night?’ said Sophie.

  ‘God, that girl thinks she’s it,’ said Hannah.

  I knew Maggie, but not very well. She was pretty, but unbearably loud.

  ‘I heard they’re going out now,’ said Ross, grabbing Hannah’s daisy chain and wearing it on his head like a crown.

  I frowned. I didn’t think Maggie was the kind of girl he’d go for, but he was single and perfectly entitled to kiss anybody he wanted to.

  ‘I heard he called it off,’ said Sophie.

  ‘Really?’ said Hannah, snatching the daisy chain back. ‘Who cares?’

  ‘So, what classes are you taking this term?’ I asked Sophie, eager to change the subject. Her dad is head of the extramural programme at a university, and Sophie has been sitting in on night classes since she was four.

  ‘Astronomy, divination and criminal psychology,’ she said.

  ‘Sophie,’ said Ross, ‘you do know that one of these days your brain is going to get so big that it will actually explode?’

  ‘Yes, because that’s clearly how knowledge works,’ said Hannah.