Looking for JJ by Anne Cassidy Read Free Book Online

what,” her mother said. “You go downstairs and I’ll get rid of him. We’ll get a takeaway for lunch. How about that?”
    Her mother disappeared back into the room and Jennifer walked down the stairs. At the bottom was the black bag that her mum had been carrying out of the flats just before they left. She picked it up and took it into the living room. Heavy footsteps sounded on the stairs and then Danny shouted Bye . She didn’t answer. She waited until the front door slammed and then she unzipped the bag. Inside was a single plastic figure. Luke Skywalker.
    Her mum had stolen it.
     
    Alice opened her eyes suddenly and remembered where she was. On the train, pulling out of the station before hers. Had she fallen asleep? Or just been daydreaming? Lost in her own thoughts? She saw that the train compartment had emptied a little. No one was standing and people were looking easier, nestling back in their seats, their faces serene, looking forward to going home.
    A feeling of loss took hold of her. Just for a second. She saw her mother’s face breaking into a laugh when she asked her about Luke Skywalker. That bloody toy! she’d said dismissively.
    How long had it been since she’d seen her? Four years? Five?
    It seemed like a lifetime.

 

     
     
    The detective’s name was Derek Corker.
    Alice found this out a week later, when she met Frankie at his college bar for an end of term celebration. The exams had finished and the students were getting ready to go home. Frankie was moving back to Brighton, where his parents lived.
    Alice saw the man’s name printed on a small card that was pinned to the Student Union noticeboard. Derek Corker, Private Investigator. Beside it was a copy of the photograph that had been in the newsagents. MISSING GIRL it said. Parents are distraught. Please contact with any information. Cash reward.
    It didn’t upset her. She felt strangely detached when she looked at it, as if it wasn’t a photograph of her at all, but of some other person she used to know.
    “What’s this?” Frankie said, slipping his arm round her waist and hooking her towards him.
    She shrugged.
    “Oh, that guy. He’s been hanging around college for a couple of days. Looking for some missing girl. He’s got wads of cash. Keeps buying drinks and flashing his money.”
    He pulled her towards the bar and she felt lightheaded with relief. The photograph meant nothing to him. The face of the girl in the picture was not that of his girlfriend. She squeezed his arm with pleasure and went on tiptoes to kiss his cheek. He turned towards her and, ignoring the surrounding students, he bent down and gave her a fierce kiss on the mouth, sending a wave of desire through her.
    Was this love?
     
    The day before he’d bought her a present, a thin gold chain with a flat heart hanging from it. On the back of the heart was the word Alice , engraved in italics. She had never owned anything like it.
    “Thanks,” she’d said, bewildered by her feelings. She was on the brink of tears.
    “You’ve got a lovely neck,” he murmured, lying back on her bed. “You should wear things that show it off more.”
    They’d been in Rosie’s flat for a couple of hours in the afternoon. Frankie had spent the day packing up his stuff ready to transport it all home to Brighton the following weekend. He had turned up unexpectedly at Rosie’s door, dusty and fed up. The others in his flat had used up all the hot water and he needed a shower. Plus he’d decided he wanted to give her the gift. Just like that. She sorted out some towels for him and turned away in embarrassment when he stripped his clothes off in front of her and marched off towards the bathroom laughing, the towel hanging down on to the floor as he walked.
    She put the gold chain on and gazed at herself in the mirror. Her cropped hair made her face look small and her neck was long and thin. How pale and serious she looked. What did Frankie find attractive about her? When he came