Miss No One Mark Ayre (children's books read aloud TXT) 📖

And Abbie felt something throb in her heart. There was the sense she was a selfish, evil bitch. She was putting a young girl's life on the line for personal gain.

A little voice told Abbie she must give in to Ben. Bobby's voice was louder.

Be safe. Come back to me.

That voice swept away the doubts.

"I want to thank you," she said. "Later on, when I remember how you threw our partnership away because I wouldn't remain a slave to loneliness and misery, there's every chance I'll whip myself into a frenzy of hatred. For now, I'll bring the positives to the forefront. You're absolutely right to say the company you represent has helped me save lives by removing the fear of poverty and imprisonment. I'll be forever grateful for that and even more grateful to you personally. When I was lost and desperate; when I didn't know what was wrong with me; when I was ready to end it all, there you were. You appeared as if from nowhere, like the shopkeeper in Mr Benn. You saved my life, and for that, I'll always be thankful.”

"If only you would act it," Ben said. He forced a bitter, angry edge into his voice, but Abbie heard the misery hiding beneath. In his own twisted way, he really believed he cared for her.

Abbie didn't smile. Nor did she feel any sense of victory. In many ways, she hated this.

"It's time for a change," she said. "Time I found a way to balance the jobs my dreams send with some kind of normal life. I'm going to give it a go, and I'm going to make it work."

"I wouldn't count on it," said Ben. "See how Bobby feels when you can no longer pay the mortgage or when you're in prison."

Abbie said nothing. Maybe Ben wanted an argument. It certainly seemed that way. But Abbie was tired and fed up. She was in the middle of an important job, the threat of arrest hanging over her head like a dying tree, ready to collapse at any second. She needed this entanglement with Ben to be over.

She said nothing. Keeping the phone to her ear, Abbie forced herself to turn away from the playground and continue towards the toilet block. She knew Ben was waiting for her response, but she wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

At last, he realised he wasn't going to get to her.

"You know my number," he said. "Soon, you'll realise what a terrible mistake you've made. Bobby will be gone. You'll lose your home and any sense of financial security. Lost and alone, you'll realise we are and always will be your only friends, your only allies, your only family. When you call, prepare to grovel. As you're family, we may take you back in the end, but we'll remember the way you've hurt us, and you should be mindful of that when you dial. We won't take you back easily, if at all."

It took an incredible degree of self-restraint not to rise to these words. To fight the urge to bite back, to give Ben a piece of her mind.

Abbie took a breath.

"Goodbye, Ben."

There was another pause. Abbie could almost hear Ben thinking of what else he could say, how else he could hurt her. But there was nothing.

The line went dead.

For a few more seconds, Abbie held her phone to her ear then, as though it was partially stuck to her face, she dragged the handset away.

For years, Abbie had arrived in these towns alone, had acted alone to save the lives she needed to save. The people she met undoubtedly saw her as a loner.

But there had always been a safety net. It wasn't until Ben hung up at the end of that final conversation that she was entirely alone for the first time.

How would she cope without the support she had for so long taken for granted?

It was time to find out.

Fifteen

Forcing her legs on, Abbie made her way towards the toilet block shrouded in despair.

Had she done the right thing?

She knew if she had acquiesced to Ben on this, she would have surrendered any hope of having a life. For the rest of her days, she would have been nothing more than a sword of judgement, acting without emotion to save the innocent.

On the other hand, given the action she had taken, what would happen if Isabella died?

That seemed simple. Abbie would die as well.

She needed distraction—something to take her mind off Ben and the decision she had made. Pausing in her pursuit of the non-moving toilet block, Abbie fixed in her mind the idea that what she needed was a lead.

"Abbie. Abbie, is that you?"

The definition of paranormal is events or phenomena beyond the scope of ordinary scientific understanding. Though it was hard to see how Abbie's prophetic dreams did not fall under this definition, a lack of evidence precluded Abbie from believing in other paranormal abilities such as telekinesis, telepathy, or clairvoyance. Although she often talked to her dead sister, Abbie did not think it possible to communicate with the deceased. She appreciated her habit of talking to Violet was a method designed for her own comfort rather than anything else.

Nor did Abbie believe she could force events to happen by sheer willpower alone.

Coincidences did happen. When Abbie turned to see Gary jogging towards her, she didn't for a second believe she had conjured him with her wish to find a lead and therefore distract herself from her conversation with Ben. After all, she hadn't seen a shooting star, nor was it her birthday.

Gary's arrival was probably a coincidence, but Abbie wouldn't rule out something less straightforward. She was loathe to use the phrase divine intervention. Still, could Gary's arrival not be down to whatever it was that ensured Abbie always stumbled upon key people and events relating to the innocents she was trying to save when arriving in a new town as a perfect stranger?

After some thought, Abbie decided it was probably best to