Honeytrap: Part 1 Read online

  It took less than a quarter of an hour for Sylvie to complete her task. Once her number had been safely stored in his phone it was time for her to leave. She said her goodbyes and rejoined Jess. ‘All done.’

  ‘Do you have time for a quick chat? In the pub maybe?’

  ‘Of course. Just give me a minute. I need to use the Ladies’.’

  Jess found an empty corner on a sofa, sat down and went back to reading the brochure while she waited. It was promotion for a romantic comedy about a woman, her annoying male neighbour and a cat called Chintz. What? She made a vague attempt to grasp the plot – what little there was of it – but her mind kept wandering. Suddenly she couldn’t stop thinking about Harry and Ellen Shaw.

  Jess’s fingers tightened around the glossy pages as a wave of emotions passed over her. She felt anger and frustration and a faint sense of betrayal. What the hell was Harry playing at? He was probably trying to track down Ellen right now. And yes, okay, so she had been a victim, but not half as much a victim as Len Curzon. The girl was a liar, a manipulator, a twister of the truth. Harry should know better, but there was no stopping him once he got an idea in his head.

  ‘It’ll all end in tears,’ she murmured to herself. And she was pretty sure those tears wouldn’t be shed by Ellen Shaw.

  Jess finished her drink, put the glass down on the table and peered through the sea of faces for Sylvie. Still no sign of her. Perhaps she needed a little time to herself after dealing with the likes of Mr Keynes, some space to clear her head. The minutes passed by, but she still didn’t show. Jess began to grow impatient. Suspecting that Sylvie had probably been waylaid by another predatory male, she stood up and began to make her way across the bar.

  By now the place was jam-packed and Jess had to force a path through the crowd. She looked all around for Sylvie, but couldn’t see her. Eventually she reached the Ladies’ and went inside. A couple of girls were standing at the mirrors, adjusting their hair and make-up. Two of the three available toilets had their doors closed.

  ‘Sylvie?’ she called out.

  There was no reply.

  One of the toilets flushed and a woman emerged a few seconds later. She went to the sink and began washing her hands.

  Jess went to the remaining loo and banged on the door. ‘Sylvie? Sylvie, are you in there?’

  ‘No,’ a rather irate voice snapped back.

  ‘Sorry,’ Jess said. She turned towards the other three women and asked, ‘Have any of you seen a blonde girl wearing a pink dress? Has she been in here?’

  All she got was blank faces.

  ‘She’s French,’ Jess added as if this morsel of information might be the clincher.

  Two of the girls shook their heads while the other woman ignored her completely and continued with her hand-washing. Jess walked out of the toilets and made another careful circuit of the bar. She asked a waitress who was carrying a tray of drinks and then the guys behind the bar. They all remembered Sylvie but didn’t know where she’d gone. Where on earth was she? She couldn’t have just disappeared. But after another five minutes of searching, Jess came to the conclusion that she’d done exactly that.

  And then another thought struck her. She couldn’t see Joshua Keynes either. Her eyes rapidly scanned the room, her stomach starting to churn. God, this was bad news. What if he’d intercepted Sylvie on her way to the Ladies’, persuaded her to step outside and …

  Jess made a beeline for the exit, but when she found that the street was empty too, a thin shiver ran through her. She dug her phone out of her bag and tried calling Sylvie, but it went straight to voicemail. What now? She wasn’t the type to panic but she knew in her gut that something was wrong.

  Quickly Jess found Harry’s number and rang him. ‘Come on, come on,’ she urged, pressing the phone tightly to her ear. It was a while before he finally answered.

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘It’s me, it’s Jess,’ she said hurriedly. ‘I’m at Wilder’s. Look, I was here with Sylvie but she’s gone. I can’t find her. We were supposed to go for a drink and … she went to the loo and never came back. That was like fifteen minutes ago. I’ve searched everywhere.’

  ‘Have you checked the toilets?’

  ‘She’s not there.’

  ‘And have you tried calling her?’

  ‘No,’ Jess snapped back. ‘I haven’t bloody bothered. What do you think?’

  ‘All right, calm down. I hear you. I’ll give Lorna a bell and see if she’s called.’

  Jess lifted a hand to her mouth and bit down on her knuckles. She had a sick feeling, a rising sense of panic. ‘You need to do more than that. Something’s happened. I know it has. The guy has gone too, the guy she was … that Joshua. I can’t find him either. This is serious. Please Harry, I’m not messing about. You have to get over here. You have to come now.’

  ‘All right, all right. I’m on my way.’

  Jess hung up, staring wildly into the interior of the bar and then up and down the street again. Where was Sylvie? Where had she gone? Her heart was starting to hammer in her chest. As she paced the pavement, a cold trickle of rain slid under her collar and down the back of her neck. She shuddered at the feel of it. Dread was gathering inside her, bile rising in her throat. How could a simple honeytrap go so horribly wrong? And then it came to her with a sudden and horrifying certainty – tonight another kind of trap had been laid and Sylvie

  Durand had walked straight into it.

  COMING NEXT IN THE HONEYTRAP…

  When Harry gets the call from Jess telling him that Sylvie is missing, he’s not too concerned. He’s certain Jess is overreacting. It’s more likely that Sylvie had to make a hasty exit than she’s been targeted by her honeytrap mark. And he has other things to worry about – like Danny Street and Ellen Shaw.

  Still, better safe than sorry. But when he joins Jess at the bar, it soon becomes clear that something really is wrong. Sylvie is nowhere to be seen and Jess and Harry can’t get through to her. Is there something more sinister going on than a simple honeytrap gone wrong?

  Find out what happens next in The Honeytrap: Part 2, available to order now!