The Vanishing Girls by Callie Browning (read this if txt) 📕

the country, offering a bird's eye view of the country. At night, twinkling house lights spread across the island’s gently undulating hills like a smattering of fallen stars laid out on black satin, a romantic sight when seated on a windy hilltop with champagne and a loved one. But tonight, each the lights mocked Holden, signifying just one of the thousands of places where Eileen could be holed up with a man.

Holden's mind was restless as he drove across the two-lane highway, his elbow resting on the window as he tapped his fingers irritably on the steering wheel. Going home wasn't an option; surely he'd go mad as he lay in bed watching the shadows and trying not to imagine Eileen with someone else. Without realizing it, he had circled one roundabouts three times, driving back and forth as he tried to figure out where to go. Eventually, he clicked on the left indicator and headed to town. Clifford usually spent his Saturday evenings at a dingy little rum shop not too far from the funeral home. If Holden showed up, a raised eyebrow and some verbal jabs were certain, but so was a drunken oblivion that would help Holden to sleep for most of the next day.

The car's engine hummed as he drove through the quiet streets. Although the rum shop was just around the corner from Davis and Sons, he purposely took the long way to avoid passing the business. It would be like rubbing salt in the wound to pass the spot where they’d met, the place where he’d grown to love her. But there was a crucial misstep to his place since he’d have to pass Eileen’s new place of employment to reach the shop. He noticed Eileen's car parked outside Happy Home and his heart skipped a beat. Solace stole over him as he realized that blessedly, instead of being on a date Eileen was at work. No longer needing Clifford's company or alcohol, Holden briefly considered going home but decided against it. Instead of letting his nerves get the better of him, he’d try to talk to her tonight.

Unlike Davis and Sons that was fashioned after traditional merchant buildings, Happy Home was a long one-storey residential conversion with a hipped roof so deep that it almost doubled the building's height. A single light bloomed from one of the rooms at the rear of the building, a sure sign that Dorothy and Eileen were still at work.

Holden was just about to flick on his indicator when the lights on Eileen's car came on and to his surprise, she pulled onto the road, turning right instead of left. That's not the quickest way for her to get home, Holden thought. Something inside his stomach squirmed as he spun the wheel and kept a distance behind her as he followed.

One of the Toyota Crown's brake lights glowed red when it reached the intersection by the Constitution River, turning right onto the winding road and heading into the city. It bypassed the bus terminal and drove straight across the street, passing Trafalgar Square on the right and headed for the inner ledge of the murky careenage. The narrow arteries were hemmed in by tightly packed clusters of bond buildings. Many of them were hundreds of years old, strategically placed next to the basin as warehouses. Small fishing boats and shipping vessels bobbed on the water, the moon's reflection mirrored on its inky surface.

Holden felt an uncomfortable sensation course through him. The area was adjacent to the screw dock, the last of its kind in the world and, as such, wasn't a place that saw much activity after nightfall. The only signs of life were the faint strains of music coming from a tiny cafe on the waterfront that glowed like a beacon against the darkness of the careenage. Eileen's headlights dimmed and then went dark as the car turned off the narrow road between the bank of buildings, heading away from the cafe and toward the screw dock.

Switching off his motor, Holden parked and got out of the car to walk through the dark alleyways to see what on earth Eileen was up to. His was the only car on the tiny road and the wind whistled eerily as it barrelled between the tall warehouses. He got to the end of the road and realized that Eileen hadn't parked when she had turned off the road; not a single car was to be seen. Holden looked around, suddenly uneasy. Eileen didn't like the dark, so why on earth would she come to a place like this at such a late hour to wander?

He turned at the end of the row, his footsteps quickening before he finally broke into a light jog, peering between buildings as he ran and looked for Eileen.

He had reached the end of the row of buildings when he saw the rusty Toyota Crown with its broken rear lights and leaky roof coursing smoothly toward the careenage. Holden stopped short, his mouth agape. The car gathered momentum, the rubber of its spinning wheels squeaking as it made its way to the edge. For a moment, it tottered on the edge like a thing intent on defying gravity, rocking once, twice like a see-saw with two small children on either half.

Then finally, it gave in to gravity’s demands, tipped further forward and with a gut-wrenching splash, fell into the murky water.

Chapter 31

Sink or Swim

Holden stood rooted to the spot. He knew the car had mechanical issues; had the slack handbrake made it roll away after Eileen parked? But the answer to his question became apparent when he saw none other than Dorothy Greaves emerge from the shadows. She didn't seem to notice him as she hustled in his direction since Holden was hidden in the shadows of the building. But her nervous gait as she kept glancing back toward the water told Holden that something was wrong. It wasn't the urgent stride of someone