Page 38 of The House Swap

Tom was going to check in with Keira, even promising that he would call while he was with her and put her on the phone.

Before getting into bed later that night, she checked her message to Keira again. Still no double tick, but Tom was right. Poppy didn’t know what flight her friend had caught, and it was possible her battery may have died or she was without a signal.

She lay awake for a while, telling herself everything was okay. Keira was going to be fine and it was no big deal being here in Crete alone. It had originally been her plan to travel solo, so she would soon adjust to not having the company. Instead, she would focus on her work, continue to avoid social media and the whole Simon Daley fallout, catch up on some more reading and go for some long walks, exploring the island.

And she had dinner to look forward to with Jem on Friday.

Even though the question of how he had known where the villa was still played in the back of her mind, Keira leaving had changed things. Jem, Sue and Ian were the only people she knew here – well, apart from the maintenance man, Martin, and Elena the cleaner, though they didn’t really count as she’d only seen them once briefly.

There was going to be a logical explanation for how Jem had known, and she would ask him on Friday.

It was all going to work out.

Eventually, she drifted off to sleep, but she wasn’t out for long.

A loud crash pulled her sharply back towards consciousness, her eyes shooting open to the blackness of the bedroom. For a moment, she forgot where she was – but only briefly. As the noise registered, she froze.

It had come from within the villa.

Remembering she was here alone, her heart began to thump, her fingers tightly wrapping around the thin duvet that covered her. Had someone broken in?

She waited a few beats, now hearing only silence, trying to convince herself for a moment that she had imagined it. But that was wishful thinking. The noise had been real.

And she couldn’t just stay here in this room. She had to go investigate.

She needed a weapon. Just in case.

She looked around the room, realised there was nothing she could use. Except maybe the lamp beside the bed. It looked heavy.

With trembling fingers, she reached across and unplugged it, wrapping the cord around the sturdy base, then climbed out of bed, bare feet touching the cold floor.

Was she really going to do this?

Trying to keep her breathing steady, she crept towards the bedroom door and, with her free hand, pushed down the handle.

It creaked slightly and she froze again, the sound of her heart thudding in her ears as she waited, wondering if she had been heard.

Carefully, she pushed it all the way down, pulling the door open and peering into the dark hallway. Silence greeted her and it did nothing to ease her nerves.

God, if only Keira was here.

Even as the thought crossed her mind, another one quickly followed.

What if the noise was Keira? Had she come back?

Poppy wasn’t brave enough to call out, just in case she was wrong, but she did move faster towards the living area, grateful the marble floor masked the sound of her footsteps.

Her eyes were growing accustomed to the shadowy darkness, and she could make out the sofas and the dining table, and beyond those the kitchen.

No one appeared to be in the villa, but she needed to be sure. Plucking up courage, she reached out and flipped on the light.

Definitely no one there and nothing seemed to be disturbed, but as she edged closer to the kitchen, she saw the wine bottle that she had left on the counter was lying smashed on the floor, the shards of green glass scattered around a deep ruby-red puddle.

How the hell had that happened?

She moved with urgency then. Switching the lamp base for a butcher’s knife and checking the doors were all locked, that none of the windows were open or smashed.

Once she was sure everything was as it should be, she checked the other bedrooms and bathrooms, even looking in Keira’s wardrobe to be certain her things were still gone.