Lost Lives (Emily Swanson Mystery Thriller Series Book 1) by Malcolm Richards Page A

about your colleagues?”
    Rosa hesitated, shook her head. “It’s complicated.”
    “Why?”
    “Because Alina’s not the first person to disappear.”
    Emily thought back to what Rosa had said earlier. Something’s not right at Ever After .
    “There have been patients,” the young woman’s voice dropped to a whisper as she wrapped her arms around her ribcage, as if protecting herself from an invisible attack. “Just a few, but all with the same background—self-referred, no friends or family to speak of. The kind with money, but who are scared of dying alone. Anyway, these patients, they’ve checked in, and within a day or two, maybe three ... they’ve gone.”
    “What do you mean? They died?”
    “I mean, they’ve gone . Disappeared. In the middle of the night, as if they changed their minds and left without telling anyone.”
    “How many exactly?”
    “This year? Three.”
    Emily thought about it. “Maybe they did change their minds and leave.”
    “And walk off into the middle of the night? These people were sick. They were dying, with weeks to live. Besides they’d have to get past the staff without being seen. No one on duty the nights they disappeared reported seeing anything suspicious. They’d just vanished from their rooms, like in those alien abduction movies. The nurses were freaked out but the only explanation anyone could come up with was that somehow those patients had found a way out and gone off to die who knows where.”
    Emily thought back to her findings from the missing persons website—all those unidentified bodies locked away in drawers like unsorted papers in a filing cabinet.
    “I know I sound paranoid,” Rosa said, leaning closer. “Maybe I am. But after the last patient disappeared, I checked the rota to see who had been on duty that night, and when I saw who it was, I checked the nights the other patients vanished. The nurses were different each time—we have a bank who work on rotation—but one person’s name came up every time. Someone who wasn’t a nurse.”
    Emily’s stomach somersaulted. “Karl Henry.”
    “Usually we keep cleaning and maintenance to daytimes, but sometimes there’s a need to carry out certain duties at night. Karl Henry was on site each time a patient disappeared.”
    “And now his wife is missing.”
    “There’s more,” Rosa said. She opened her wallet and fished out a card, placing it in front of Emily. “That journalist, she told me there were people working at Ever After who were there for their own personal gain, that I should be careful of who I trust.”
    Emily examined the business card in front of her. The journalist’s name was Reina Tammerworth. There was a mobile phone number and email address, and the URL for a website that didn’t sound much like the local news: www.theunsavourytruth.com
    “Do you think she meant Karl?” Emily asked.
    “I don’t know. She told me to call if Alina showed up. When Nurse Bates read out that letter, I called her the same day. It went straight to voicemail. I tried a few times, left messages. I didn’t hear from her again. Something’s wrong, I know it. That’s why I came here today. I thought you could help.”
    “Why haven’t you gone to the police?”
    “And tell them what? I have my boy to think of. I need to keep him safe.”
    Emily watched the girl stand up. Her dark complexion had grown pale. Her fingers trembled as she fastened the buttons of her coat.
    “Rosa, what is happening at Ever After?”
    “I don’t know,” she replied. “But I’m scared. Maybe if you can find that journalist she’ll be able to help you. But Emily?”
    “Yes?”
    “Please, don’t tell anyone I was here.”
    And with that, Rosa was gone, dashing through the door, disappearing in a swirl of ice and snow, her red coat fading like a flickering flame.
    Emily sat in the booth, unmoving, her mind racing. She picked up the card Rosa had given her, and let out an unsteady breath.
    Rosa’s story was