Read Online The Girl from the Sea: A gripping psychological thriller by Shalini Boland - Free Book Online Page A

was right. I did lose my memory. Who is this?’
    ‘Mia, it’s me. It’s your mum.’
    I don’t know what to think, what to feel. I don’t recognise her voice and I can’t picture her face.
    ‘Mia, are you there? Mia?’
    ‘I’m here,’ I say, my voice only a fraction above a whisper.
    ‘Can you remember who I am? Can you remember your sister?’
    ‘I’m sorry,’ I reply, ‘but I don’t remember anything or anyone. I don’t remember you.’ I feel a whooshing in my ears, my heart pumping hard. It’s as though I’m hearing myself from a long way away.
    ‘Oh my God, Mia. That’s terrible. What happened to you, sweetheart?’
    I don’t feel like I can have this conversation now. The thought of explaining everything that’s happened makes me feel exhausted. ‘Maybe we should meet up?’ I say. ‘I could come to you tomorrow? Piers said you live in London.’
    ‘What else did he say?’
    ‘Nothing much.’
    ‘Can you get up here okay? I can take the day off work tomorrow. I’ll get Cara to take the day off, too.’
    ‘Cara?’
    ‘Your sister. God, you really have lost your memory. Don’t worry, hon, we’ll take care of you. Just jump on a train and get yourself home. You know, there are probably some trains still running tonight.’
    ‘Tonight?’ The thought of travelling to London tonight is too much. ‘Not tonight,’ I say. ‘Tomorrow would be better.’
    ‘Well, alright. But make it first thing. I’m worried about you, Mia, sweetheart. I need to see you and make sure you’re okay.’
    ‘Thanks,’ I say, not quite able to call her “Mum” yet. She does sound really worried about me. Maybe when I see her and my sister I’ll remember some of my past. I hope so.
    ‘Cara was beside herself when she saw that post on Facebook. She thought it was some kind of hoax. Couldn’t believe it could be true. How did it happen? It said you were found on the beach. You weren’t attacked were you?’
    ‘No, no. I’m fine, honestly.’
    ‘How can you be fine when you’ve lost your memory?’
    ‘Don’t worry, I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow. Can you give me your address?’
    Her voice goes muffled again as she speaks to the person in the background, presumably my sister: ‘She doesn’t even know our address.’ And then she comes back on the line and gives me her address, phone number and directions of how to get to her house in South West London.
    When I finally end the call, my head is spinning. I’m not sure how to feel. I can’t stop my brain whirring, trying to picture the woman behind the voice on the phone. What does she look like? Surely I must have a photo of her somewhere. I glance around the apartment, but I can see no photos on display at all, which strikes me as odd. Not even of me and Piers. I’ll have to hunt some out. I must have family photos somewhere. I also realise I need to find out the train times.
    The phone rings again, making me jump out of my skin. Maybe it’s my mum calling me back. She must have forgotten to tell me something.
    ‘Hello?’
    ‘Is that Mia?’ A woman, but it’s not my mum. It’s a younger voice. Vaguely familiar.
    ‘Yes, this is Mia.’
    ‘It’s DS Emma Wright here, from CID.’
    ‘Oh, yes, hi.’ Nerves kick in. Why are the police calling me?
    ‘How’s your memory?’ she asks. ‘Any improvement?’
    I pause, deciding how much to tell her. ‘I actually did have one small memory,’ I eventually reply. ‘I had a dream about the rowing club. I just got an image of it, though. Nothing specific.’ I leave out the detail of the woman, like I have with everyone else, wondering if in this instance I should I tell her.
    ‘Well that’s good news,’ she says. ‘Hopefully, that’s the start of you getting all your memories back.’
    ‘Hope so.’
    ‘I’m just ringing with a progress report,’ she says. ‘Nothing to worry about, but I have a bit of news for you.’
    ‘Okay,’ I reply, curious.
    ‘We’d like you to know that