Listen

"Listen," she said, one manicured hand on her hip, the other gesturing at each of the ladies in turn. "I'm not saying it's true, and it's definitely not coming from me, but I've heard from a few of my sources that he's a bit of a weirdo. It’s not new information. People have been talking about him for years."

They hung on every word that followed, eyes widening with each snippet of juicy gossip. Emily let out a little gasp on hearing the final sentence and quickly retrieved the chain handle of her handbag from the back of the dining chair. 

"I really don't think we should be speculating about all of this Amanda," she advised, scooping up her coat and making for Amanda's front door. "I came over because I thought we were making a plan to find our friend, not spread rumours about her husband or the strange things he may or may not have done."

"Don't run off!" called Danielle as she hurried across the terracotta tiles in the entrance hall. "Emily come back, we'll stop talking about Adam."

Karen, always the sensible one, came up behind her as she reached for the door handle. 

"We're all upset, Em. You know Amanda can't help herself when it comes to gossip. Come back in and we'll start organising what we're going to do now."

Juliet had been missing for eight days by this point. 

The ladies had turned up for their usual Friday happy hour drinks and were surprised that Juliet, usually the first one at Prego and the most dependable of the group, didn't make an appearance all evening. Karen had sent her a message. And then another. And then tried calling her mobile. 

When nobody heard from Juliet over the weekend, Amanda had turned up at her house. She'd wondered if she was sick or snowed under, or maybe upset with one of the ladies. But when she got to the house, Amanda pressed the gate buzzer for a good ten minutes with no response. 

Emily’s husband, Michael, had been golfing with Juliet’s husband, Adam, a couple of times over the spring. So Emily had asked Michael for Adam’s number and called him on Monday evening. She’d left a quick, breezy message and requested he call her back at his earliest convenience, careful not to sound too insistent. Maybe he’d whisked Juliet off for a surprise weekend away, she suggested to Michael. Maybe they both had the flu and were tucked up in bed together, holding clammy hands. 

By Wednesday, everyone was worried, and Amanda had called them all up to her house to work out a plan of action that afternoon. Amanda’s had always been the party house. The big sweeping terrace leading out to the fire pit, the open plan kitchen with counter space for several icy coolers of wine. It seemed strange to be having this conversation here, where they had shared so many celebrations. 

Emily returned to the table, choosing this time to sit next to Danielle, where she was closer to the door should she decide to leave again. Danielle reached over and gave her hand a little squeeze. 

“Right then,” said Karen, following Emily back into the room. “Let’s stop all this gossipping and work out what we’re going to do next.” She pulled a notepad and pen out of her soft leather briefcase and started writing. “It’s the lawyer in me,” she shrugged, as everyone gave her an encouraging smile. “I have to write everything down or I’ll spontaneously combust.”

“Well,” began Emily, a little nervous to speak up after her outburst. “I really think we should go back to the house and make sure there’s nobody there. I know you said you rang the buzzer for ages Amanda, but maybe they’ve been away or...I don’t know. I think we need to be absolutely certain this isn’t some big misunderstanding before we do anything more serious.”

“Like go to the police.” 

Danielle’s statement hung in the air between them all. She did tend to be a bit on the dramatic side, but nobody was shutting her down now. 

“Let’s cross that bridge when we come to it,” said Karen softly. “If we come to it.”

“So how about Karen and Emily go to Juliet’s this time then. Emily, you’re always round there lately. Maybe you’ll notice something I didn’t when I went on Sunday.” Amanda was used to taking control of the situation. It was just what they needed to pull the conversation away from the police. 

“Erm right, sure. I mean I can go by myself if there are other things for everyone else to be getting on with, it’s not a problem.”

“Listen,” came Amanda’s commanding voice. “I really think it’s best that we don’t go poking around on our own at the moment. We don’t know what’s happened to Juliet and it’s always safer to stick together so let’s just go with that for now.” Decision made.

When Karen and Emily pulled up to Juliet’s house just after 6pm, the gate was open. They exchanged a glance that was at first relief, followed by concern when they noticed that the front door to the large, double-fronted building was also slightly ajar. Juliet’s white Tesla was parked in its usual spot in front of the garage, just where Amanda had told them she’d seen it on Sunday. 

Karen parked her Range Rover next to it and they made their way over the gravel to the entrance porch. 

“Hello?” Karen shouted. “Juliet, it’s us, are you home?” 

Emily could hear Karen’s voice echoing around the entrance hall. The sun was setting, casting long shadows across the floor. This didn’t feel right.

“What should we do?” Karen whispered to Emily. 

“Let’s make sure they’re not in the garden or something silly. Maybe they just can’t hear us.”

The two women made their way through the hall towards a patch of fading light at the back of the house, their heels sharp against the wooden floor. As they passed each room, Karen called out.

“Juliet, Adam, hello?”

There was no response.

Suddenly, there was a whoosh and a yelp and Emily heard something hard hit the floor behind her. It was dark and disorientating and someone was moving around quickly. And then it all stopped. The light flicked on, startling bright above her, revealing Karen in a crumpled heap and Adam standing over her. Karen tried to reach a hand out to Emily, but Adam was quick to pin her down. 

Emily moved towards them, staring straight into Karen’s terrified eyes. “It’s really Amanda’s fault that you’re even here,” she said calmly. “If I’d come by myself this would all be over, but she had to insist we all stick together. And now you’re going to have to disappear, just like Juliet.”

“This wasn’t part of our plan,” snarled Adam. 

“New plan, darling,” Emily replied. “Now, listen.”