Free Angel Kiss by Laura Jane Cassidy Page B

kitchen suppliers.
    I texted to let her know we were enjoying a sing-song and that I’d be home in a while.
    Joe thought for a moment, then launched into –
    ‘ I’ll tell me Ma when I go home the boys won’t leave the girls alone …’
    Colin leaned over to me. ‘You’d beat Sarah anyway,’ he whispered. I doubted that very much, but I appreciated Colin’s remark nonetheless.
    ‘What do you get? If you win?’ I asked Sarah.
    ‘A trophy. And a spread in the paper. And the honour of being Miss Avarna, of course.’
    Colin was trying so hard not to laugh. He elbowed my side and I kicked his shoe in retaliation, hoping Sarah wouldn’t notice.
    ‘What do you have to do?’ I asked, stifling a giggle.
    ‘Well,’ she said, ‘there are three judges, and they ask you a few questions about yourself, and then a few random ones, about politics and human rights and all that stuff. Then there’s a talent section.’
    ‘Like in the Rose of Tralee? When they do a dance or read a poem or something?’
    ‘Yes. Exactly.’
    ‘What are you going to do?’ asked Colin.
    ‘Sing a song.’
    ‘Oh, very good. Which one?’
    ‘“When Irish Eyes Are Smiling”. They like when you pick a traditional one. My cousin Ailish was apparently winning lastyear until she did some sort of rap and it totally went over the judges’ heads. My sister won it before. She’s been giving me pointers.’
    ‘Can we talk about something other than the beauty contest?’ said Nick.
    ‘Nick, it’s so much more than a beauty contest,’ said Colin dramatically, although Sarah was completely oblivious to his sarcasm. Sometimes I considered the advantages of being that self-absorbed.
    The crowd got louder as everyone joined in the chorus.
    ‘ She is handsome, she is pretty,
    She is the belle of Belfast city.
    She is a-courtin’ one, two, three,
    Please won’t you tell me, who is she?’
    The atmosphere in the pub was brilliant. The drinking and the singing and the chatting continued beyond closing time. I didn’t want to leave. I was having the most fun I’d had in ages. Just being around Nick gave me a little shiver of excitement. I should have felt bad thinking this way when his girlfriend was sitting less than a metre away, but she was being so irritating that I found my guilt fading.
    ‘I’m going to get some crisps,’ I said. I’d been so excited at the prospect of being on Nick’s table quiz team that I hadn’t been able to eat much earlier.
    ‘Oh, will you get me some too?’ Colin asked.
    ‘Sure,’ I said, and made my way over to the bar.
    ‘Some of those questions were impossible, Joe,’ said Mary. Joe was standing behind the bar with his wife, Rita.
    ‘What year did Phil Lynott die?’ said Rita, flicking through Joe’s quiz sheets. ‘I should know that.’
    ‘1986,’ I said involuntarily. Thin Lizzy trivia was one of my specialities.
    ‘That was the year I got married,’ said Mary. ‘And the year Beth Cullen was murdered.’
    Murdered? This was too weird. Not only did I keep coming across her name, but she’d been murdered. The combination of the two was unsettling.
    ‘Is it that long ago?’ said Rita, collecting empty glasses from the counter.
    ‘Yes,’ said Joe. ‘Twenty-five years. Hard to believe, isn’t it? God rest her soul.’ He blessed himself and turned to me. ‘What can I get for you, Jacki?’
    ‘Er … J-just two packets of crisps, please, Joe,’ I stammered, and handed over some change. I made my way back to our table and I noticed there was a stool next to Colin.
    ‘Who was Beth Cullen?’ I asked him as we opened our crisps.
    ‘Jim and Lily Cullen’s daughter. She was best friends with Lydia too, actually. She was murdered in 1986 around Christmastime and her body was found a week later in the forest.’
    ‘Oh my God …’ I said as a chill crept up my back. ‘How old was she?’
    ‘She was twenty-two. They had a huge search party out looking for her from the very night she