Isabella's Heiress Read Online Free

rose off her arms and collided with her face. The distant sound of traffic and the subdued murmur of voices met her ears.
    A fire engine obscured the lorry’s cab as a long black van pulled up to the front. In the distance a police car stopped traffic. Turning around, Emma saw more police blocking off other entrances and junctions; the result was an eerie stillness as the officers milled around exchanging uneasy looks. Watching over all of this was the Tower of London, its ancient edifice standing guard over the new glass and metal temples to finance.
    Emma’s memory started to return as she took in her surroundings.
This is more like it.
“This is Tower Hill,” she said “I know this place. My office isn’t far from here.” She went to walk off but Father Eamon placed a hand on her shoulder.
    â€œâ€˜Tis your office no longer, Emma.”
    Emma turned and glared at him. “Let go!”
    â€œThis is for your own good, Emma. You could go to your office but no one would see you. You would be a stranger to all that you find.”
    â€œI don’t care, I want to go.”
    Father Eamon pointed towards the lorry. “Do you recognise the van that has just pulled up?”
    Emma looked at it. “It’s an undertakers van.”
    â€œIt is. You know why it is here, don’t you, Emma?”
    Emma felt herself deflate at his words and turned back to the lorry. She watched as two men, dressed in black suits, got out of the van and walked up to the police officers standing by the lorry’s front bumper. She stayed silent.
    Father Eamon sighed. “Follow me. There is something you must see.” He headed towards the lorry: Emma followed him but started to get a strange feeling in her stomach as they walked.
    At the front of the lorry, a police officer was bending down and leaning forward to remove a sheet.
    â€œBrace yourself, child.”
    The sheet came off and Emma saw her broken body lying in front of the wheels. A red and brown trail headed back under the lorry. Emma knew where it ended up.
    Emma felt the warmth of her tears as they landed on her cheeks. “No, no, no, this isn’t happening. That’s not me. It can’t be.”
    There was a collective groan around her as one of the undertakers walked away from the scene.
    Emma turned away, not wanting to see any more. In doing so she caught the sunlight bouncing off the van’s open back door. She found herself looking into a tinted window reflecting only daylight and sky. There was nothing in it to acknowledge her existence in that world. Fromsomewhere inside her, an anguished cry fought to get out. Emma realised that what she had taken to be a thin smile on Father Eamon’s face a short while earlier, had been a look of resignation. For the second time that day, a strong set of arms caught her as she fell.

Chapter Two
One Final Sunset
    Emma came round, to find herself lying on a wooden bench in a sunken garden surrounded by the smell of gardenias and roses. The Tower Hill Memorial, with its cladding of bronze plaques, had been a regular stop for Emma in her breaks from the drudgery of the office. Memories came back to her of lunch hours spent here, eating sandwiches bought from one of the local delis, choosing to escape to this minor oasis of greenery with its views over the Pool of London, rather than eat her lunch back at her desk.
    Now, Emma’s stomach was doing its best to pretend it wasn’t there and all she could do was stare at the ground. She tried to tell herself that this was some kind of waking dream but the rough feel of the bench and the sweet smell of the flowers proved otherwise.
    After a while she became aware of someone sitting to her left. Turning, she saw Father Eamon watching her. Above him storm clouds had reduced what little sunlight there had been to a distant memory. It felt to Emma like her hope was disappearing as fast as those final rays.
    â€œSo, is this