RATING: GOOD
SPOILERS!!!
This was a very thrilling read, and the end was great.
My theory about Helen was not right. When Lara and Stella find Rebecca, Helen's friend, she tells them that they had a great time in Haiti. Helen enjoyed taking photographs, and then she saw one of the local women, Esther, being taken in a lorry by one of the charity workers, and she was never seen again. That happened with other people, and Helen suspected that there was something seedy, so she contacted Victoria, sending her photos. Rebecca doesn't know if Victoria did anything about it, but a couple of days later Rebecca was dead.
This is the story that Lara is sure Sandrine was investigating and got her killed. When she returns to London, she feels that the more people know about it, the safer she will be. So she decides to go and talk to her cousin, Charlie, and as she stands outside his place, she is shocked to see Charlie with Alicia, ALex's girlfriend.
Lara goes to meet Alex, and she tells him about what she has found out, but Alex has doubts about what Lara is telling him. Then she tells him about what she saw that morning, and she even has a photograph to prove. Alex is obviously upset, and their encounter ends in a sour note. After talking to Lara, Alex goes to see his girlfriend to break up with her, and in the end Alicia admits that she and Charlie have been together for a few months, but she says that one of the reasons she turned to someone else is the relationship that he and Lara have and excludes everybody else.
Through her aunt, Lara gets an invitation to an auction for the charity that Victoria Sachs runs, and she manages to talk to the woman. Lara is direct and tells her about what she knows and how Helen and Sandrine have died because they knew too much. Victoria does not welcome Lara accosting her, and she escapes as fast as she can.
When Lara returns to her houseboat, she finds that her home has been racksacked and the worst thing is when she finds her cat, Dingo, dead. AFraid she calls Ian Fox, her friend policeman, and he suggests she stay in a hotel. Lara wants to call Alex, but after their run-in, she feels she can't. So she calls Stefan, who is still in Amsterdam, but he tells her that he will go and see her at the hotel as soon as she can.
Alex is worried about Lara, especially as he discovers that Michael Sachs helped Stefan financially for some project. As Lara's phone goes to voicemail, he calls Stella, and they try to find Lara. They go to the Cache headquarters but there is nobody there. Stella then remembers that Stefan said that he lived nearby, and when they asked in a cafe, they discover that Stefan has been lying, and he and Sandrine were having an affair, and the afternoon before her death they were together.
Stefan has met Lara in her houseboat, and Lara tells him about her intention to keep investigating the case, and Stefan tries to tell her that she shouldn't do it. Then Stella and Alex appear, and they reveal what they have discovered. Stefan eventually confesses that he and Sandrine were together because Eduardo was always away. And then he admits that he betrayed her by sending Sachs everything from her files, but he never imagined that she would be killed. Before he goes, Stefan apologises and gives Lara a pen drive with the copies of everything that he sent Sachs.
When Alex and Lara are left alone, she breaks down and Alex comforts her. They apologise to each other, and Alex rightly tells her that they have evidence of the human trafficking, but they have no evidence to accuse Sachs of murdering Helen and Sandrine, and Lara can't deny that. They need to keep investigating. They are hungry and Alex volunteers to go for some takeaway food. While he is gone, Lara gets a call from an unknown number. It is Victoria, who tells her that they need to talk and she tells her to meet her in the building that is the last project of her husband.
That turns out to be a trap, and instead of finding Victoria, Lara finds Michael, and she finds herself trapped in a intelligent building. Michael says that they have to wait for Schmitt, who will kill her, and he admits to ordering the murders of Helen and Sandrine because they knew too much, and he also got Jonathon killed because he was blackmailing him. When they hear the lift, Mike expects to see Schmitt, but instead Victoria appears and she has CID Ian Fox with her, and she says that the whole conversation has been recorded by his intelligent building. Mike then is arrested.
The epilogue shows Lara, Alex and Stella celebrating the end of their story in the offices of the Chronicle. They will publish the two stories: the murders and the trafficking. When Charlie talks to Alex about Alicia, Charlie admits that at first they got drawn to each other for sex, but that turned into something more. Alex is understanding, but he uses the leverage he has on him to ask him to get the investigation department back, and Charlie agrees. When then Charlie asks Lara to be the head of the department, she refuses. She doesn't work for the newspaper full time, but go freelance. That doesn't mean that she will cut all ties with the newspaper, but she wants to do her thing.
When at the end of the chapter Lara returns to her houseboat, she finds a letter. And there is just one message: Your mother is dead. Your father isn't. We know that Lara's parents had a yacht accident and died when she was about ten, but their bodies were never recovered. This means that the mystery in the next book will be about Lara's father. So where has he been all this time if the note is genuine?
This was a great read, and I love the characters. My favourite one is Stella because I think she has a lot of potential and I love her freshness and determination.
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