Lost (48 page)

Kissing Daj on the forehead, I take my coat and walk down the hard smooth corridor toward the entrance of Vil awood Lodge. In the foyer there is a public phone that takes plastic. Committed to memory I have the numbers for Claire and Michael. Some things you never forget.

The receiver feels cold against my neck as I punch the buttons and listen to the ringing. There have been many lost children in my life. I may not be able to bring them al back but I have to try.

Also by Michael Robotham

SUSPECT

PUBLISHED BY DOUBLEDAY

a division of Random House, Inc.

DOUBLEDAY and the portrayal of an anchor with a dolphin are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

First published in the United Kingdom by Little, Brown, a division of Time Warner Book Group, UK.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Robotham, Michael, 1960–

Lost : a novel / Michael Robotham.—1st ed.

p. cm.

1. Police—England—London—Fiction. 2. Boys—Crimes against—Fiction. 3. Missing children—Fiction. 4. Recovered memory—Fiction. 5. London (England)—Fiction. 6. Amnesia—Fiction. I. Title.

PR6118.O26L67 2005

813'.6—dc22 2005045568

Copyright © 2006 by Michael Robotham

All Rights Reserved

eISBN: 978-0-385-51775-1

v3.0