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First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins 2016
Copyright © Cassandra O’Leary 2016
Cassandra O’Leary asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
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Ebook Edition © July 2016 ISBN: 9780008197025
Version 2016-06-10
For my husband, who has always supported my dreams and schemes, even when I was probably in La-La Land. And for my two beautiful little boys, who have shown me the world through fresh eyes and reminded me of the power of imagination.
Table of Contents
Mermaid Airlines Flight 180, Melbourne to London
Showtime! Sinead Kennealy sucked in a deep breath and squared her shoulders. Time to get it over and done with. The molly-coddled first-class passengers wouldn’t entertain themselves, apparently.
She sensed her colleagues Yuki and Deanna on either side of her usual position, centre front of the cabin. Yuki flicked her shiny black ponytail over her shoulder and flipped on the PA system. The airline’s theme song, a hackneyed rendition of the “Macarena”, blared from the plane’s speakers.
Hey! Mermaid Airlines.
Sinead’s heart sank like a stone dropped in a bucket of water even as she plastered on the airline’s trademark happy smile. Her jaw ached with the enforced perkiness, all day long. It was only breakfast time and she had a crick in her neck. A few more hours and they’d land in Dubai. She might have time for a massage at the hotel spa.
She shimmied forward in a practised and synchronised routine. The move she hated. The booby shake. A couple of mature men eagerly watched her from their premium seats with an over-excited gleam in their eyes.
One