Chapters (86)
- Title Page
- CONTENTS
- Love
- Before
- One
- ONE
- Two
- TWO
- Three
- THREE
- Four
- FOUR
- Five
- FIVE
- Six
- SIX
- Seven
- SEVEN
- Eight
- EIGHT
- Nine
- NINE
- Ten
- TEN
- Eleven
- ELEVEN
- After
- One
- ONE
- Two
- TWO
- Three
- THREE
- Four
- FOUR
- Five
- FIVE
- Six
- SIX
- Seven
- SEVEN
- Eight
- EIGHT
- Nine
- NINE
- Ten
- TEN
- Eleven
- ELEVEN
- Twelve
- TWELVE
- Thirteen
- THIRTEEN
- Fourteen
- FOURTEEN
- Fifteen
- FIFTEEN
- Sixteen
- SIXTEEN
- Seventeen
- SEVENTEEN
- Eighteen
- EIGHTEEN
- Nineteen
- NINETEEN
- Twenty
- TWENTY
- Twenty-One
- TWENTY-ONE
- Twenty-Two
- TWENTY-TWO
- Twenty-Three
- TWENTY-THREE
- Twenty-Four
- TWENTY-FOUR
- Twenty-Five
- TWENTY-FIVE
- Twenty-Six
- TWENTY-SIX
- Twenty-Seven
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- Twenty-Eight
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- Eleven Months Later
- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
- Copyright
‘Do you really want us to answer that?’ Deborah asks as she goes back to her pile of books.
Esen ignores her, tipping her head back against the cushion with a growl. ‘Then he did a runner. I had to chase him down Queens Road. This old dear was coming out of Sainsbury’s. Almost sent her flying.’
‘Let’s be careful around the elderly, Miss Budak.’ Deborah opens a book that’s by the till and begins leafing through it. ‘They’ll be seeing one of us soon enough.’
Esen laughs at that, the skin around her dark eyes crinkling. ‘Too true.’
‘Did you catch him?’ Dev asks, leaning against the counter.
‘Of course. Had to drag him down to the beach by the collar of his coat, though.’
‘Right,’ Deborah interrupts, holding up a hot-pink Post-it note. ‘Here you go.’
Dev takes it from her and looks at it. ‘What’ve we got?’
‘Overdose at the New Steine. You can take Miss Persaud, show her the ropes.’
I look up and Dev is blinking at me, looking as unconvinced as I feel. ‘What? Already? ’
Esen sits up then. ‘Can I go, too?’ She turns to me and grins. ‘This I need to see.’
‘Absolutely not.’ Deborah returns to her book with a wave of her hand.
‘Why not? Don’t you trust me?’
Deborah doesn’t look up. ‘Not even a little bit.’
I don’t get a chance to protest as Dev hustles me out of the bookshop and out on to the street. It’s still dark and will be for a while, I know, as the seagulls squeal furiously as though they’re trying to warn me about something. While Dev is zipping up her coat, I turn to look through the window of the bookshop. Deborah is behind the counter, flicking through a book, while Esen lies on the sofa, her boots resting on one arm and her head on the other, her cola-coloured curls spilling over the edge, the ends almost touching the floor.
‘You coming, Ash?’
I’m aware of Dev next to me then and slowly turn to face her.
‘We don’t have long,’ she tells me, thumbing down the street, her white bob shivering.
I guess if this really is my life now – if you can even call it that – I can’t avoid doing this for ever. So I follow, allowing myself to fall into step with her as we head towards North Street.
‘Don’t worry,’ Dev says as we turn left at the Wetherspoons. ‘You won’t have to do anything.’
I nod.
‘It’s an overdose. So she’s probably already gone.’
Dev shows me the Post-it note.
Kitty Lawrence
Overdose
New Steine
03:32
‘How will we know it’s her?’
Dev doesn’t look at me. ‘We’ll know.’