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Back Cut to the Bone Save as PDF
Chapters (71)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise for Cut to the Bone
  3. About the Author
  4. Also by Roz Watkins
  5. Note to Readers
  6. Dedication
  7. 1
  8. 2
  9. 3
  10. 4
  11. 5
  12. 6
  13. 7
  14. 8
  15. 9
  16. 10
  17. 11
  18. 12
  19. 13
  20. 14
  21. 15
  22. 16
  23. 17
  24. 18
  25. 19
  26. 20
  27. 21
  28. 22
  29. 23
  30. 24
  31. 25
  32. 26
  33. 27
  34. 28
  35. 29
  36. 30
  37. 31
  38. 32
  39. 33
  40. 34
  41. 35
  42. 36
  43. 37
  44. 38
  45. 39
  46. 40
  47. 41
  48. 42
  49. 43
  50. 44
  51. 45
  52. 46
  53. 47
  54. 48
  55. 49
  56. 50
  57. 51
  58. 52
  59. 53
  60. 54
  61. 55
  62. 56
  63. 57
  64. 58
  65. 59
  66. Extract
  67. Prologue
  68. Chapter 1
  69. Author’s note
  70. Acknowledgements
  71. About the Publisher

‘She does indeed. Anyway, we need to find this bag. We don’t know if this Mick bloke’s telling the truth. What his agenda might be. He’s not been Mr Honesty and Integrity so far.’ I grabbed a hole-punch that was sitting on my desk and punched a few random holes in a sheet of paper.

‘Now who’s being annoying?’ Jai said.

I punched a few more holes, then shoved the hole-punch away. ‘It’s bad enough that she’s most likely dead, but if Gary Finchley fed her to pigs and chucked her hair in with the toxic waste … It’s awful. And imagine if he did that knowing she was his daughter.’

‘Horrific. Although if he’d been relying on TV tropes for pig-info, he’d have pulled her teeth out as well as shaving off her hair, so it could be worse.’

‘Bloody hell, Jai, all right.’

‘Sorry, sorry. It’s my way of dealing with it. Won’t this window go any wider?’ Jai stopped jiggling his knee and started fiddling with the window instead.

‘No. It’s buggered. Just leave it. So, if Gary Finchley killed her and put her hair and clothes in with the waste, are we saying he thought nobody would look at it? Or he had a deal with Mick to dispose of it and Mick botched it?’

‘Maybe the deal was to dispose of it,’ Jai said, ‘but when Mick looked inside, he freaked out. Maybe he hadn’t realised what he was getting into.’

My phone buzzed. A message from Hannah: I’ve got something to show you. Will you be in Gritton later? x.

What was she up to? But I was planning to go up to Gritton and could afford a half hour coffee. I texted back. OK. 6pm in Gritton tea room? x

A smiley emoji pinged back.

My internal phone rang. I snatched it up. ‘Yes?’

‘They’ve found a body.’

26

Bex – August 1999

The trees were dark around the clearing, the evening humid, preparing for another storm. The fire blazed yellow and orange in the centre of their circle, making the air electric and dangerous. It was Bex’s last night in Gritton.

The boys were there, doing boy things. Drinking beer, talking without saying anything, playing with the fire, eyeing up the girls. Gary’s hair was golden in the firelight, his eyes bright, his jeans singed where he’d let ash fall on them. He poked a stick into the fire and the flames shot towards his face. He didn’t move away.

Bex took a swig of beer and allowed herself to admit it. There was something about Gary. Lucas was all square-jawed magazine looks, and Daniel was good-looking too, with his chiselled androgynous face, but she was weirded out by him after seeing the photo of herself in his room. No, it was Gary she was drawn to.