Beth stays silent, so Kat looks away, then resumes her task. She can sense Beth staring at her, those chocolate brown eyes leaving a warm glow on the back of Kat’s neck as she scrubs the worktop, erasing its imperfections. Seconds go past, maybe even a minute, before Beth finally speaks. ‘I did something a couple of weeks ago, got involved in someone else’s mess. You probably know about it; everyone does.’ Kat looks up at Beth, but she’s staring into space. ‘It felt like the right decision at the time,’ she continues. ‘But I regret it now. Too many repercussions.’

She must be talking about stopping for that squatter who overdosed. But what repercussions is she talking about? And is the man Kat met outside Beth’s house one of them? She wonders if she should tell Beth that she saw him, whether that would help, or hinder the progress she’s making. ‘What kind of repercussions?’ she asks.

‘Police in my house. My so-called friend spreading all the sordid details on the internet. A man who wants to hurt me.’

Kat’s heart lurches inside her chest. ‘Who wants to hurt you?’ she stutters.

‘He’s called Mark apparently.’ Beth is so quiet, it’s like she’s breathing the words. ‘He was there, that night, inside the old Delphine’s that he and his mate had turned into a squat. And now he’s found out where I live. He put a threatening note through my door.’

So that’s why he was loitering outside Beth’s house. Kat’s stomach flips with unease at the thought of him – an unpredictable kid – hassling her childhood friend. ‘Why would he do that?’

‘I don’t know. He’s got this crazy idea.’ It’s like Beth is talking to herself now. ‘He slept through the whole thing; the detective said so. But for some reason, he’s decided that the man dying is my fault.’ Beth falls silent and Kat listens to the hum of the fridge. ‘I sent the police away today,’ Beth finally continues. ‘They can’t help me. I just want it over, forgotten.’

Kat looks at her. The raspberry red lips and glazed eyes. Slumped shoulders and shaking hands. ‘Do you know where he lives, this Mark person?’

‘Of no fixed abode.’ Beth elongates each word.

‘But around here, you think?’ Kat pushes. She needs to do something, stop him threatening Beth.

Beth sighs. ‘The police moved him on from the squat, secured the whole place, so maybe he’s sleeping on the common … I don’t know.’

Kat thinks about her walk to Beth’s. The shadow moving in the window of the old Delphine’s; it’s not secure anymore. I do, she thinks. I know where he is now.

April 2003

April 2003

Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Katherine