BooksBarbecue
Back One Year Later
Chapters (49)
  1. PROLOGUE
  2. PART I
  3. 1
  4. 2
  5. 3
  6. 4
  7. PART II
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. 13
  17. 14
  18. 15
  19. 16
  20. 17
  21. 18
  22. 19
  23. 20
  24. 21
  25. 22
  26. 23
  27. 24
  28. 25
  29. 26
  30. 27
  31. 28
  32. 29
  33. 30
  34. 31
  35. 32
  36. 33
  37. 34
  38. PART III
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. PART IV
  45. 40
  46. 41
  47. EPILOGUEAMY
  48. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  49. BOOK CLUB QUESTIONS

They’re dark, grainy and there’s a certain beauty in the strips of light and shade between doorways and walls. Chloe is in all of them, but as a distant and indistinct shape. Sometimes she’s a silhouette, and in others her bare skin is the only glimmer of brightness in a dreamy, underwater darkness. The second-to-last photograph takes me a while to decipher: it’s all curved lines, pale gold and white, urban-grey and black. And then I realize. It’s Chloe’s back. She’s naked to the waist, the sheets pushed down and draped around her hips. She’s lying in bed and the picture has been taken from outside her bedroom window.

Who the hell took these photos? Bethany? Joe? Chloe herself? I’ve noticed her taking the occasional photo of herself using a selfie-stick and a timer. I swipe through to the last one. It’s of her face; it’s so close, though, she’s out of focus and looks like an abstract painting. There’s a trace of a smile on her lips. Did she know whoever took this picture – all these pictures – intimately? Or was she completely unaware that someone was stalking her?

I snap the iPad shut.

15 AUGUST, ITALY

27

NICK

Matt is hovering in the kitchen when I get up and he greets me like a long-lost friend. It’s not like I’m up really late or anything, but I was woken shortly after I’d gone to bed by Bethany and Joe having an argument outside. Bethany isn’t good at selfcensorship, so she was pretty loud. I couldn’t hear Joe’s replies clearly. I put earplugs in, but I still couldn’t get back to sleep. It’s good in one way, though, because it probably means it must have been Bethany, and not Chloe, I overheard having sex with Joe earlier in the week. If my sister has started sleeping with him and now he’s heading home – maybe back to his girlfriend – that would make her annoyed. You don’t yell like that at a personal trainer you’re paying by the hour. But I definitely should have taken Bethany up on her offer of sleeping pills. At least Dad’s stopped wandering around at night since she’s been giving them to him.

‘Mate,’ says Matt, pouring me a coffee, ‘can I ask you a favour?’

‘Um, yeah,’ I say, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. I have a queasy feeling as I remember what day it is. I should tell him about those photos on Chloe’s iPad. He’ll go ballistic, though. Maybe I ought to have a word with her first…

‘Joe’s left – he’s on his way back to Bristol.’ Matt interrupts my train of thought. ‘Bethany isn’t up, not that she’s speaking to me any more. Luca isn’t here – no idea where he is.’

‘Probably out for a run.’