BooksBarbecue
Back Stalker Save as PDF
Chapters (66)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. 1
  4. 2
  5. 3
  6. 4
  7. 5
  8. 6
  9. 7
  10. 8
  11. 9
  12. 10
  13. 11
  14. 12
  15. 13
  16. 14
  17. 15
  18. 16
  19. 17
  20. 18
  21. 19
  22. 20
  23. 21
  24. 22
  25. 23
  26. 24
  27. 25
  28. 26
  29. 27
  30. 28
  31. 29
  32. 30
  33. 31
  34. 32
  35. 33
  36. 34
  37. 35
  38. 36
  39. 37
  40. 38
  41. 39
  42. 40
  43. 41
  44. 42
  45. 43
  46. 44
  47. 45
  48. 46
  49. 47
  50. 48
  51. 49
  52. 50
  53. 51
  54. 52
  55. 53
  56. 54
  57. 55
  58. 56
  59. 57
  60. 58
  61. 59
  62. EPILOGUE
  63. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  64. MORE FROM GEMMA ROGERS
  65. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  66. ABOUT BOLDWOOD BOOKS

‘Ian holds a conviction of ABH on his ex-girlfriend from 2009.’ Becker taps a brown file on the table. She slides a photo out and places it in front of me. A once pretty girl looks out at me with one eye, the other is bruised and swollen shut, just like mine. We could be twins. Her nose looks too big for her face and sits at a funny angle; blood crusted in her nostrils. Jesus, he was a vicious bastard, even at twenty-two.

‘You didn’t know?’ Hicks asks, and I sense his scepticism. His eyebrows so high they are clambering off his wrinkly forehead. ‘Do you think perhaps he deserved what happened to him?’ Hicks continues, his tone more urgent to the point of being aggressive. He is going for it. ‘Is that why you killed him, Eve?’

My mouth gapes and for a moment I’m speechless. Becker touches Hicks’s arm to reel him in but is shrugged off.

‘I object to these questions and my client will not answer them,’ Terry interjects. Finally, he’s woken up, but Hicks dismisses him, raising his palm like he’s directing traffic.

‘Did you think you were doing the world a favour? For all those women who’d been attacked, like you were last night and four months ago?’ He looks so smug that I almost lose it. We glare at each other, his lip is curled back in part snarl, part smirk.

‘If you felt like that, Eve, it would be understandable. He hurt you and we’re just trying to get to the truth.’ Becker speaks softly, breaking the loaded silence.

‘I am telling the truth.’

‘I think now is a good time to break for lunch.’ Becker stands and waits for Hicks to join her, which he does deliberately slowly, throwing me a pointed look before shuffling out of the room.

41

SATURDAY 20 JANUARY 2018

When Saturday came, I was a bag of nerves. I considered calling off the whole thing. I didn’t know if I could go through with it. Sitting down for dinner with my attacker would be hard enough, but what I had to do later, maybe it was asking too much?

The knot in my stomach prevented me from having any breakfast or lunch and even a quick two mile run did nothing to stave off my nerves. By the afternoon I was burnt out and had a long soak in the bath, closing my eyes to stave off the headache threatening to descend. Ben wasn’t home. I assumed he was at Amy’s, but I was glad he wasn’t around. I didn’t have to pretend I was fine when it was obvious I wasn’t. Baking in the steam, I jumped when a loud thud came from somewhere outside the bathroom door. Water sloshed over the side of the bath, forming a puddle on the linoleum.