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Chapters (47)
  1. Title Page
  2. Contents
  3. Praise for In the Clearing
  4. Praise for Call Me Evie
  5. Dedication
  6. Prologue
  7. Part One: The Sociopath Test
  8. Chapter One
  9. Chapter Two
  10. Chapter Three
  11. Chapter Four
  12. Chapter Five
  13. Chapter Six
  14. Chapter Seven
  15. Chapter Eight
  16. Chapter Nine
  17. Chapter Ten
  18. Chapter Eleven
  19. Chapter Twelve
  20. Chapter Thirteen
  21. Part Two: Introspection
  22. Chapter Fourteen
  23. Chapter Fifteen
  24. Chapter Sixteen
  25. Chapter Seventeen
  26. Chapter Eighteen
  27. Chapter Nineteen
  28. Chapter Twenty
  29. Chapter Twenty-One
  30. Part Three: Retrospection
  31. Chapter Twenty-Two
  32. Chapter Twenty-Three
  33. Chapter Twenty-Four
  34. Chapter Twenty-Five
  35. Chapter Twenty-Six
  36. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  37. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  38. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  39. Chapter Thirty
  40. Chapter Thirty-One
  41. Chapter Thirty-Two
  42. Chapter Thirty-Three
  43. Now
  44. Chapter Thirty-Four
  45. Extract of The Last Guests
  46. Acknowledgements
  47. Copyright

I see someone. It looks just like him. He is wearing his hood up, a duffel bag slung over his shoulder. He’s rushing towards the road, from the entrance of the Sirius. He looks flustered. It’s him. And the police aren’t here yet. He’s in a rush. I can hear distant sirens. He has the scanner; he must have been listening. He knows they’re coming. Now I see him throw one hand in the air, waving at a passing cab. It doesn’t stop. He rushes across the road, weaving between the cars.

Then he is on the other side of the road, striding quickly, his head down and arms pumping. The sirens are coming closer, but they’re too late, the street is getting too busy already with cars and pedestrians. Anger boils inside me, making me forget for a moment about the trembling fatigue in my arms and legs. I climb out of the car and rush into the traffic. A horn blares. I make it to the middle.

Trapped there, I watch Cormac disappear down a side street. A momentary break in the cars, I bolt across. More horns but I make it up onto the curb and run the way he had gone. Turning down the side street, I hear a woman’s voice on a speaker. The next train to depart is the 9.05 City Line, stopping all stations to Flinders Street.

I rush towards the entrance and down the steps to the platform. My hand slides along the handrail. At the bottom of the steps I turn. He’s there. I’m frozen for a moment, just watching him, reliving all those conversations. The hours I spent trying to help him. He’s looking down at his phone while a dozen or so people on the platform all do the same. I find my eyes fixed on Cormac’s back. He’s probably organising a flight right now.

He has money, charm, all the means at his disposal to harass me and my family for the rest of his life. Even if the police caught him, he will find a way to get at me. It won’t stop. I glance back up towards the street. No police; they’re not going to get him. The train is coming. It will be stopping at the platform in just a few seconds. Then he could go anywhere, to the airport, to another city, to another apartment hidden away somewhere. If he gets on that train, he will disappear. I stop thinking about it. I step forward. There is only one thing to do.

Now

Now

Chapter Thirty-Four

THIRTY-FOUR