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Back The Bad Place Save as PDF
Chapters (72)
  1. Cover
  2. THE BAD PLACE
  3. Contents
  4. Copyright
  5. Dedication
  6. Epigraph
  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. 60
  67. 61
  68. 62
  69. 63
  70. Acknowledgements
  71. About the author
  72. An Invitation from the Publisher

Karin was about to speak but Sasha gave an imperceptible shake of her head, let me do it.

‘Karin told me he was asking questions about you, about what happened at the Bad Place.’

‘Why can’t he? Everyone wants to know about that, like, all the time.’

‘There’s no reason he can’t, but a girl has gone missing, taken in front of you, Lydia, and now one of Karin’s pupils has been abducted in front of her, and Simon is badly injured. It’s my job to speak to as many people as possible so I can tick them off my to-do list. I’d just like to have a quick chat with Matt to rule him out of any involvement.’

‘He’s not involved, yeah,’ Lydia insisted. ‘Because he loves me, he told me so.’

‘Of course he does.’ Sasha nodded encouragingly. ‘So let us all put our minds at rest.’

‘Foster,’ said Lydia. ‘His name is Matt Foster.’

‘Do you have a number for him?’

‘He’s got nothing to do with it.’ Lydia was rocking harder. ‘You’ve got it all wrong. If you speak to him he won’t want to be with me no more, he’ll leave me.’

‘Why would he do that?’

‘For bringing him into the whole thing. He don’t like the police.’ Lydia took a cheap mobile from her parka pocket, rubbing her thumb along its worn plastic casing as she considered whether to give Sasha the number. ‘I’m meeting him later on the seafront. I can ask if he wants to speak to you, if you want.’

‘Why don’t we come with you and I can speak to him, then we’ll be able to leave him alone, how does that sound?’

Lydia reared away. ‘Why would you want to do that?’

‘To save time. I’ll have a brief chat and then I can eliminate him from our enquiries.’

Lydia blinked. ‘Eliminate him?’

Sasha smiled. ‘Figure of speech.’

‘I’ll ask him,’ said Lydia, and began to punch in a number on her phone. ‘See if he’s happy about that, yeah?’

Sasha placed her hand gently on Lydia’s. ‘There’s no need to disturb him, I’ll just come along, have a quick chat with Matt and then go.’

30

They stood waiting beside one of the food concessions on Marine Parade. The street was filled with tourists enjoying sea and sun after a blow-out lunch, families heading to Adventure Island, or to catch the train to take them along the pier. Sasha sipped on a bitter coffee, waiting for the man called Matt Foster to emerge from the crowd.

‘He should be here by now.’ Lydia frantically searched the crowd, wiping the sweat off her forehead with the sleeve of her parka. ‘He said to meet by this van, but he must have changed his mind, yeah, he don’t love me no more.’