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Back The Dead Line Save as PDF
Chapters (87)
  1. Cover
  2. By the Same Author
  3. Dedication Page
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  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. 35
  39. 36
  40. 37
  41. 38
  42. 39
  43. 40
  44. 41
  45. 42
  46. 43
  47. 44
  48. 45
  49. 46
  50. 47
  51. 48
  52. 49
  53. 50
  54. 51
  55. 52
  56. 53
  57. 54
  58. 55
  59. 56
  60. 57
  61. 58
  62. 59
  63. 60
  64. 61
  65. 62
  66. 63
  67. 64
  68. 65
  69. 66
  70. 67
  71. 68
  72. 69
  73. 70
  74. 71
  75. 72
  76. 73
  77. 74
  78. 75
  79. 76
  80. 77
  81. 78
  82. 79
  83. 80
  84. 81
  85. Acknowledgements
  86. Also Available by Holly Watt
  87. The Hunt and the Kill

A car horn blared from the bridge. The Shard was knifing the sky in the distance, glistening layers of apartments and hotel rooms and money.

‘What about the Rohingya women?’ Casey sprang in front of him. ‘We can’t leave them out there, just being used as incubators.’

‘But what gives you the right to get involved in all this, Casey?’ Ed tried to step past her. ‘What gives you the right to play god with these people’s lives?’

Thousands of readers, a strange sort of democracy.

‘Nothing.’ She blocked his path again. ‘But it’s the right thing to do, Ed. Surely you can see that?’

‘The right thing to do?’ Ed stared at her in disbelief. ‘How can you possibly judge what is or isn’t the right thing to do? You, of all people?’

Casey flinched away.

‘Don’t you remember, Casey?’ Ed scrubbed at his eyes. ‘Don’t you remember walking up that hill towards Salama?’

His voice was rising. A couple walking along the river with a pram turned towards them, eyes sharply interested.

‘Of course I remember,’ Casey tried to hush him.

‘How was that the right thing to do?’ But his voice was quieter. ‘How . . . We could have done something, and we didn’t.’

‘You know we couldn’t do anything else out there.’ Casey’s words sounded meagre, even to her. ‘They would have killed us, without blinking. We came back, and we wrote about it, and we stopped it all.’

‘As far as you know.’

Her eyes dropped to the pavement. ‘It was all we could do.’

‘Was it?’

‘These are young girls,’ said Casey. ‘Children. You’ll regret turning a blind eye, Ed. I know you will.’

She saw him flinch. His shoulders tensed as he straightened up. ‘Maybe.’

‘This is different.’ She tried to soften. ‘We can make things better, this time.’

‘Casey.’ Ed looked exhausted, all of a sudden. ‘It doesn’t work like that.’

He pushed past her, faster than she could react. And she could only watch him walk away down the river, back straight, long strides, leaving her far behind.

27

27

Casey stamped into the office.

‘Not’ – Miranda looked up – ‘going well then?’

‘No.’ Casey threw herself at her chair. ‘Disastrous, if you want my professional opinion.’

‘I wonder if it would work, telling him how you feel.’ Miranda contemplated her keyboard, her face all innocence. ‘Imagine the novelty.’

‘Stop it. Where’s Hessa?’

‘Sandwich.’

‘I’m not going to tell him,’ Casey scowled at Miranda, ‘just to get him out to Bangladesh.’

‘Why not?’ said Miranda. I would, she didn’t say. She pushed some notes towards Casey. ‘I’ve been doing more research about surrogacy. Did you know one Japanese guy fathered thirteen children with surrogates in Thailand? He was only twenty-four himself. That was on top of four more children in Japan and two in Cambodia. Apparently he wanted a thousand children in total.’

‘Did anyone stop him?’