BooksBarbecue
Back The Game
Chapters (68)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. NOW
  4. One
  5. BEFORE
  6. Two
  7. Three
  8. Four
  9. Five
  10. Six
  11. Seven
  12. Eight
  13. Nine
  14. Ten
  15. Eleven
  16. Twelve
  17. Thirteen
  18. Fourteen
  19. Fifteen
  20. Sixteen
  21. Seventeen
  22. Eighteen
  23. Nineteen
  24. Twenty
  25. NOW
  26. Twenty-One
  27. BEFORE
  28. Twenty-Two
  29. Twenty-Three
  30. Twenty-Four
  31. Twenty-Five
  32. Twenty-Six
  33. Twenty-Seven
  34. Twenty-Eight
  35. Twenty-Nine
  36. Thirty
  37. Thirty-One
  38. Thirty-Two
  39. Thirty-three
  40. Thirty-Four
  41. Thirty-Five
  42. Thirty-Six
  43. Thirty-Seven
  44. Thirty-Eight
  45. NOW
  46. Thirty-Nine
  47. BEFORE
  48. Forty
  49. Forty-One
  50. Forty-Two
  51. Forty-three
  52. Forty-Four
  53. Forty-Five
  54. Forty-Six
  55. Forty-Seven
  56. Forty-Eight
  57. Forty-Nine
  58. Fifty
  59. Fifty-One
  60. NOW
  61. Fifty-Two
  62. Fifty-Three
  63. Fifty-Four
  64. Fifty-Five
  65. AFTER
  66. Fifty-Six
  67. Acknowledgements
  68. About the Author

‘There’s absolutely nothing in anything she’s written down or online about her uncle,’ Mark said, unable to stop himself. He wanted to take the letter Emily had written before her death and thrust it in her face. Thankfully, his body didn’t let him. ‘It’s all about the people from her life, yet only mentions him in a positive way. Look, she went after people online, got her revenge and didn’t seem to have a problem doing that, so if her uncle was abusing her, why wouldn’t she mention it in a hidden note? Charlie could be lying. Or, if Rich had been spending more time with Emily, maybe it’s because he was trying to help her? Doesn’t it make sense that if he’d done something to her, she’d go after him? Or at least leave something behind saying so? That’s before we get into the whole blood in one place, body in another, with some random other girl at the bottom of a building, who was known to be doing certain acts in public that Emily was doing as well.’

‘I agree, it’s starting to come together in a certain way, but that doesn’t mean I can ignore what’s right in front of us. This could just be a distraction, an attempt to make us do what you’re trying to do right now. Waste time instead of concentrating on the one man who has the capacity to do this.’

Mark could see himself losing an argument he didn’t even want to have. Still, he couldn’t let it go. There was more to this than just coincidence and an abusive family member. He could feel it. He just couldn’t voice it. Not without making himself look out of his depth.

‘Just keep an open mind, that’s all I’m saying,’ Mark said eventually, pleased to hear his tone had calmed somewhat. ‘I don’t think this feels right at all. If we were to miss something because we spent all our time on the wrong man, that’d be wrong too.’

DI Bennett fixed him with a stare, but he could see by the way her shoulders dropped a little that she’d heard him.

‘What do you think, Cav?’ DI Bennett said, turning to the DS standing in the doorway now. ‘Is Mark right?’

‘I think he knows this case better than all of us right now. If Mark thinks there’s more to it than just the uncle, I reckon it’s on us to listen to him.’

Mark could feel his eyebrows raise in surprise, but didn’t say anything, and certainly didn’t look at DS Cavanagh.