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

‘So, we started looking into this missing girl and who she was,’ Hicks continued, ignoring the accusation. There was a definite hard smirk on his face now. ‘It seemed bizarre to have someone just completely confess to a bunch of murders no one was even looking into. We knew we had to step back and look at the facts only. Holly Edwards. You’re found next to her body, but you don’t have any blood on you, no signs of injury whatsoever. And we think she put up a fight, would that be right?’

He didn’t respond, seeing where this was all going.

They knew.

‘We spoke to our colleagues in Merseyside,’ Hicks said, elbows on the table between them, arms lowering and folded in front of him. Staring into his eyes. ‘Turns out, she’d been linked to a string of disappearances over the past week or so. Two other young women, both found dead.’

‘Both victims of mine—’

‘I didn’t ask a question,’ Hicks cut in, before he could say anything more. ‘You should know better than that. As I was saying, the Major Crimes Unit down there were informed of her having gone missing, only this morning. The events of the past week made them take it very seriously indeed. Another young girl going missing in their city.’

He put his head in his hands, wanting to curl up and disappear. Become invisible.

‘A third disappearance and now another body,’ Hicks said, and now his tone was softer somewhat. ‘They’re understandably upset that the body was found. Yet, with someone in custody, hopeful that this could all be sorted out. Especially when that person in custody is confessing to not just those three deaths, but a string of others.’

He could feel it coming now. The final nail. He was just waiting for it to happen. Unable to say anything to stop it.

He wondered if it was enough. If all of this was going to be sufficient to stop The Game.

‘Tell me, why did you do this? Why are you here? If you knew where Holly was, why didn’t you just tell someone, call it in?’

He couldn’t lift his head up. Couldn’t look them in the eyes and explain it all. He couldn’t. He wasn’t allowed.

He thought of her, of what would happen now.

There was no way of keeping her safe now.

‘We just want to help,’ Hicks said, his voice full of concern and pity. He hated that. ‘What happened?’

He wanted to tell them everything. Try and explain how he had ended up there. Tell them what he had discovered. About The Game.