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

Instead, he continued to sit there, his head buried in his arms, and waited for the inevitable to happen. It had never been possible, this. To just be charged and end it all. That had been certain from the start. He thought he’d been stopping it all, but they were going to believe he was making it all up.

Or worse.

DI Hicks cleared his throat, waiting for him to answer. When it became clear that he wasn’t prepared to, he sighed loudly then finally spoke.

‘We know who you really are.’

BEFORE

Forty

PLAYER ONE

Her mum finally let her escape an hour or so after they arrived home. Left her in her bedroom alone, while she cried on the phone to Holly’s dad about how she didn’t know what was wrong with their daughter.

When she’d arrived at the police station, Holly had quickly realised that she didn’t have a clue what to do next. In that sense, she supposed there was no real plan. She was being pulled into something that she’d never really had any control over. That was clear now.

Yet, she was in it until the end. There was no turning back.

What had happened at the police station would follow her for years to come. They had bailed her, which meant there would be more to come. Her mother had arrived from work, face lined with tension, trying to work out what her daughter had done. This happened to other people – not them.

Hours later the house was quiet, after every attempt to talk had been batted back by Holly. She had listened to her mum cry herself to sleep as her dad tried to soothe her. She wanted to stay curled up on her bed, ignore what she’d brought into their lives.

She thought this was worse than them finding out what she’d done. Yes, her aunty and her nan had died of cancer recently. Yes, she’d been pretending to have it, just to get sympathy.

What this had done to her mum…

Her phone buzzed.

She knew the voice was waiting to give her more instructions.

Holly answered and listened. Whispered her acceptance and felt the tears slowly crawl down her cheeks.

Level Five.

They wanted blood.

When the call was over, she crossed the room silently, picked up a red felt-tip pen from the small desk near the television, and pulled a piece of paper from the ream underneath. She drew a heart in the darkness, I love you both underneath.

That would be fine, she thought. It would be okay.

It was just in case.