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

Mark moved past her and pushed open the front door, which she’d helpfully left open for him. A flight of stairs led almost directly from the front door with a short hallway behind it, which led towards the back of the house. He could hear the voices from what he presumed was the living room to his right. Quiet murmurs for now, which relieved him a little.

‘Hello, I’m Detective Constable Mark Flynn,’ he said as he entered the room. Announcing his presence. Taking control of the situation, just as he’d been taught. He scanned around quickly, marking out the missing girl’s mother and addressing her directly. ‘I’ve taken over the investigation into your daughter’s disappearance. Did PC Olsen tell you I was coming?’

The mother looked him over and then towards the mountainous man currently leaning against the mantelpiece. He stepped forward towards Mark, hands thrust into his jeans’ pockets. ‘Have you found her yet or what?’

Mark glanced at the man, deciding against offering him a handshake. Instead, he turned back to the mother and shook his head. ‘Not yet, but I want to reassure you everything is being done to find your daughter. I’ve only just taken over the case, but I can tell you we’re doing everything we can for Emily.’

‘Well, that’s not been much so far,’ the man-mountain muttered under his breath. He shaped to say something, but the mother stopped him with a raised hand.

‘It’s okay, Rich, no need for that right now. I’m Julie, Emily’s mum,’ she said, standing up slowly from the sofa and extending a hand towards Mark. He took it in his, closing the other hand over the top of it and smiling thinly at her.

‘I wish we were meeting in better circumstances,’ Mark said, waiting for her to break the hold. ‘Tell me, is there anything you need right now?’

‘Just Emily,’ Julie Burns said, letting go of Mark’s hand and dropping back down onto the sofa. Mark had read as much as he possibly could before driving over. He would have guessed at her being older than forty-six, but then the past two days had probably aged her a few years. The vertical lines on her upperlip were more pronounced than they might have been the previous week. More cigarettes being smoked, the wearing away at her skin taking hold. Her dark brown hair was looking limp, lifeless. Grey roots beginning to show on top. He used the pause in the conversation to pass a comforting look to the two other people in the room as he moved nearer to Julie – one boy, one woman. The boy looked to be in his mid-teens, the other around the same age as Emily.

Her twin, according to the notes, but having glanced at the photographs of the missing Emily, there wasn’t much resemblance.