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

‘It’s information I printed out,’ Mark managed to stutter out. He was suddenly aware of how this would look, how it would sound. He needed to get his story straight on it all, before talking to anyone. Even if Cavanagh was more accepting of his previous theories. ‘I need to get it in some sort of order, if what you’re saying about the uncle is right.’

‘Must have been enough to make you sleep in this place. Can’t even get a bloody Mars bar from the vending machine…’

Mark managed to slip out of the room, as Cavanagh continued to grumble at the machinery. He shoved the papers in his desk drawer and then went into the bathroom. Splashed cold water on his face a few times, then over his hair as well. Ran fingers through it, then dried himself over.

It was ten by the time he was back at his desk, putting what he’d learned overnight in some sort of order. The information he’d managed to gather had been difficult to pull together – taken from a multitude of different websites and forums. He felt he had enough though.

Joanna Carter’s email account had helped, along with the private messages in her social media. That might be an issue if he was wrong – it wasn’t technically his case, but he’d managed to get access to it. He hoped it wouldn’t count against him.

He waited for DI Bennett to arrive and settle into her office before taking a breath and making his way over there. He’d gone through half a pack of Polo mints and was currently chewing on gum. From DI Bennett’s look as he entered the room, he didn’t think he looked his best.

‘I was working late,’ Mark said, sitting down, the stack of papers in his lap. ‘Sorry about that. I know you wanted us to go home early—’

‘It’s fine,’ DI Bennett replied, interrupting him with a wave of one hand. ‘I’ve been dealing with delegating out another death this morning. Looks gang-related.’

‘What is it?’

‘Some young lad, beaten to death in Walton. I’ve handed it over to Matrix to deal with. They think it’s a drug deal gone wrong. What have you got for me?’

‘I think we’re missing something with both Emily Burns and Joanna Carter. Something that links them together.’

‘Really?’

‘Yes, it’s going to sound a little weird, but I need you to bear with me.’

Mark began to speak, telling her about The Game and the little history he had found on it. It was patchy, nowhere near extensive enough, he knew, but he was building a complete picture slowly. Hoping the amount of information would be hard to ignore.