Chapters (68)
- Cover
- Dedication
- NOW
- One
- BEFORE
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- NOW
- Twenty-One
- BEFORE
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- NOW
- Thirty-Nine
- BEFORE
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- NOW
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- AFTER
- Fifty-Six
- Acknowledgements
- About the Author
‘I saw Emily’s body,’ Mark said, his jaw tensing, knuckles turning white as they gripped the dresser. ‘Joanna’s too. They were both dead. You helped kill them. Those girls are dead because a bunch of little boys can’t take rejection.’
‘No…’
‘Where’s Holly?’
John’s mouth hung open, his eyes glazing over with a film of tears finally. ‘I don’t know. She was supposed to have been found by now. We could have a say on how they were found. Emily wasn’t supposed to be found like that. It was supposed to be like Joanna.’
‘Tell me where you wanted Holly to be found.’
‘It was supposed to be a nice place, not far from Crosby Beach. I thought that would help the family, you know? Help them get over it quickly. If she had chosen somewhere that seemed okay.’
‘She hasn’t even been reported missing yet,’ Mark said, and enjoyed the reaction from John. He could see him take in the news; understand that he had revealed more than he’d needed. ‘There might still be time to save her, do you understand?’
John shook his head. ‘It’s too late. She’s gone. He showed us.’
‘How?’
‘On there,’ John replied, gesturing towards the laptop perched on his bedside cabinet.
‘Show me,’ Mark said, then moved across to the laptop and picked it up. He dropped it on John’s knees and finally sat down next to him. Being that close to the lad almost made him gag. He wanted more than anything to break something in his body, but resisted the urge. ‘I want to see what you’ve been sent.’
John hesitated, then looked at Mark for a second and realised he had no choice. Mark watched as he opened the computer and begin inputting passwords to get onto the home screen.
‘What’s that?’ Mark said, pointing to the screen. ‘I’ve never seen that before.’
‘It’s a special browser,’ John replied, his voice barely above a mumble. ‘Helps me get into parts of the web that are hidden.’
Mark nodded, continuing to watch as John worked his way through a multitude of screens. He knew what he was looking at now. It had been part of his training, but not a major aspect of it. There were specialist officers who would deal with this sort of thing thankfully. The Dark Web, they called it. He’d only experienced it in relation to things like child abuse images being shared and the sale of drugs. It seemed like there was more to it than that, however.
‘Here,’ John said, after a minute or two. He sat back a little, allowing Mark to get a closer look at the screen. ‘That’s what was posted last night. As promised.’