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

‘What’s going on in there?’ she said, indignant, voice shaky. ‘I demand to know what you’re doing to my son.’

‘I’m afraid John is in a bit of trouble,’ Mark replied, looking down at the woman and keeping his voice straight, free of the emotion that was coursing through his veins. ‘I need you to understand this is serious, but if he cooperates, we might be able to get him out of this. Can you do me a favour?’

John’s mum stammered out a reply, clearly reeling from what he’d said. ‘What’s he done?’

‘He’ll explain everything soon, but first, you need to do something for me. Okay? Don’t worry. Hopefully this can all be sorted out quickly.’

She didn’t answer at first, opening and closing her mouth, looking back down the stairs towards the front door. ‘What do I have to do?’

‘I want you to call this number,’ Mark said, taking out a pen and his notebook. He wrote down the number and tore off the page. He handed it over to her. ‘This is my direct superior’s number. His name is Detective Sergeant Stuart Cavanagh. In five minutes, ring him, and say Detective Constable Mark Flynn told you to call about your son. Tell him he has information about Emily Burns, Joanna Carter and Holly Edwards.’

John’s mum thrust her hand to her mouth. ‘The dead girl…’

‘Don’t worry,’ Mark said, swallowing his disgust and placing a hand on her shoulder. ‘He’s going to be okay. Don’t let him leave if I have to go before they get here. Just explain everything to DS Cavanagh and he’ll do the rest, okay?’

Mark could see she wasn’t really taking in what he was saying. ‘John’s going to be fine,’ he lied, knowing that there was nothing further from the truth. If he could get it out of him, he had no doubt that he’d break down completely after being properly arrested. This was coming to an end. ‘He’s just made a few silly mistakes that we need to sort out.’

‘Did he…’

‘No, he didn’t kill them,’ Mark said, when it became clear she couldn’t finish the sentence. ‘But he knows what happened. He’s got involved in something he shouldn’t have and now it’s all gone too far to ignore.’ The lies fell out of his mouth without him even thinking about them. ‘It’s going to be okay, but he needs to help the detectives who are working on the case… alongside me. He needs to tell them everything, otherwise it won’t end well for him. Now, go downstairs, and John will follow you down shortly.’