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 turned away from her and looked at the small kitchen. There was a patch of darker paint in three corners of the room, damp or mould patches that had been painted over, he guessed. It was a perpetual problem for houses in the area, where landlords were more interested in the money appearing in their bank accounts every month than the state of the houses they were letting out. Other than that, the place was much cleaner than he imagined others in the road would be. A small fridge-freezer was closest to the door, silver and covered in various paintings and drawings. All done by the children when they’d been younger, he suspected.

‘Do you think you’ll find her alive?’

Mark didn’t speak for a moment, working out the best way to answer a question he’d been asked countless times before. Stephanie finally turned to face him, hands braced against the counter behind her.

‘We never give up hope until there’s evidence otherwise,’ Mark said, hoping it would be enough. ‘People go missing every day. Hundreds of thousands a year. Most of them turn up within days – that’s why you don’t hear about it more.’

‘But some don’t turn up at all, do they?’

‘Very rarely. Emily might be found at any moment. Don’t give up on her just yet.’

Stephanie smiled thinly at him, then turned back to where the kettle was boiling away. ‘I hadn’t given up, not at all. Not until you said about the blood. I’m just preparing myself for the worst. That’s all.’

Mark had been waiting for one of the family to say the ‘B’ word. He had been careful not to use it himself, but it was quite obvious what he’d meant. The fact they hadn’t been able to positively identify the blood as belonging to Emily yet meant he could still pretend it wasn’t hers. ‘We don’t know anything for sure right now, other than that it’s blood.’

‘That copper that was here before you,’ Stephanie said, her voice betraying none of the worry or hurt Mark knew she’d be carrying inside her. ‘She said they’d tracked her on CCTV then you tell us that blood was found there. Would be some coincidence if it wasn’t hers.’

Mark’s phone buzzed in his pocket, as if it had been waiting for the perfect time to interrupt. He excused himself and checked it. A text message, with a simple and short meaning.

Same blood type.

He tried not to react, but felt his stomach drop as he placed his phone away. DNA results wouldn’t be back for another day or so, but Mark didn’t think they’d turn up anything shocking.

It would be Emily’s blood.