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

There was nothing left to do, but go back to Liverpool. Face the music, which had been playing him offstage for the past week without him even realising – it was the only logical next step, the only chance at finding Natasha. He dropped his head down and placed a hand on the lid of the laptop to close it, hoping it would at least give the IT techs some information. They could scour it and find exactly what John Redwood had done. He wouldn’t be getting away with it for much longer, even if he had managed to convince his mum not to call DS Cavanagh as he’d asked her to.

Then he thought of the missed calls and messages he’d been receiving the previous day. He thought about the increasing amount he’d been getting, which meant they knew he had been out there somewhere, doing something he shouldn’t have.

Which meant John Redwood’s mother had called them. And John had not told the truth. He should have stayed with him, explained to the team what he’d done. He could have gone after that, or at least taken DS Cavanagh with him. Anything other than the giant mistake he’d made instead.

Natasha had already been taken at that point though, Mark thought. Perhaps The Game had started before he’d even realised.

The phone started buzzing in his lap. Mark glanced down at it, seeing PRIVATE NUMBER flash up and answered quickly. ‘I tried…’

‘Mark, where are you?’

Mark swore quietly and thought about hanging up on DI Bennett straight away. Instead, he responded. ‘What’s going on?’

‘I was hoping you’d tell us.’

‘I don’t know,’ Mark replied, swiping a hand across his face and feeling the tiredness enveloping his skin. ‘I thought I was doing the right thing.’

‘You need to tell me where you are,’ DI Bennett said, a catch in her voice. Mark began to frown. There was something she wasn’t saying. ‘We know about Natasha.’

‘Is she okay?’

‘We don’t know where she is. Her mum has reported her missing and mentioned you. So, I think you can help us with finding her, right?’

‘I don’t know,’ Mark repeated, still hearing something unfamiliar in DI Bennett’s voice. ‘I’ve been trying to find her.’

‘Mark, why don’t you tell me where you are, so we can sort all of this out. I don’t want to do this over the phone. We’re worried about you.’

‘I’m sure,’ Mark replied, leaning back into the headrest and closing his eyes. ‘There’s something else though, right? Why you’re so keen to get me back?’

‘I think it’s best if we talk about that in person, Mark.’

‘You keep saying my name, boss. Why is that?’