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
He hadn’t seen her since that night at the police station, but news of what had happened must have reached her. Another who thought him heroic. He accepted her gratitude, the rubs to his arm. The thanks and promises to do anything he needed. Rich then did the same. He imagined his offers of ‘help any time you need it. You need anything, you tell me,’ were probably more likely to happen than Julie’s. Less legal, also.
And they wouldn’t be remembered for very long, after what was about to happen.
Mark continued to wait then, as planned, with DS Cavanagh talking things over with the family, he slipped upstairs. He could hear the uniform behind him.
Charlie Burns was in his bedroom, the same young lad with the weight of the world on his shoulders. He looked a little paler, dark rings under his eyes.
‘Charlie, how have you been?’ Mark said. ‘Getting on with things okay?’
‘Yeah, suppose,’ Charlie replied, looking behind him quickly, then at the floor. ‘Bit hard with all this going on, like.’
‘I bet,’ Mark said, crouching down a little to Charlie’s level. ‘Listen, I wanted to talk to you about something. Think it’s important we have a little chat.’
‘What about?’
‘I think you know.’
Charlie shook his head slowly. ‘Haven’t got the first idea.’
‘I know what you did.’ Mark waited for some kind of reaction, but Charlie was a blank slate. ‘We don’t know who suggested Emily to him. Who told him to target her, but I know. They’ve managed to work them all out, except for her.’
‘I didn’t do nothing…’
‘Stop, Charlie,’ Mark said, placing a hand on his shoulder. He gripped a little tighter, ignoring the shooting pain up his side. ‘It was you. I don’t know why, or what you thought was going to happen, but I know it was you. That letter that I found in the attic – you wrote it to put the blame on Stephanie. We found all the people in that park that night, except for one. Then, I remembered the logo I saw on the back of a jacket. The band I’ve not heard of or seen before. CCTV tracks everyone in this city, without them even realising. You were there, but managed to get away.’
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about…’