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

It could get messy, he thought, as he pushed open the door into the offices. A few heads turned his way briefly, but no one welcomed him back. That was a standard greeting for him. He’d been there a year, but still felt like an outsider. Moving from a quiet station outside the city centre, suddenly being thrust into a major crimes unit as a detective… It was a change he was still getting used to.

Mark approached one of the DCs who worked near his desk. ‘Is the boss in?’

The bloke held up a finger to him and continued to type on his keyboard. Mark waited patiently, wondering why he didn’t even deserve a polite just a minute. Manners cost nothing, but for some people that was still too expensive.

Eventually, the DC turned to him and leaned back in his chair. ‘What do you want?’

‘Just wondering if the boss was in?’

‘Why don’t you go over and check yourself?’ the DC replied, then turned back to his computer without saying anything else. Mark shook his head as he made his way over to DI Bennett’s office. Knocked and then went inside when he heard her voice from within.

‘Mark, how are you getting on?’ Bennett said as Mark went in and hovered by the empty chair on the other side of her desk.

‘Not much to report so far,’ Mark replied, resting a hand on the back of the chair, waiting to be invited to sit down. DI Angela Bennett didn’t move. She was as pale-faced as a full moon, all cheekbones and dark mascara. ‘The blood is being tested as we speak. The family seem willing to talk, but I haven’t formed any early impressions yet. A mention of making friends recently, but online, rather than in real life.’

‘Nineteen-year-old going missing usually isn’t a major event for us. Not been long enough really. I’ve got a bad feeling about it, though. I’m sure you have as well.’

‘Yeah, can’t argue with that,’ Mark replied, noticing one of his fingernails was a little long and resisting the urge to bite into it. He wanted to chew it off in the silence and spit it out onto the floor. He thought about the ridiculousness of basing things on bad feelings. Wondered if his DI realised how pointless an exercise that would be. ‘I’ve asked uniforms to go over the CCTV again, but I could do with some help from the tech team on that.’

A long sigh greeted his request. ‘You know we’re busy at the moment, but I’ll try and get someone on it.’