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

The scene was a hive of activity; uniforms swarming from all over the city. Young students being led from the fifteen-storey building overlooking the scene and questioned by uniformed police. Asked what they had seen, what they knew.

All of these people there for one reason.

The body of a young female had been found lying in a crumpled heap at the base of the building. In an alleyway, which was hidden from view at the front. Found that morning by an unlucky refuse collector. Dead after falling from the top of the building, which seemed taller every time Mark looked up. A long drop down.

He tried not to think of the condition she was in now as he worried about what he was going to say to Emily’s family. The proximity of the scene where her blood had possibly been discovered suggested she had now been found. Possibly. Mark wasn’t feeling the usual sense that something was about to end.

He could see the buildings around the yard in the distance, the walk from there to where he was now standing being cordoned off and checked.

‘We’re pulling CCTV at the moment,’ a voice said beside him. Mark turned and saw a familiar face among a crowd of strangers. Detective Sergeant Stuart Cavanagh, a kind-eyed bloke who was only a few years older than him. They’d barely shared more than a few words of conversation over the past year and a half, but it had always been cordial. He hadn’t shunned him or talked behind his back like the rest seemed to. Mark guessed he’d been told to make sure the new guy didn’t mess anything up.

‘Going to be difficult to pinpoint a time of death quickly,’ Mark said, stepping back as another forensic officer turned up. ‘Have you seen her?’

‘You don’t want to know.’

Mark nodded, but knew he would eventually have to see the body. If only to make sure it was Emily.

If that was possible.

‘We’re pretty sure it’s her,’ DS Cavanagh said, as if he was reading his thoughts. ‘Same age, same build, same hair colour. Her face is… well, not in the best condition. Hopefully they can sort that out before the family need to identify her.’

‘No chance it’s someone else? It’s strange that no one has found her if she was there for a few days.’