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

‘Some people can keep the pretence going on for years. Problems with webcams, no video calling on their phones, whatever.’

‘And Emily did this?’

Stephanie nodded, catching his eye for a second before looking away once more. ‘Loads of times. She would string people along for months, before breaking their hearts. She seemed to get off on it. When I found out about it, I went off my head at her. She didn’t seem to care though. It was like she’d finally found a way of being noticed that didn’t take any effort. Nothing I said to her seemed to make any difference.’

‘How did you find out about it?’

‘She was going after people we knew. People from high school, lads and girls. She must have had dozens of accounts on the go. Someone worked it out and realised it was her.’

Mark shook his head, trying to work out why this hadn’t come out sooner. ‘This could mean something. If she hurt the wrong person, it could mean someone decided to get their own back on her.’

‘I never thought about it like that,’ Stephanie said, suddenly seeming smaller. ‘I suppose you’re right. I just thought it was all ridiculous, but she did hurt people. It was all online though, so I didn’t really think much of it. It’s not really real on there.’

‘Did anyone threaten to do anything?’

There was a moment of hesitation, as Stephanie seemed to turn over the question in her mind before answering. ‘Not that I know of, no. I’ve got no idea, though, really. You’ve got her computer, maybe you’ll be able to find out.

‘I didn’t really make much of an effort,’ Stephanie continued, standing up from the bed and crossing the room to the window. Mark turned to look at her, seeing only the back of her as she looked out over the back garden. He opted to stay quiet as she continued to talk. ‘I suppose I could have tried harder. I should have tried harder. I’ve just had my own stuff to deal with over the years, you know? I couldn’t carry her. Now I wish I had.’

‘You can’t look back and start questioning yourself now,’ Mark replied softly. ‘You’ll drive yourself mad if you do that. You have to concentrate on what’s best now. And that’s telling us everything you know about what kind of things she was doing before she went missing, no matter how small you think they might be. We need to know everything.’

Stephanie nodded without turning around, but Mark could see her reflection in the window. The vacant look she had on her face as she stared out.