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

‘No problem,’ Natasha replied, giving him a cheery goodbye. Mark stared at his phone a little longer after the call ended, smiling to himself. He thought about finishing early and seeing her now. Shook his head at that and knew it was a ridiculous idea.

He wished, not for the first time, that he had someone he could talk to about things like this. Relationship stuff. Someone who could keep him from rushing into things. Was that what he was doing? He wasn’t sure.

He had friends, but apart from playing five-a-side with them every few weeks, he didn’t really keep in contact all that much. They were acquaintances more than friends, really. He had a few mates from his days at college, but that was about it.

Sometimes he missed being part of a group, but he knew it made more sense this way. To keep his private life small. Just in case.

Mark leaned forward and turned on the ignition, trying to focus on what was important at that moment.

Everything else could wait.

Twenty-Three

When Mark returned to the station, he could feel the atmosphere had changed since he’d left a few hours earlier. The place was busier now, people moving to and fro with purpose. He wondered for a few seconds what he’d missed, but knew he probably wouldn’t get a straight answer if he asked his so-called colleagues. He left his jacket on his desk and went in search of DI Bennett, ready to update her on the little he’d learned since leaving.

It didn’t amount to much, in the end. He’d spoken to two other former school attendees of Emily’s – each with similar stories to Chris’s. He doubted any of them had anything to do with Emily’s disappearance. They were all wide-eyed and astonished by his presence.

Scared too.

For them, the comments they had made against Emily had been silly and forgotten about within a few days. Now they could see what the implications were. All of them eager to say they didn’t mean it really. That it was all heat of the moment anger. None of them were sorry to see her go and all of them thought she was probably attention-seeking, like Chris had said.

There were more names on the list. More people Emily had hoodwinked with lies.

DI Bennett’s office was empty when he crossed over to see her. He was about to go back to his desk and start typing up his notes when she appeared.

‘Mark, just the man I was looking for,’ she said, her cheeks red with blush and sounding a little breathless. ‘You need to come and see this.’

Mark was about to ask her what was going on, but she had already turned and walked away quickly. He raised his eyebrows and followed her.