In my hotel room I try to call Chris but it goes to voicemail. I managed to get out of going to the hospital by agreeing to let the woman who hit me drop me back at the hotel. I insisted I was fine but now that I am here alone I can feel where the car hit me. I really want to talk to the children. I feel like if I don’t do it now I may never get the chance again. I have places I need to go, places I can’t avoid any longer. I let this place get the better of me, I let myself get the better of me. I have the news on, waiting for the local segment to start, waiting to see if they have identified the body they found in the woods.

Some story about an outbreak of food poisoning at the county show, another story about some business closures further south and finally a small segment on the body discovered in the woods. The police are looking for leads. They are still searching in the woods for Mandy Green. No information on the identification, just the news that the body had been there more than sixteen years, by the looks of it. Could it be Hannah? Were we all about to find out what had happened to her? I always suspected I knew but this wasn’t the ending I was expecting.

Maybe it’s not connected at all but how likely was that? How many killers are in this town?

At the moment I only know of one. Me.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Then

She didn’t know how to feel about Felicity coming over tonight. As they walked towards the house together, Jasmine regretted inviting her. She acted like a tool sometimes and Jasmine wished there was a way to control her, but there wasn’t. Felicity’s home life meant she was in permanent self-destruct mode. Jasmine hoped Tim was out tonight and that they didn’t see him. She just wanted him to be only for her. Not to mention the fact that she didn’t know what he was capable of, how far he would go.

Jasmine watched Felicity with fascination sometimes as she wrapped the boys in their class around her finger. It wasn’t about the way she looked or anything like that, it was something in her, like she was transmitting something invisible that drove them crazy. She was like catnip.

They went inside and the house was empty. She noticed the breakfast plates from earlier had been cleaned and put away. Tim must have done it while she was at school. Felicity kicked her shoes off and flopped on the bench. Jasmine sat next to her.

‘I wish my parents would go away. I would throw such a killer party. Should we invite a bunch of people round?’ Felicity asked.

‘Tonight?’

‘Or tomorrow. We’ve got the whole weekend.’