Back The Last Guests Save as PDF
Chapters (54)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Epigraph
  4. PROLOGUE
  5. PART ONE
  6. ONE
  7. TWO
  8. THREE
  9. FOUR
  10. DEADLY SAS RAID IN AFGHANISTAN UNDER SCRUTINY
  11. FIVE
  12. SIX
  13. SEVEN
  14. EIGHT
  15. NINE
  16. TEN
  17. ELEVEN
  18. TWELVE
  19. THIRTEEN
  20. FOURTEEN
  21. FIFTEEN
  22. SIXTEEN
  23. SEVENTEEN
  24. EIGHTEEN
  25. NINETEEN
  26. TWENTY
  27. PART TWO
  28. TWENTY-ONE
  29. TWENTY-TWO
  30. TWENTY-THREE
  31. TWENTY-FOUR
  32. TWENTY-FIVE
  33. TWENTY-SIX
  34. TWENTY-SEVEN
  35. TWENTY-EIGHT
  36. TWENTY-NINE
  37. DANIEL MOORE: ‘A SINGLE BLOKE, HAPPY-GO-LUCKY, A BIT OF A DUNCE BUT WITH A GOOD HEART,’ BEST FRIEND SAYS.
  38. THIRTY
  39. THIRTY-ONE
  40. THIRTY-TWO
  41. THIRTY-THREE
  42. THIRTY-FOUR
  43. THIRTY-FIVE
  44. BREAKING: POLICE CONFIRM DANIEL MOORE ACTED ALONE
  45. THIRTY-SIX
  46. THIRTY-SEVEN
  47. THIRTY-EIGHT
  48. THIRTY-NINE
  49. SECOND ARREST MADE IN WESTAY HIDDEN CAMERAS CASE
  50. EPILOGUE
  51. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  52. Discover More
  53. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  54. Also by J. P. Pomare

‘It means we’re releasing him. I can’t share any other details about this investigation.’

Something dawns on me. My sim card was in that phone that night, so if it wasn’t Cain, then someone else has been in our house and taken it. Daniel? Or the second man? ‘But he went to that house on Hillview Terrace,’ I say. ‘He went there before me, he might have removed the cameras. You said –’

‘I said to be careful,’ he says, his frustration rising. ‘We had good cause for suspicion. I can’t comment on his motivations for going to that house.’

‘Right, so he’s free to go?’

‘Look, it’s not necessarily protocol, but given the late hour we can keep him here overnight without charging him, give you time to gather your thoughts or find somewhere else to stay if you’re concern –’

‘No,’ I say, cutting him off. Rata has asked Cain his questions, now I suppose Cain will have some questions for me. He’s innocent. I overreacted. All the emotions of the past week bubbled over and sent me into a tailspin of panic. How could I do this to him? ‘I want him home now.’

‘Sure,’ he says. ‘We will have him back there shortly.’

•

I pace about the lounge, my feet wearing a neat figure eight into the carpet as my mind runs over the facts and possibilities. Daniel got into the lake house, he threatened to kill Cain and me. He went upstairs and beat Cain. I got free and when he emerged from one of the rooms at the end of the hall, I shot him. Then Cain visited the property Daniel took me to, where other cameras were installed. Someone anonymously sent him video footage of Daniel in the lake house. At some point, my sim card was taken from the bottom of my wardrobe.

I should feel relief because intellectually I’m beginning to see this was all a misunderstanding. Cain has done nothing wrong. In fact, he’s been mostly patient with me throughout. I’ve done wrong, not him. There’s an aching knot of guilt in my stomach. Guilt. There’s only one question unanswered and it’s the one I’m most afraid to ask: did he go to that house because he knows what happened with me and Daniel? Was there another photo left in our letterbox?

After some time I hear the key scratch into the lock at the front door. I ball up my courage, and stride over to meet him as the door swings open.

TWENTY-EIGHT

ANGER. NO, NOT anger. Resentment? Defeat? Whatever it is in his eyes it drains me. ‘Well, that was an interesting day,’ he says.

‘Cain,’ I begin but the rest of the words don’t come at first, I have to push them out. ‘I’m so, so sorry.’