Contents (57)
- Prologue
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Acknowledgements
- About the Author
- Also by Sharon Gosling
Linley visibly deflated, shrinking in his chair. ‘All right. What do you want?’
‘I want you to print a retraction. It will be in next week’s edition. It will occupy exactly the same position and space as the original piece.’
Linley snorted a laugh. ‘That’s not going to happen.’
‘It will happen, Linley. Shall I tell you why? Because I will use my extremely extensive contact list to distribute every piece of information I’ve gathered on this subject – and your part in it – to every desk editor and journalist I know. Then, using the cachet my name has garnered over the last two decades, I will also send it to every desk editor and journalist I don’t know.’
‘That’s blackmail.’
‘No, it really isn’t. It’s a promise. This is a good story I’ve got here. You said it yourself, everyone has a slow news day now and then, don’t they? You know that better than anyone, as you’ve just told me, clear as the words on this page. Someone, somewhere in the world, is going to want to go with it. They’ll do some more investigating, put together an even more complete picture. It won’t be difficult, and it’s going to involve some very interesting people. I mean, local government must have a few fingers in this pie somewhere along the line. You’re small fry, Linley, but there must be some pretty bloated whales out there. It’s all there for anyone who actually wants to join the dots, and the big picture is very, very big indeed. Anyway, you wanted to put your name out there, didn’t you? I’d say this should do it, don’t you think?’
Linley stood up, his lips set in a thin line, his face white.
‘Another thing,’ Toby added, before the younger man could walk away. ‘Watch your inbox. I’m going to write the copy for you. Believe me when I say I’ll be checking to make sure that not a word has been changed for print. Don’t worry, I know how to write to fit. You can put your byline on it, Russell. It’ll be the best thing you ever write.’
Forty
Ezra knew Gilly was supposed to be working, and the lighthouse door was open. She should definitely be here and he’d told her he was going to come by at some point this afternoon to discuss their next lesson topic. Yet the bookshop was empty.
‘Hello?’ he called, looking around as he crossed to the abandoned counter. Answer came there none, but there was a steaming mug of tea beside the cake stand, which meant the girl couldn’t be far away.
Bukowski appeared, wagging his tail as he leaned against Ezra’s leg, looking up at him hopefully, as if he thought Ezra might be carrying treats somewhere about his person.
‘Hey, old boy,’ Ezra said, rubbing the dog’s ears. ‘Is Ron here too, or did he leave you here with Gilly?’
There came the faint sound of murmuring from somewhere above his head, on the mezzanine. Ezra gave Bukowski one last pat and then made his way to the stairs. The mumbling continued, the pitches marking out two different voices, although Ezra couldn’t make out any words. Or at least, he couldn’t until—