But Tess was a dead end; maybe this wouldn’t be.

When Scott clicked on the message icon, he saw the green indicator that showed Markus was online.

Scott typed quickly. He hoped Markus wouldn’t find it off-putting that his profile photograph didn’t show his face; because of his job, Scott had to be careful about social media. It was a photo of the horizon, taken on his and Casey’s wedding day. He needed to change that.

Hello Markus. This is going to seem strange. I’m Casey’s husband. I thought she loved me, but lately she’s been getting abusive. I’m talking full-on physical assaults now, mate. Can we talk?

He clicked send without giving himself time to read the message over. He didn’t like describing what was happening as abuse. When she’d been hitting him, he hadn’t felt like a man at all. But this was about practicality; he couldn’t be vague. There was no way Markus could ignore something so clear, surely.

Three dots appeared, vanished, appeared… vanished. Until finally the message came through.

Can I call you?

Scott typed quickly.

Yes.

A moment later, the Messenger screen changed to a call. Scott quickly answered it and put it on loudspeaker, glancing around the street. Kids were coming home from school. A man rode his bike. There was no sight of Casey.

“Hello, Scott.”

“Hello.”

Markus sighed. “Is that true?”

“It’s true. I’m sorry to spring this on you.”

Markus sighed again. “Casey…”

“You don’t sound surprised.”

“No,” Markus said. “I’m not sure what I can do to help.”

Scott rested his head against the steering wheel, feeling like all the energy was seeping out of him.

“Anything,” Scott said. “Anything you can do.”

“Is it that bad?”

“Worse.”

“I really am sorry.”

“Can we meet?” Scott thought he might be able to get more out of him in person.

“For what? I called because I wanted to tell you I’m sorry. But I meant what I said. There’s nothing I can do to help. She’s left us alone for more than a year now. That’s the best I can hope for.”

He sounded just like Scott.

“You’re scared,” Scott said.

“You said you were Casey’s new husband. You said she was getting abusive.”

“Yeah.”

“So there’s your answer. I’m not sure how far she’s taken things with you, but… She’s capable of a lot, that woman.”

“Please meet with me. Nobody else knows what this is like.” Scott wouldn’t reveal his true reason for wanting to meet: to find out how Markus had made Casey back off. “Hello?”

“I’m still here.”

Scott waited, giving the street another quick scan. If Casey found him while he was on the phone, she’d force Scott to show her before he deleted the conversation history. Then the games would start.

“The thing is, she can’t know,” Markus said. “I can’t have her in my life again.”

“She’ll never know. I swear.”

“I still don’t get why you want to meet.”

“To talk.”

“We’re talking now.”