I sighed. ‘For now, I’m going to bed. I’m beat.’ My watch said midnight. I was due at work at 7 am and Waffles needed a run at six.

There was an awkward pause. ‘Bed, huh?’ he said.

I let him hang for a moment then relented. ‘It’s too late for you to leave now. Spare room is down there.’ I pointed down the far end of the hallway from my own bedroom. ‘Bed’s made up for visitors.’

He nodded, stood, then came around to my side of the bench. There was a low growl. Waffles, who had settled beneath my stool, was suddenly on high alert. Not man’s best friend tonight. Waffles was woman’s best friend. Daniel backed off, startled.

Waffles and I walked off down the hall.

I heard Daniel call after me. ‘Antigone? I …’

I didn’t look back. Just kept walking.

CHAPTER 32: THE TABLES TURN

CHAPTER 32

THE TABLES TURN

On Thursday morning, my phone rang before the sun rose. The ringing pulled me from the fog of sleep and a furl of dreams in which Gemma and Daniel featured in a crazy kaleidoscope. I fumbled to press the answer button. Through blurred sleep-eyes, I read the caller ID: Pip.

‘Pip?’ My voice was thick with sleep.

‘Antigone?’ Pip’s voice was very much awake.

‘Mmm?’

‘Have you seen the papers this morning?’

‘Pip, this morning I’ve literally just seen my phone with your name on it. That’s it.’

A hesitation. ‘Whoops, sorry. I forget that the rest of the world doesn’t rise before the sun.’ Her voice was annoyingly chipper.

I rubbed my eyes and sat up. ‘What’s in the papers?’

‘Noah Shepherd was arrested last night.’

‘What?’ Any trace of sleep fled. ‘Oh God! Did he do it again?’

She sighed, knowing how this would hurt me. ‘There’s been another accusation. Victim came forward yesterday.’

My first thought was of Noah Shepherd’s parents. Who were they going to blame now? I wasn’t in town. Gemma was dead. Then the thought of a new victim crashed like a weight on my chest. I knew what she’d suffer. I knew what the Shepherd family would do to her. Like the rape wasn’t enough, they had to lay the boot in as well. Suddenly, the whole world felt heavy.

‘Still there?’ Pip’s voice was gentle.

‘When’s the bail hearing?’

‘This morning at ten.’

Before she’d finished, I was out of bed, pulling on clothes.