Flashbacks from the morning he found me unconscious in my entryway remind me of the way he cared for me. He really cared. I’m backing myself into a corner here, surely this could never work. Not with all the secrets I have. Someone is going to get hurt, and something tells me it’s not going to be my moody landlord. A guy like him could easily move on and find another plaything, right? But deep down, in the pit of my stomach I have a feeling this is more than just sex. The way he held me and stayed by my side — he could have asked me if there was someone he could call, but he chose to stay. I’m so fucked. There is a reason I have always kept him at arm’s length. I need another opinion, next week’s catch up with Jesse can’t come quick enough. I need to debrief this.

Chapter Seven

Kinsley

Checking the time, I see that I have another fifteen minutes before Becky will be here to pick me up for work. Flicking through my contacts, I decide to make the call I’ve been dreading. I hold the phone between my shoulder and ear, whilst shuffling into my heels.

“Hello, Kinsley.” Investigator Stanley greets me. “How are you?”

Dropping onto the couch, I gather my thoughts. I didn’t expect him to answer my call at 7pm on a Tuesday evening. “Hi Stanley, I’m well, thank you.” Lie, I’m still freaking out after the phone calls from George Watson.

“What can I do for you?” he asks, getting straight to the point.

“I had a phone call from a man who called himself ‘George Watson’. He told me to cut contact with you and to stop looking for answers. Does that name happen to mean anything to you?”

Stanley remains silent for a minute, the sound of his fingers tapping away at his keyboard echoes through the phone. “It doesn’t ring a bell, I’m just doing a search now.” I wait patiently, dragging my fingers up and down my thigh; minutes pass by and I begin to grow anxious. What could be taking so long?

“Kinsley, in the files I’m searching there are no records of anyone called George Watson. He doesn’t seem to exist … Anywhere. I’ll run a few more checks, but right now I’ve got nothing. I’m sorry.”

Fuck. “Okay. Thanks Stanley. I appreciate it.” I go to end the call as Stanley cuts in.

“Wait. Before you go — Kinsley, you need to be careful.”

“I know, I — uhm, Thanks. I’ll be in touch.”