‘It’snotnothing.’ Anger threads through his voice. ‘No one makes you feel like that while I’m around. And I’m sorry if I did before you knew it was me.’
‘I forgive you. Completely. Can’t hold a grudge when you make me come that hard.’
He swallows hard, heat flaring in those deep brown eyes.
‘We need to make a list,’ he says.
‘A list?’
‘Everyone who’s made you feel off. Anyone from back then. Anyone who could have been near that cottage, or known what happened. We write it down, then start eliminating.’
‘By eliminating, you don’t mean killing them, right?’
The way he looks at me doesn’t persuade me that it’s not what he means.
‘It might be shorter than you’re expecting,’ I say.
‘That’s fine.’ He picks up thenotebook on the desk. ‘Start with whoever comes to mind. We’ll work through it.’
I snuggle beside him on the bed in the lamplight, and we start building a list of everyone who might want me to pay for what I did in the woods fourteen years ago.
EIGHTEEN
LIAM
The tracker is smallerthan I expected.
No bigger than a grain of rice. I turn it over in my fingers, flat and almost weightless. I’ve been carrying it for three days, waiting for the chance to use it.
I know it’s probably something I should ask her about, but I can’t chance losing her. Never again.
While there have been no new notes lately, the silence between threats makes me nervous. And she is in this flat too often alone, and despite my best efforts to watch her every minute of the day, I can’t always be there.
The tracker is insurance.
That’s all.
I’d like to say that I feel some sort of guilt about it, but truthfully, I don’t. I’d do much worse to keep her safe.
Ellie’s dot is at work still, but I’m not going to be able to stay too much longer. Kat’s just gone to shower, which usually takes her around twenty minutes.
Fifteen minutes if she’s running late. I’m hoping she’ll be sluggish tonight.
I move quickly, grabbing the stone necklace she placed on her desk before flashing me and heading for the bathroom.
She leaves it in the same spot every day. Although I’m usually on the other side of the glass rather than close enough to touch it.
The stone is still warm as I pick it up. I hold it for a moment, remembering the first time I saw it glittering below the surface of the stream. Sandwiched between two larger rocks. I smile as I remember the delight in her face as I held it out to her. The golden girl with her dress tucked into her underpants and a smile that carved my heart up the moment I saw it.
I take the needle from my inside pocket and get to work.
The knot in the cord is tight with its years of use, but the needle is thin enough to push in without disturbing it much. I make a gap just big enough to slip the tracker in and flatten the knot as best I can. Would she notice?
I set the necklace back in the same position, and I’m stepping away when the shower stops.
My phone beeps. It’s Ellie—she’s on the move.Shit. Igrab a piece of paper from Kat’s notepad and scribble a message on it.
Best night of my life. See you soon, darling.
