‘So,’ I say. ‘Not Martha and not Greg. You’re sure about Greg?’
‘I’m sure.’ I want to quiz him more on how he knows, but the way he says it is definitive. Hope he’s not dead.Kind of.
‘But how did he find me?’
‘You’re pretty unforgettable, to be fair. Maybe he saw you on social media, or somehow figured out who lived nearby and found you via your name at university.’
‘Or he recognised something about me that he knew from before.’
My hand goes to the stone at my throat.
We both look at it.
‘The necklace,’ he says.
‘It’s not exactly common,’ I say. ‘A heart-shaped stone on a cord. If someone who was there that day saw it?—’
‘They’d know,’ he says.
Fuck.
‘How’s your list going? Anyone connected to your father? Any names you can remember from that summer?’
He unfolds a paper from his pocket; it’s less a list of names than a list of descriptions. Boys, men, the occasional girl. People he saw once, others who were more familiar. Some of the men have first names, but none of theboys does.
‘I guess we start with the men. Martha told me that some of my dad’s friends were involved, including one of the local policemen. Maybe we can search the old paper and news?’
‘We’ll find him, Kat,’ Liam says, pulling me against him. ‘And when we do, he’ll never torment anyone again.’
There he goes again, threatening permanent consequences.
‘You mean it?’
‘I do.’
And the thrill that runs through me is one that’s both dark and deliciously warm.
TWENTY-FIVE
LIAM
I’mready to pounce when I see a guy lurking near the alley, looking shifty.
He hovers there, and I’m three seconds from crossing the road and tearing him a new asshole when he steps into the light and looks over at the bar.
It’s Darren.
Not that that’s much better.
He heads down the alley, and I’m out of my seat like a rocket.
Because I hadn’t considered Darren. He must be the same age as Kat and me. Could he have been one of the boys from my past?
Loitering at the mouth of the alley, I get a closer look at his face, as best I can in the near dark.
If the fucker’s been sleeping with Kat while terrorising her, it’ll be the last thing he does.
Thuds echo as he knocks on Kat’s door, and I’m glad that Ellie is home too, just in case. A square of light falls over him as she answers the door.
