Sam clears her throat and glances around nervously. "Sunday evening, July the 18th, 2011. Billy Cain is back again," she begins reading. He's been coming round more frequently. At first he begged forgiveness, but then he started asking for money and recently, when I can smell the grog on him, he becomes violent. I worry for Danielle. She's a smart kid, but if he should find her, he'll kill her." Sam goes still, eyes darting up.
Danielle sit motionless. "William Cain" she murmurs. "Keep reading" She demands.
Sam's eyes flick down. "He first came back in the summer of 2007, after I first got my promotion. He became more persistent while I was having trouble at the office. No doubt he'd heard and thought I'd be easier to manipulate. These days he comes around almost every second night and sometimes I feel like I'm being followed to work. I don't fear for my safety, he'd be foolish to come after me, though he's threatened before. It's Danielle I worry for." Sam finishes and studies us. "What's it mean?" she asks Danielle quietly.
Danielle shuffles her hands in her lap. "he was one of mums exes. Could never let her go. Toward the end he had a gambling problem, that's why he wanted money. Then he started hitting the booze. He wasn't the only man to come bashing on our door, just the most frequent. And he's a cop." She looks at me as she says this last sentence. Registers my flash of surprise as I realise I know him. Narrows her eyes. But before she can ask a question, I slip in one of my own. "Why would he kill you?"
She blinks, "because I'm another mans daughter." This simple statement catches me off-kilter. I sit stunned for a moment. To think that someone would even consider something so unspeakable makes me feel sick. Surely if a man was capable of this, then surely he was also capable of killing his ex girlfriend, whether she believed he would or not.
Silence has fallen around the table. I look up to find everyone watching me. "I think its time for bed" I say "we'll continue this in the morning". Though I knew from the way my head swirled there was very little sleep awaiting me in my bed.
YOU ARE READING
A Darker Past
Mystery / ThrillerNew to the detective office in Venice, Italy, Adrian Bartel has been thrown in the deep end. Already looking into the case of his was-to-be investigation partner and caring for her rebellious daughter as well as his own children, the odds seem to be...
