The Suspect by Kathryn Croft

Author:Kathryn Croft [Croft, Kathryn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781803148601
Published: 2023-02-07T16:00:00+00:00

By the time she’s reached Hemingways, the last thing Jess wants is a night out drinking. Or even talking. Not even to her sister. She hesitates outside the door, seconds away from turning around and heading home. Then someone opens the door to come out, and Zara sees her, beckoning her inside.

‘And what time d’you call this?’ her sister says when Jess gets to their table. She’s over an hour late, and can only imagine the state she must look. Water drips off her hair and her damp jeans stick to her skin. ‘Oh dear, what happened to you?’

‘I’m taking a wild guess here, but could it be Jess got caught in the rain?’ Gabriel stands up to help her peel off her coat. ‘Are you okay?’ he whispers.

‘Yeah, I’ll be fine. Let me just go and dry off a bit.’

When Gabriel offers to get her a drink, she gratefully accepts before rushing to the toilets.

She dries herself as best she can with the limited flow of hot air from the hand dryer, but doesn’t feel much better when she gets back to the bar. But she’s here now and she’s determined to make the best of this evening. She’s with people who care about her – whatever was, or is, going on with the rest of her family doesn’t matter; she has Zara and Ryan. And maybe Gabriel too. It’s early days, though, she warns herself. She can’t let herself get carried away.

Later, when Ryan and Gabriel are deep in conversation about hybrid cars, Zara moves over to sit closer to Jess. ‘You’re not okay, are you?’

‘I’m fine.’

‘Jess. I know you. On the phone you said you wanted to talk. Has something happened? I could tell the second you walked in that you weren’t right.’

It’s inevitable that Zara will find out from their dad soon enough. ‘Nathaniel French was found stabbed to death yesterday. ’

Zara claps her hand to her mouth. ‘Oh my God! What happened?’

‘The police don’t know yet, but it looks like a mugging.’

‘Well, I hate to say this, but what goes around comes around, doesn’t it?’ And after what he did to your mum—’

‘Zara! We don’t even know if he was the one who…’

‘But it must have been. They’ve never arrested anyone else for it, have they? Look, I’m so sorry this has happened, but at least he’ll leave you alone now.’

But will the person who killed Nathaniel? Jess shudders, despite the warmth in the bar.

Zara taps Jess’s arm. ‘Hey, maybe it was done out of revenge? I bet he had a lot of enemies. It might have all caught up with him.’

Before Jess can reply, the men turn their attention back to Jess and Zara.

‘Another round, ladies?’ Gabriel offers, pointing to their empty glasses.

‘Not for me, thanks. I think I’ll head home.’ Jess pulls her coat from her chair. Her head is pounding, and it’s nothing to do with alcohol. What Zara has said about someone killing Nathaniel out of revenge has planted a seed in her head, one she doesn’t want to grow.

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