Page 57

“Maybe,” I murmur absently. “Thank you.”
I step back in my room and walk over to my bedside table, picking my phone up and dialling Banner. I listen to the ring, moving towards the window and pulling the curtain back.
“Hey, beautiful. Miss me already?”
I chuckle at his greeting. “Yep.”
“You okay?” I hear him moving, and things shuffling in the background.
“Yeah. I was just wondering if I left my pink scarf in your car. I need to leave soon. I promised Becky I’d meet up with her to grab a coffee before class and I don’t fancy freezing my arse off.”
“I don’t know, but I’ll check. Did you want me to pick you up and take you?” he asks, pausing. “Wait, wasn’t Mark meant to be taking you tonight?”
I sigh, watching a car go past, illuminating something in the alley across the street. I stand up straighter, dropping the curtain until only a small gap is left. I don’t see anything, and I begin to think my eyes are playing tricks on me.
The situation with Darren, and having the killer on the loose, has got me suffering with paranoia. I’m not the only one, though. Everyone around town seems to be on edge.
“You there?”
“Sorry, um… Yeah, he said he would, but there’s really no point. It’s only a five-minute walk and some chick at work dropped a weight on his foot. I don’t really want him out on it.”
“I’ll be there in five.”
“Wait!”
“What?”
“You’re hanging with your friends tonight. I don’t want you to leave them for me. I’ll be fine. I’ll keep my phone in hand.”
His friends will end up hating me if he keeps blowing them off to spend time with me, and although I’m not ready to be around boisterous men, I don’t want him to give that part of his life up.
“Em, I’ll be five minutes. I’d rather be spending the night with you than these losers, anyway. Plus, Tom has spent the past few hours texting some chick. I’m bored out of my mind.”
I laugh. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure,” he tells me softly. “I’ll make sure Becky is there with you before I leave you to it. And I’ll be there to pick you up after class as scheduled.”
I know he’s still worried about Darren cornering me, but I think his overprotective behaviour has to do with another girl showing up murdered. It’s all over the news, setting everyone in Whithall on edge.
“Okay. Thank you. I’ll make it up to you all. I’ll buy you and your friends a crate of beer.”
“Don’t you dare. If your gonna buy anyone beer, then it will be me. These fuckers don’t deserve them.”
“Yeah, we do,” I hear shouted in the background.
I laugh. “It’s rude not to share.”
“They don’t fucking share with me,” he tells me, his voice high.
“He’s lying,” is shouted.
“Ignore him. He’s still learning to tie his shoelaces,” he tells me, before shuffling is all I hear. “Dickhead, I’m on the phone.” More shuffling. “Em, you still there?”
I hide my amusement when I answer. “Yeah.”
“I’ll be there in five. I’m leaving now.”
“All right. I’ll see you in a bit.”