Page 109 of Little Children

‘I wondered if you’d go back to the slag’s house. Don’t worry, I don’t think for a minute you shagged her. You ain’t got it in you. Leaves only one reason to go back. What did that bitch tell you about me, and why were you asking?’

‘She told me you were a piece of shit who got her sent to jail when she refused to have sex with you.’

Nope, he couldn’t pretend any more. The knowledge that was poisoning him from the inside needed to come out.

To his surprise, Roy smiled.

‘And here was me thinking she talked shit about me and told you lies.’

‘You’re pretty calm given what I know about you,’ Bryant said.

Roy shrugged, looking over the side of the building.

‘You showed me the photos yourself.’

‘I did.’

‘You took me to Pippa’s house and admitted what you did there.’

‘Yep.’

‘I was with you when you lifted evidence to frame Justin,’ Bryant said, expecting some kind of reaction.

Roy shrugged. ‘Might have done.’

Bryant tried to understand why Roy wasn’t riled or worried.

‘Everyone on my team knows all of this,’ he clarified.

‘Good for them. Ain’t nothing there I can’t get out of, and you know it.’

‘So, why the— Oh shit,’ Bryant said as the penny finally dropped.

There was only one end to this scenario, and now he got it.

He’d had the feeling he had all the pieces of the puzzle and he’d been right, but it had taken him until now to put them all together. He was the only person that knew enough, and that was why Roy was unperturbed. He was going to make sure that Bryant could never share what he’d just realised with anyone else. He’d always known that the photo Roy had shown him had significance, and he’d just realised why.

It had been staring him in the face all week, but he hadn’t seen it. Now it was the thing that was going to prevent him walking away from the rooftop and making sure Roy faced justice for what he’d done.

‘The photo,’ he said, meeting Roy’s gaze, and knew he was right.

He didn’t get the chance to say anything more.

In a flash, Roy had covered the space between them and bulldozed him to the ground.

Seventy-One

‘Were you sent here to spy on us?’ Red asked as he pulled out of the car park.

Kim didn’t particularly want to chat, but there was little she could do to close the gap between them and her colleague any quicker. Pippa Jacobs had hinted that Roy Moss was capable of anything to cover his own ass, and she believed it. Roy knew that Bryant knew more about him than anyone and that had put him in danger.

‘Three names were left in our war room,’ she answered, choosing to omit certain information. ‘The first one was Jasmine Swift.’

Red swallowed deeply.

She waited, knowing his response to this was important.

‘I’m gonna be completely honest here. I fucked up with Jasmine,’ he said, shaking his head regretfully. ‘After attending her call about the burglary, I became too familiar with her. I misread the signs. She did nothing wrong, and it was my mistake completely. I shouldn’t have contacted her.’