Page 80 of Pride

It wasn’t a random killing.

My gut told me as much.

Fighting nausea, I started to read the article, and when I did, the details made my stomach turn.

Renowned Editor-in-Chief of the Merivale Echo, Stephen Gold, aged sixty-four, was found murdered late last night. His body was discovered in the Livery Street canal by a passingdog walker. Early indications suggest he was strangled. His body was dumped in the canal, and both his ankles and wrists were tied with rope. He also had a plastic bag tied over his head, and his tongue had been cut out.

Police are appealing for any witnesses to come forward who may have been in the vicinity of Livery Street that evening.

Stephen Gold was a highly respected...

I couldn’t read on.

I’d seen enough.

“Itwashim. I’d bet any money on it.” I took a deep breath. “And he’ll come for me next.”

Alex stood up, came straight over to me and crouched down beside my chair. I tried to hide the fact that my hands were shaking as I stared back at him.

“He’s not coming for you. I told you. That’s over now.” He took my hand in his and gave it a squeeze. “Please, Emma. Trust me. You’re safe with me. I would never let anyone hurt you.”

I nodded, but I couldn’t shake the feeling of dread.

“I’m not sure any of us are safe anymore,” I said quietly.

“You are.” His eyes burned into me as if he was willing me to believe him, and I did, to an extent. But no one could be one hundred percent safe.

Things happened.

We weren’t always in control.

“As long as there’s breath in my body, you will always be safe,” he went on, adding, “I hate to say this, after what you’ve just read...” He hung his head and sighed. Then, after a beat, he looked back up at me and said, “I have to go into one of my offices today. You can come with me if you want, if you’d prefer not to be here alone with the house staff.”

“I don’t need to come with you,” I assured him. “I’ll be okay.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’ll be fine. Honestly. You can’t cancel work over something like this. Life has to go on.”

“Okay, well, when I’m gone, how about doing something positive, proactive even. Something to take your mind off things. To try and forget what’s happened to Gold and focus on your future. I can leave my office open for you if you like. You can use my computer to research careers, or better yet, do some writing. I know you’ve always wanted to be a writer. Why not start today?”

I didn’t think I could calm my brain long enough to write anything of substance, not with everything that was swirling around in there. My mind was a dark place at times these days.

But I nodded, and said, “I think I might do that. Thank you.”

He stood up, then leaned down and gave me a kiss on my forehead. A kiss that settled my nerves a little.

“When I get home, we’ll see if we can organise a second date.” He gave me a wink, then told me he wouldn’t be long, that he’d try to wrap up his business as soon as he could, and that he’d see me later.

I watched him walk away and then turned to peer down at the newspaper in front of me as Stephen Gold’s face smiled back at me from the front page.

“You thought you were untouchable, that it was all a joke,” I whispered to myself. “And now look what’s happened. Nobodies laughing now. Especially not you.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

EMMA

Alex was right; I needed a distraction. So, once he’d left, I ventured down to his office.