Page 70 of M for Murder

He smiled again, and his eyes crinkled.

‘Like I said, Justine, we have a lot in common, the two of us. We both want something which is at the moment unobtainable to us. But I think that if we work together, we might be able to change that situation.’

‘I don’t get what you mean,’ Justine said, beginning to understand exactly what he meant. She felt her heart skip a beat. ‘You want Kylan, don’t you?’

He didn’t answer, instead giving her a faint smile that led her to believe she had guessed correctly. She chewed her bottom lip, realising that maybe the situation wasn’t quite as bleak as it had initially looked. If she worked with him, then maybe she really would have a shot at getting Lawrie.

‘Okay, you’ve got me interested. A little bit interested.’

‘Good. I knew I could count on you, Justine.’

Justine nodded, still feeling a little uneasy. ‘So what’s your plan then?’

He glanced around the diner again before shifting his chair a little closer.

‘I want you to meet me tonight. I’ll pick you up outside this diner, and then I’ll tell you the plan.’

Justine stared at him, aware the colour was draining from her face. ‘You want me to go off alone with you?’ she asked, not liking the idea at all.

‘Why not?’

‘I can’t. We have a curfew.’

‘A curfew? Really?’ He looked at her and smiled. ‘Don’t worry, Justine, I’ll look after you.’

Justine shrugged. ‘I don’t know. I’m not sure it’s a good idea.’

‘Why not? You do want to do this, don’t you?’ His tone was baiting.

‘Do I have a choice?’ she mumbled, more so to herself, as she remembered what he had said about Lawrie.

‘No, I guess you don’t.’

‘I didn’t think so.’ Justine gazed uncomfortably at her lap.

‘You’ve got to learn to trust me, Justine.’

‘Trust you? You’re blackmailing me, for Christ’s sake!’

The man rolled his eyes. He leant forward, a slight look of irritation on his face. ‘Look, don’t be so melodramatic. I’m not forcing you to meet me tonight. If you want, get up and go and pretend we never met.’ He paused, grinning at her. ‘Of course, I won’t be able to offer you any guarantees that Lawrie won’t find out about his late-night visitor.’ He studied her face carefully. ‘It’s up to you, Justine; the decision’s all yours. You want to walk away? You want to call my bluff? Then go.’

Justine shuffled uneasily in her seat. She glanced at the door of the diner, knowing that if she got up and walked through it now, she would never be able to face Lawrie Parker again. Not sure she was doing the right thing, she stayed where she was, her gaze focused on her lap.

She heard the man’s voice, this time less forceful.

‘Good girl, Justine. I knew you’d do the right thing.’

She looked up at him, forcing a smile, and hoped that she was.

26

R ebecca pulled open the front door and rolled her eyes when she saw Joel Hickok standing in the hallway. ‘Let me guess, you want to go exploring again?’

Hickok grinned and held up a pizza box. ‘Pepperoni and mushroom okay?’ he asked, ignoring her question and pushing his way past her into the living room.

‘Come in, why don’t you?’ Rebecca muttered under her breath, not making any effort to stop him, and swung the door shut. She was a little surprised to be getting a visit from Hickok, who had been blowing hot and cold towards her all week. One minute he was being Mr Nice Guy and acting all concerned about how she was handling things then, before she had a chance to wonder if perhaps she had him pegged wrong, he’d do something that proved him to be an even bigger jerk than she already thought him to be. Like on Friday morning, he had bitten her head off in the parking lot for suggesting they contact Jennifer Isaac, but then later on that day, having thought it over and decided it was in fact a good idea, not even having the decency to apologise. Maybe that was why he was here now. Perhaps he had come to tell her he was sorry.

Possible, but unlikely. Although she had only known him for a couple of weeks, Rebecca had quickly come to the conclusion that Joel Hickok got a real kick out of irritating her. She knew that she should try to rise above his puerile attitude and not let it bother her, but he was too good at making her bite.