The Mute and the Liar (44 page)

It
was
only
when
he
suddenly
shook
me
even
harder
that
I
finally
snapped back
into
my
senses.
I
let
my
hands
instinctively
shoot
out
and
push
him away.
He
immediately
let
go
and
even
moved
a
little
away
from
me.

That's
when
I
noticed
his
eyes.
They
were
back
to
normal
-
something had
washed
out
the
metallic
blackness
in
them.
In
fact,
his
whole
face
had softened.

And
within
seconds,
his
arms
were
around
me.
I
froze
and
held
my breath,
feeling
my
pulse
begin
racing
again.
Run
away
,
whispered
every
bone in
my
body.
Run
away
now.
But
I
couldn't
find
the
ability
to
move.

“
I
need
you
to
come
with
me.
”
His
voice
was
back
to
Jayce's
now:
calm
and
steady.
“
You don’t understand anything. There are so many things you
don’t
know,
and
so
many
things
you
need
to
understand.
Just come with me. Please.
I… I
need
you. Trust
me.
”

Trust
me.

That’s
it.
I
remember
Jayce's
last
bit
of
advice.

Number
three:
to
trust
a
lying man.

T
ime
was
travelling
syrup-slow.
Every
minute
was
a
decade.
We
just
sat
there
-
me
crying,
Jayce
caught
somewhere
in
between
crying
and
screaming.
After
what
felt
like
years
in
that
broken
time
loop,
Jayce
clasped
my
hand
and
pulled
me
up,
his
mouth
settled
into
a
suppressed,
unrevealing
line.

I
couldn’t
bring
myself
to
leave
Jeffrey.
But
we
needed
t
o
.
People
c
ould
walk
in
at
any
moment.
They
would
see
what
Jayce
had
done.
What
I
had
let
him do.
I
should have
stopped him.
Should have
done
something.

It
flickered
across
my
mind
that
I
could
have
used
that
moment
to
try
and
run
away
again,
but
that
would
have
led
to
questions,
and
then
I
would
have
had
to
tell
people
everything.
About
how
all
of
this happened
because
of
me.
Jeffrey
tried
to
help
me.
If
I
had
never
run
past
him
today,
this
wouldn't
have
happened.
I
didn't
even
try
to
stop
Jayce.
Just
stood there, watching it all happen. Just let him do it.
I
might as well have killed him myself.

So
I
let
Jayce
pull
me
up.
I
let
him
lead
me
out
of
the
door
. I
stumble
slightly,
feeling
dizzy
and
nauseous,
and
find
myself
holding
onto
him
even
tighter.

We
start
walking
at
a
steady
pace
first.
I
have
to
remind
myself
that
walking
means
putting
one
foot
in
front
of
the
other.
Left.
Right.
Left.
Right.
Left,
right,
left.
Suddenly
we’re
running.
Running
and
running.
Although
I’m
not
entirely
sure
whether
we
are
running
from
the
imaginary
police
offers
chasing
us, or running away from who we have become.

*****

9:12
PM

I
haven’t
seen
Jayce
since
we
got
back
to
Kit’s
house.
He
sauntered
off
silently
to
his
room
and
never
reappeared.
In
the
meantime
I
gathered
up
all
the
newspapers
in
the
house
and
just
flicked
through
them
without
writing
anything
down
or
trying
to
solve
any
cases.
I
wasn’t
even
reading
the
m,
just
looking
at
them
-
I
couldn't
process
anything.
To
me,
the
letters
were
just
black
squiggles
wriggling
around
the
page
.
I
might
as
well
have
been
trying
to
read Chinese
.

I
rummage
through
the
drawer
next
to
me
out
of
sheer
boredom.
It’s
no
use
even
hoping
to
find
something
that
will
get
me
out
of
here.
I’ve
already
searched
the
whole
house
twice.
There’s
just
nothing.
A
nd
even
though
I
know
I
shouldn’t
get
my
hopes
up,
I
still
feel
d
rained
when
all
I
find
are
a few
ancient
face
creams
in
here
and
half
of
a
hairbrush.

Actually,
wait
a
second. What’s
that
on
the
bottom
of
the
drawer?
A
newspaper!
It’s
been folded
to
highlight
one particular
article.

15
th
December
2010.

MARTY
WILSON’S
BODY
FOUND.

Today
will
forever
be
remembered
as
a
day
of
mourning
for
the
boxing
world.
Amateur
boxer
Marty
Wilson,
25,
declared
missing
on
the
12
th
December
shortly
after
celebrating
his
victory
in
the
Eleventh
Southeastern
Amateur
Boxing
Regionals,
has
been
found
dead
this
morning.
His
body
was
pulled
from
the
River
Medway
at
approximately
2:05
a.m.
after
locals
heading
back
from
a
night
out
noticed
what
they
thought
to
be
an
animal
in
the
river.
Witness’
reports
have
suggested
Wilson
was
under
the
influence
of
alcohol.
It
is
believed
the
celebrations
got
out
of
hand,
with
some
witnesses
claiming
he
had
struck
up
a
fight
with
another
contester
from
the
Regionals.
Wilson
may
have,
at
some
point
that
night,
decided
to
go
for
a
swim
in
the
River,
and
ultimately
met
an
early,
ill-fated
end.
“
He
had
so
much
potential.
He
could
have
been
a
legend,
”
honours
his
coach
Leonard
Ajayi.
Our
thoughts
and
prayers
are
with
Wilson’s
family,
friends
and
supporters
through
this
tragic
time.

Marty.
Why
does
that
name
sound
familiar?