“If I’d let the police arrest me? And get put in jail for a murder I didn’t commit? Would you have believed me then?”
I notice a few of the other students in the café are looking around watching us, and I lower my voice.
“I don’t know. I honestly don’t know.”
Then her lips part, and she smiles. The lips that I kissed, not so very long ago.
“Look, I don’t wanna… I don’t want to lose you as a friend Billy. And maybe, if we take things slow… maybe…” She lets her voice fade out. “Maybe it doesn’t have to be over?”
I don’t want it to happen, but I feel my heart start beating faster. This is what a part of me wanted, so bad, while another part said it wouldn’t ever happen, shouldn’t ever happen. But then I think back to my apartment. It’s been going so much better with them, since I got back. I think about Linda Reynolds, whose notes I’ve been using to catch up, and who introduced me to some of the other students on my course. And then I think about Lily, and her amazing house, and that dinner at the yacht club, and her brother and his posh girlfriend. They’re different worlds.
I sigh.
“If you want it to, that is.”
She gives me more of a smile now. But instead of answering her I get up.
“I have to go. I have a class, then I have to write three months’ worth of essays.”
“Sure.” Lily’s smile fades away. She glances at my untouched coffee, unopened bottle of water, but doesn’t say anything about them.
“Goodbye Lily,” I say, and I turn around and walk away.
I only get to the door, before my cellphone rings. I pull it out and glance at the screen, but then I wait until I’m outside before answering it.
“Hi Sarah,” I say. I get that feeling again, my heart beating faster, only it’s different this time. It’s less fear, less feeling like I’m about to be found out any moment. That this shouldn’t be happening, it’s more like a feeling of something that fits.
“I just wanted to say I’m looking forward to seeing you, tonight,” Sarah says, and I glance at Lily, through the window. She’s still sitting there, watching me through the glass.
“Yeah,” I say. “So am I.”
And with that, I walk away.
Thank you!
Thank you for reading, and as ever, I really hope you enjoyed this book as much as I enjoyed writing it. I’m a little surprised at how Billy is growing up, and I’m curious to see how he ends up, and what he ends up doing with himself. However, I am going to take a short break before writing any more books in the Rockpools series, and focus instead on a rather different series.
You can find out more about that by signing up to my mailing list if you’re not already on it. You’ll also get a free copy of my novella Killing Kind, more details over the page.
A huge thanks to my Beta Readers who helped to clean up the manuscript for this book, and remove my messy errors. Any that remain are all mine.
If you’re new to my other (non Rockpools) books, there follows a short summary of my previous novels.
Thanks again for reading, and if you liked this, please do consider leaving a review (you can do so from the link below)
https://readerlinks.com/l/1667985
Thanks!
Gregg
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greggdunnett.co.uk/nextbook
KILLING KIND
When a six-year-old child picks up a mysterious letter left on a park bench, she discovers a confession from a man who claims to have spent his entire life committing murder after murder after murder.
It’s almost certainly the ravings of a fantasist, but DI Beth Jordan is the undervalued detective sent in to make sure. Yet when she’s able to connect the few actual details in the text to real-life cases, Jordan has the opportunity to solve crimes that have baffled her colleagues for decades.
But there’s a reason why the killer is confessing now – and it’s not to give himself up. As more letters are discovered it becomes clear he is planning one last, terrible murder. Jordan is forced to dive deep into the killer’s mind to identify him before he can strike. But at the same time, the killer is studying her right back, using her to find the name of his final victim.
Because – in this twisted and dark novella – the dividing line between good and evil, right and wrong, is far less clear than it might first appear.
Can DI Jordan discover the real reason why he kills, before it’s too late?
And just whose name is next on the killer’s list?
Killing Kind is a fast moving and totally absorbing novella with a killer twist, from US and UK bestselling mystery and suspense writer Gregg Dunnett.
Here’s a taste of what Amazon readers are saying:
'A thrill a minute'
'Totally satisfying novella. A great read!'
'Original and thought provoking.'
'Different, clever. Unputdownable...'
‘Read it today!’
Read free by visiting this webpage:
greggdunnett.co.uk/nextbook
Also by Gregg Dunnett
The Wave at Hanging Rock
Three boys grow up on the wild coast of Wales. One of them is destined to be a killer, just not the one you think…
eBook and paperbacks:
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Audiobooks:
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The Desert Run
Fresh out of uni and drowning in debt, an adventurous pair find an unusual way to start their careers…
eBook and paperbacks:
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Audiobooks:
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The Girl on the Burning Boat
When Alice’s businessman father turns up dead, everyone thinks it’s an accident. Until her boyfriend discovers evidence that things are not as they seem…
eBook and paperbacks:
Amazon / Kindle Unlimited
Audiobooks:
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The Glass Tower
Julia Otley has just achieved her life long dream - to be recognised as a literary star. But some people are just not cut out for stardom….
eBook and paperbacks:
Amazon / Kindle Unlimited
Audiobooks:
Audible / Apple iBooks / Amazon Audio
Copyright © 2021 by Gregg Dunnett
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
The Island of Dragons (Rockpools Book 4) Page 32