Leave Her Hanging: A Noir Thriller

Chapter Twenty-Nine

After school I went home, had a bowl of cornflakes, got my head straight. I checked all my bruises—most of them were fading well. My knuckles had stopped stinging every time I put them under hot water. It took a long shower before I felt clean, but it helped. I took a nap for a couple of hours until Dad got up and Leanne came home and it was time for dinner. I felt better after that. Alive. I sat down at the table with my parents, gave my smile a few good tries. Leanne said things like, “I’m so glad you’re moving on. You’re looking so much healthier. We’ve been worried about you the last few days, haven’t we, honey?”

Dinner tasted like the best thing I’d eaten in a long time. Pork chops, a big helping of mashed potato, broccoli, cauliflower. We even had ice cream for dessert. I demolished the lot of it. After dinner we sat on the couch and watched TV for an hour. Some British comedy, I don’t know, I wasn’t really there. I absentmindedly stroked Phineas, listened to him purr. At half past eight I said I was going to go catch up on some of the homework I’d missed. Leanne gave Dad a big smile, as if to say, “I told you he’d be all right.”

As soon as I was upstairs in my room, I closed the door and pulled out my cell phone. Dialled.

“Is it set up?” I said.

“Yes,” Jo Kim said. He sounded like he was afraid I was going to crawl through the phone and kick his teeth in. “I told them you’ve been primed. They’re expecting you tomorrow night at eleven. They’ll pick you up from Taylors Park. They want you to wear a red shirt.”

“Good,” I said, even though I didn’t feel it. I didn’t know how this was going to go. I didn’t know what I’d end up having to do. But none of that mattered anymore. I was committed now, no backing out, no crying to the cops. “If you tip them off about who I am….”

“I won’t, I promise.”

“Good,” I said again. Then I hung up.

I felt better now. As good as I could, given the circumstances. I had a way in. If there was something in there that could help me figure out who’d killed Ella, I’d find it.

I slept.

~~~

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