The Silent Suspect by Nell Pattison (epub e ink reader .TXT) 📕

gave me a quick smile, then jogged up the road to where a police car was obviously waiting for him. I watched him climb into the passenger seat, then turned back to Max, whose expression had turned sour.

Whatever I thought, Paige, I didn’t think you’d found someone else. I believed you when you said that. Maybe I shouldn’t have bothered.

I sighed. Max, I was telling the truth. Rav is a friend, he took me to the hospital after I was mugged and he brought me home today. I threw my hands up. Why am I even explaining myself to you?

You’re right, you don’t owe me anything, he replied, turning and walking out of the door. I watched him go, and for a moment considered going after him, but I didn’t have the energy. He didn’t glance back, and when he was out of sight I shut the door and dragged myself back up to the flat.

My phone beeped. It was a text from Singh.

Is everything okay?

I started typing out a reply, deleted it, then repeated this another three times before throwing my phone down on the sofa in frustration. I couldn’t answer him because I didn’t know.

Fifteen minutes before the fire

Mariusz pedalled furiously in his desperation to get away from there, away from that house. He’d been so fucking stupid, to think that these guys were his friends. They were just using him; he could see that now. And he’d let them into his dad’s house! Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid. They’d told him some story about needing somewhere to leave some stock for a few days; he’d assumed the guy had a shop. He’d given Mariusz some absolutely sick trainers and said there was plenty more where they came from. What a fucking idiot he’d been.

Once he was far enough away from that house, he stopped and got his breath back, leaning his bike up against a wall. He burned with anger and embarrassment when he thought of all their faces as they laughed at him, making fun of him for not realising what they’d been doing. Drugs! His dad was going to kill him. He’d never touched the stuff himself, but even being around them was bad enough.

He started walking, pushing his bike. He was too full of adrenaline to stay still for long. Was there a way to fix it? All those people, whose houses they’d been in … He felt sick just thinking about it.

I’m not a bad person, he told himself. I didn’t know what they were doing. They’d told him they knew these people, that they were mates or relatives. He thought it was a bit strange hanging round someone’s grandad’s house last week, but he never asked any questions. He should have done.

But that didn’t make him feel any better about it. He knew he had got involved with these people willingly, when the lads had approached him in the park three weeks ago. Why had they picked him? Did he look that pissed off with the world that they thought he’d be a good prospect to groom for a life of crime?

His feet took him back to his dad’s house, and he found himself standing on the other side of the street, looking at the front door. He’d been fighting with his mum so much recently, he’d considered moving in with his dad and Nadia full time, but he didn’t want to leave his mum on her own. She’d be devastated if he did that, and even though he knew he was a shit to her a lot of the time, he still didn’t want to hurt her. Maybe he could spend a bit more time with his dad, though. If he told him about what had happened, would he be able to help him? Nadia had seemed uncomfortable being around the lads when they were in the house, but Mariusz had made sure they only usually went there when she was at work. She’d been so nice to him recently, as well, trying to spend more time with him, and he felt like he’d thrown it all back in her face.

Mariusz thought about it for a moment, but then realised it wouldn’t work. His dad would tell him to go to the police, and he couldn’t do that. He’d watched enough TV to know that drug dealers didn’t take kindly to people who ratted them out, and he felt like he’d put his family at risk enough already.

He watched the house for a few minutes. He could see someone moving around in the kitchen – he couldn’t see who it was, but it must be Nadia, because he knew his dad would be at the pub at this time of night. He didn’t let his mum know just how much his dad was drinking again; she’d throw a fit, and she’d probably stop him going round there. Putting his hand in his pocket, he suddenly came up with an idea. It was a crazy one, even he knew that, but it might be a way of stopping these people he’d thought were his friends.

Hanging around, he heard the front door of the house open and close, so he ducked down behind a car. He didn’t want Nadia to see him. If she’d gone out, that meant the house would be empty. Well, no time like the present.

Pulling out his key, he let himself into the house. Looking around him, he spotted a couple of sentimental items, including some photos of his dad and Nadia, so took them and shoved them into his bag. He didn’t bother going into the kitchen, because there wouldn’t be anything in there that he wanted, so he went upstairs to his room and took a few of his belongings.

Once his bag was full, he went back into the living room for a moment and took a last look at it before pulling up his hood and slipping out of the door again. With the deed