Page 85 of The Angel Maker

She looked at the property behind him. Although it was closed and empty now, it was one of the few buildings on the street that appeared to be still in use. A café of some sort. She stepped to one side of him and peered in through the window, then tried the door handle.

She turned back to Alderson.

“Who was he meeting?”

“I don’t know exactly—a man who called us. He knew Chris had the book, and he was willing to pay for it.”

She shook her head.

“What book?”

“Something written by a guy called Jack Lock. This is going to sound crazy, but it’s supposed to tell the future.”

Alderson seemed like he wanted to laugh at the idea but couldn’t quite bring himself to. Instead, he took a drag on his cigarette and then breathed a plume of smoke out into the amber light. As it spread and unfolded in the air, Katie tried to remember what she’d read about Jack Lock last night. There had been something about a book, hadn’t there?

It’s supposed to tell the future.

Again, she shook her head.

“What—”

But whatever question she had been going to ask was interrupted by a buzzing in her pocket, and then a trill of accompanying music that feltdangerously loud in this deserted street. She took her cell phone out quickly. The screen showed another unidentified number.

She accepted the call and held the phone to her ear.

“Hello?”

“Is this Katie Shaw?”

A man’s voice. She hesitated.

“Yes.”

“Ah, that’s great. I’m glad to get hold of you, Katie. I’m Detective Laurence Page. It’s good to speak to you again, by the way. Maybe you remember me?”

The name meant nothing.

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Well, it’s a weird one. Me and your family actually go back a bit. I was involved when your brother was attacked as a teenager. It was me who met you at the police tape that afternoon.”

Now she remembered. Laurence Page. He was very tall, with a friendly face. Once she’d stopped trying to see past him that day, he’d made an effort to stoop a little so he was more on her level.

It’s my fault, she remembered telling him.

Over and over.

He’d frowned and tilted his head.

Oh, honey. It’s not your fault.

Not at all.

“Yes,” she said quietly now. “I remember that.”

“And now the two of us are talking again. Maybe that’s a coincidence—but honestly? I’m not so sure anymore. I can’t quite make sense of it all just yet, but I’m hoping you can help me out a little with that. Have you seen your brother recently?”

Be careful, Katie thought. Because he sounded just as friendly as she remembered him. But she wasn’t a kid anymore, and neither was Chris.

---