Page 18 of A Game of Lies

Gayle has not met Harris yet. On their last date – on theirthirddate, Leo reminds himself – she asked to go with Leo when he picked Harris up from school, and she has taken to FaceTiming rather than calling Leo, on days when she knows Harris is at home with him.

‘Childrenadoreme,’ she keeps telling him.

Leo texts back.

Should be free. Work depending. Bit soon to be making introductions though – hope you understand.

He watches as the message sends and is marked as read. Dancing dots show that Gayle is typing, typing, typing …

And then nothing. Leo winces.

‘Dad?’

‘Sorry, mate, I’m all yours.’ Leo smiles. ‘Find your reading book and let’s see what Biff and Chip are up to, shall we?’

‘And Kipper.’

‘Of course.’

As Harris runs for his book bag, Leo stares at his phone. He could call her back. Ffion, not Gayle. Or should he WhatsApp her?

But if Ffion had wanted to talk she’d have stayed on the line, wouldn’t she? She’d have answered his questions, told him what she was up to, how things were going. Instead, she couldn’t get off the phone fast enough.

Leo switches his phone to silent.

Later, after Biff and Chip have found yet another magic kingdom, and Leo and Harris have eaten their pizza (undercooked in the middle, but otherwise excellent), Leo puts Harris to bed, grabs a beer and brings up the search engine on his phone. You’d have to be living under a rock not to have heard about last night’s explosive episode ofExposure. While Leo was driving to work this morning there had been a phone-in on the radio about reality TV exploitation, and someone in the office had opened a book on which of theExposurecontestants would be evicted first.

And now a contestant has gone missing.

The first few search results are news outlets, including a tabloid kiss-and-tell from a woman who once dated Ceri Jones, whom Leo remembers well from the Rhys Lloyd case a year and a half ago; and a line-by-line analysis of the report from the latest inspection of Pam Butler’s school. There are several articles devoted to the Reverend Lucas Taylor, who Leo is surprised to learn had spent time in prison, when he was a young man.Your secret’s out!reads the headline. Leo skim-reads the articles. Further down, the search results include links to viral tweets and Facebook groups dedicated to discussing every move theExposurecontestants make. Leo clicks on a YouTube link on the second page. After the obligatory twenty-second advert, a young woman in purple dungarees starts talking at a hundred miles an hour.

‘Welcome toHart Breaks! I’m your host, Zee Hart, back with another episode ofExtra Exposureand I’m telling you, you’re gonna want to stick around till the end, ’cause this one is kerray-zee! Don’t forget to like and subscribe!’

Leo presses his fingers to his temples. Watching Zee Hart feels like being waterboarded.

‘So, I’m minding my own business this morning, editing some footage for you lovely lot – and yes, the promised clip of Jason chopping wood is coming, guys! – when I had a visit from … the police.’

Leo sits up. Zee Hart’s talking head has shrunk. It’s bobbing about in the corner of the screen, which is now filled with video footage to which Zee is adding her commentary. ‘This is DC Morgan and DC Kent,’ she says, as the two detectives walk away from the camera.

Leo pressespause. Ffion is turned to one side, talking to her colleague, and Leo recognises the tilt of her chin, the sprinkle of freckles across her face. He feels a jolt of sadness as he pressesplayagain, and she walks away.

‘As a result of our conversation,’ Zee is saying, ‘I can exclusively reveal that a contestant has disappeared from theExposurecamp. That’s right –disappeared! Now, I was given the contestant’s name in strict confidence, and I’m sorry, you guys, but I’m a woman of my word. All I can do is lay out the facts and let you draw your own conclusions …’

As Zee starts to run through the physical descriptions of the four male contestants, Leo stops the video. He notices that the views have increased by several thousand in the few minutes he’s been watching, and when he refreshes his search engine Zee’s video appears on the first page. The news is going viral.

There’s one more piece of research Leo wants to do, before he checks in with his DI. He reaches for the remote and turns on the TV, and there’s a crash of chords as the opening titles play. Episode two ofExposurebegins.

SIX

TUESDAY | DARIO KIMBER | EPISODE TWO

After a decade chasing shoplifters, Dario Kimber had worked on the door at a Manchester nightclub, where he was a little heavy-handed when it came to ejecting patrons. An accusation of assault was eventually dropped, but Dario had found himself unemployed for the first time since he was sixteen.

Exposurefelt like an opportunity for a new start. Dario was fit and strong, and survival challenges in the Welsh mountains would be a walk in the park. He was so convinced he was the perfect fit for the show that it came as a surprise to receive a single-line email saying thatYoung Productions is sorry to say you have not been selected for the show.

He was even more surprised, a month ago, to receive a call from Young Productions, asking where Dario was based. Dario was worried he’d been rumbled for the abusive email he had anonymously sent to Miles Young after his rejection, but it turned out to be a location manager checking Dario’s availability for a security job.

‘I’ll be honest with you,’ the guy said, ‘I’ve cocked up. I totally forgot to book security, and I need to find someone this week or the shit’s going to hit the fan.’

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