Page 36 of The Devil Within

He sighed. ‘You’ve been pretty distant since we got to Beaune. Whatever it is, just say it.’

Sarah leaned back, appraising the man opposite her. ‘I don’t think you’ve told me everything.’

He nodded. ‘I haven’t gone into a lot of detail, I guess.’

‘It’s more than that, Alex. That night at the Mexican restaurant, you said you had to go and… do your…job.’ How do you even talk about leaving a date to go and kill someone?

The muscles in his neck tensed. ‘We talked about that, on the ferry.’

‘Yes, but there’s something I don’t understand. You said the guy you were sent to kill told you that everyone knew about me. That he had a girlfriend as well and he wanted to protect her, keep her safe.’

Alex narrowed his eyes. ‘What are you getting at?’

‘You claim this was the moment you knew you had to get out of The Devils, because they knew about me and you wanted to keep me safe.’

He licked his lips, but said nothing.

‘He was in the same situation. He had a girlfriend that he wanted to keep safe.’ She leaned forward in her seat. ‘But you still killed him? How could you do that?’

Alex held her stare. The muscles in his jaw twitched. One of his tells. She knew he wasn’t being completely honest with her. But she was done waiting. Sarah wanted the whole truth, now.

ChapterEighteen

Sydney, last year.

The moon had risen a few hours ago but the temperature remained hot. The airconditioning in the pub was working overtime and Alex was glad he swapped his jeans for shorts.

‘So, I was thinking,’ began Sarah.

‘This could be dangerous.’ Alex chuckled. He drained his beer and motioned to the purple-haired bartender for two more.

‘Or not, actually.’ The half-drunk Corona moved back and forth between her hands for a moment. Sarah abruptly pushed it to the side and looked directly at him.

‘London.’

Alex held her gaze, unsure where this was going.

‘I should hear any day now, about the internship,’ Sarah continued. ‘And I thought you could come with me. I mean, nobody knows us there. We could start a life, a real life. Without wondering who might see us together. I’ll have a job already and you could do anything you wanted to.’

He forced himself not to show the surprise he felt as she searched his face.

‘And if you don’t get the internship?’

‘Let’s just go anyway!’ She leant forward and took his hands. ‘It doesn’t have to be London. It could be anywhere in the world. What does it matter? Let’s just go.’

Alex let her words settle around him, turning them over in his mind as the possibilities started to reveal themselves. He felt her hands start to pull away from his and he tightened his grip, catching her fingers before they could escape.

‘Just you and me,’ she whispered.

The waitress broke the moment with two fresh Coronas. ‘That’ll be seventeen dollars.’

‘Keep the change.’ Alex handed her a twenty.

‘What do you think?’ Sarah asked.

Where to begin? ‘It’s not that simple… ’

‘But it could be.’ Sarah moved forward and took his face in her hands, gently bringing his lips to hers. The kiss was more persuasive than her words. ‘What is it?’

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