Page 161 of The Killer’s Mark

‘What on earth did you do, Poe?’

‘I didn’t do anything, sir. I think the Red Chamber just tangled with the wrong people.’

Gilliard didn’t immediately respond. When he did, he said, ‘Yes, I think they did.’

He ended the call.

‘It’s really over, isn’t it?’ Esmerée said.

‘Sure is, kiddo,’ Poe said.

‘And you had to save my mom?’

‘No. But I did anyway.’

‘I guess she was just trying to survive.’

‘She was. But don’t let her off the hook. She’s an evil bastard.’

‘Oh, I still hate her, and as soon as she starts making honey again, I’m going to bad-mouth her business on Trustpilot.’

‘I have it on good authority that someone pissed in her beehives.’

‘Piss honey? It’s a start, I suppose.’ She stood. ‘Well, you guys, it’s been real, but I guess I’d better get going.’

‘Where?’ Estelle said.

‘Dunno yet. Didn’t think this was ever going to get sorted, so I haven’t given it much thought. I might just travel for a bit. See the world.’

Poe snorted. ‘Who are you, the world’s littlest hobo? You going to get a stick with a polka-dot hanky tied to the end?’

‘Screw you, Poe!’ Esmerée snapped. She was almost in tears. ‘I didn’t ask to be born.’

‘Do you know anyone who did?’

‘I’ve got to be somewhere. Can’t leech off you guys for ever. You have your own lives to lead, your own shit to deal with.’

Estelle smiled at her. ‘Why can’t you stay here, Esmerée?’ she said. ‘It’s not as if we don’t have the room.’

Esmerée snorted, even louder than Poe had. ‘What you gonna do, adopt me?’

‘We thought about it,’ Poe admitted.

‘Fuck you, I ain’t Annie, asshole.’

‘Annie Asshole? I’m sure she was in one of those porn films I watched.’

‘I ain’t anyone’s orphan.’

‘And Highwood isn’t anyone’s orphanage.’

‘I ain’t anyone,’ Esmerée said softly, sadly. ‘I wish I was. If I was someone, I’d maybe hang around. Get a flat. Get a proper job. Maybe see you guys sometimes. That’s why I can’t stay here. You all have these high-flying careers. The doc’s a hot-as-fuck pathologist, Tilly’s a total brainiac who does spy shit in her spare time, and Poe’s just about the coolest dude I’ve ever met. You’re all the coolest dudes I’ve ever met. My friends even, if kids can ever be friends with adults. But if I stayed, I’d get all miserable. I’d want to do what you guys do. But I can’t because I DON’T FUCKING EXIST!’

‘Well aren’t you just a little ray of pitch black?’ Poe said. ‘But I appreciate you calling me an adult. I think it might be the first time it’s ever happened.’ He stood. Walked over to the sideboard and helped himself to a digestive biscuit. ‘Oh, and just for the record, you’re now officially the biggest drama queen in the house. Even bigger than Edgar. And he limped for a month after he stepped on a bee, and the vet said it hadn’t even stung him.’

Estelle joined him. Bradshaw opened her laptop and waited.

‘I agree with everything you’ve just said, Esmerée,’ Estelle said. ‘You aren’t anyone. You don’t exist. Your mother didn’t register your birth.’