Page 100 of To All the Men I’ve Killed Before

I suppose there’s not really much I can do until Travis comes back with Antoinette’s iPad. And I want to tell Charlie everything.

‘Okay,’ I say. ‘Why don’t you take a shower while I order in?’

‘Perfect,’ he says.

Once I’ve shown him where everything is I come back downstairs and make sure I’ve locked the wine cellar door.

54

Kitty and Antoinette’s Airbnb, West Hollywood, Los Angeles

‘So what’s been going on?’ Charlie asks later when our food has been delivered and we’re having an impromptu carpet picnic in the lounge.

And so I tell him.

Everything.

About Ron Wilde and his current location in LV luggage in the wine cellar, about Aidan Ward and how he’s rooming with Ron right now, about our surprise housemates. And about the WeHo Ripper and how Antoinette has been determined to hunt him down by posing as a PrivatePool creator.

Charlie’s jaw is hanging open by the time I’ve finished talking.

‘Jesus, Kitty,’ he says, sipping some water but looking for all the world like he needs something stronger. ‘I literally did not predict one part of that.’

‘I know,’ I say as I shovel fried Brussels sprouts into my mouth.

Why am I so hungry?

‘It’s been quite the trip.’

‘And you really think whoever this WeHo Ripper is could have taken her?’

‘I can’t think of anything else,’ I say. ‘She wouldn’t have gone off alone, she’s got no friends here apart from Agnes and Lauren, plus we found her phone outside the house. Smashed. With specks of blood on it.’

‘Shit, Kitty, that’s awful,’ he says. ‘But, you know Antoinette. I’m sure she’s not giving whoever she’s with an easy time.’ He gives me a little smile and reaches for my hand, giving it a reassuring little squeeze. ‘So what’s the plan? What are we going to do?’

‘Travis has her iPad,’ I say. ‘He’s going through it to see if there’s anything that can help us. If not, we’ll have to go to the police.’ I grimace at the thought.

‘Who’s Travis?’ Charlie asks.

Oh that’s right. I haven’t told him that part. An administrative oversight.

‘He’s a private investigator who helped us find Aidan,’ I say. He doesn’t need to know that Travis and I went on a date. There’s no point in muddying the waters.

‘Oh right,’ he says as he sucks in a deep breath, puffing out his cheeks, before blowing it out again. ‘No wonder Tor thought I should come out.’

Hmm.

I still can’t work out what Tor was doing, telling Charlie that I had something to talk to him about.

She doesn’t know about any of this.

‘How was she?’ I say. ‘Like, really?’

He chews through a mouthful of food before answering. ‘Different,’ he says. ‘Nervous. Jumpy.’

‘Hmm. Well, I guess that’s what happens when the man you loved and trusted after an unspeakable trauma turns out to be a monster too.’

Charlie nods. ‘She looked so scared and small. Just completely broken. I kept thinking about that night I first met you all. That god-awful party at the V and A.’