Page 103 of To All the Men I’ve Killed Before

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

I’m confused when I wake up. I don’t remember coming to bed. I sit up and realise it’s morning.

The next day.

Like there’s not a ticking clock on my sister’s life.

Charlie is lying next to me, staring at the ceiling. He turns to face me when he feels me stir.

‘Morning,’ he says.

‘Why did you let me sleep all night?’ I pull myself out of bed, shivering when my bare feet hit the tiled floor. ‘We need to find Antoinette.’

Charlie reaches out and touches my arm, butterfly soft. ‘Kits,’ he says, ‘you were exhausted. I don’t think I could have woken you up if I’d tried. I had to carry you up here.’

‘Oh,’ I say. ‘Did Travis reply?’

Charlie chews his lip and then shakes his head. ‘No,’ he says. ‘I’m sorry.’

I reach for my phone, which is plugged in next to the bed. Charlie really thinks of everything. The screen is irritatingly empty of notifications. I check my text thread with Travis just in case Charlie missed anything. There’s nothing since the messages I sent last night.

‘Where is he?’

I call him but the phone rings and rings.

What the hell is he playing at?

‘Fuck’s sake,’ I say, flinging the phone away in frustration.

Charlie scoots across the bed and pulls me into his chest. I let my head rest against it, the sound of his heart and the rhythm of his breathing calming my own.

After a moment I pull away.

‘Come on,’ I say. ‘We’d better decide what the next step is.’

In the kitchen, Charlie is making us coffee when Agnes knocks on the door. She has dark circles under her blue eyes that look like she’s been smudged.

‘Is there any news?’ she asks me before she notices Charlie. ‘Oh. Hello.’

‘This is Charlie,’ I say and Agnes raises an eyebrow. ‘He’s going to help us find Antoinette.’

‘Nice to meet you,’ she says.

‘Shame it’s not under better circumstances,’ Charlie says. ‘Would you like coffee?’

Agnes nods and I fill her in on the text I got last night. She looks horrified.

‘And now Travis has gone AWOL,’ I say with a heavy sigh.

‘What? What do you mean?’

‘He’s gone complete ghost-mode,’ I say. ‘Not replying to texts, not answering calls.’

‘Shit,’ Agnes says. ‘I hope he’s okay.’

I do too.

But more than that, I want to know what he’s been able to find out from my sister’s iPad. And I want to know if he can track that number.