Page 104 of To All the Men I’ve Killed Before

I try him again. And again.

I leave a voicemail that’s verging on hysterical and another one that definitely is.

My coffee goes untouched. And then cold.

The morning turns into the afternoon and I still can’t get hold of him.

‘Where the fuck is he?’ I scream at no one.

‘Kits?’ Charlie says, pulling his phone out. ‘What did you say his last name is?’

‘Truman,’ I say. ‘Why?’

‘Truman with an e or without?’

‘Um, pretty sure without. Why? What are you doing?’

‘I’m trying to find a website for him. To see if there’s another contact number but there’s nothing online.’

‘What do you mean?’

He holds out his phone and shows me page after page of Google results. ‘I can’t find anything about a Travis Truman Investigations,’ he says. ‘How did you find him?’

‘Antoinette did,’ I say. ‘She said that he came very highly recommended.’

‘Recommended by who?’

Oh God.

‘Reddit,’ I say slowly. ‘Antoinette got all his details from Reddit.’

Charlie blinks quickly several times. ‘Right. But you’ve been to his office, right? You know where he works. Where we can find him?’

I blink back. ‘Um …’

‘What? What is it, Kits?’

‘His office is a juice bar.’

‘I don’t understand.’

‘We met him in a juice bar on Sunset. He said his office was being renovated.’ I slump backwards and hold my head in my hands. Charlie exhales deeply. ‘There’s no office, is there?’

I’m so stupid.

Why did I not even think to check Travis’s credentials myself?

It’s not like Antoinette has ever been thorough in her research. My appointment with a middle-aged woman who she thought could be Aidan Ward speaks for itself.

I look over at Agnes. Her lips are pressed together in a thin line.

I know what she’s thinking.

‘We’re going to have to call the police, aren’t we?’

But before she can reply, there is a hammering at the front door.

57