Page 105 of To All the Men I’ve Killed Before

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

It’s Travis.

Standing there with a half smile on his face like I haven’t just spent the last however many hours stressing my tits off.

‘Hey, Kitty,’ he says.

‘Where the fuck have you been?’ I ask as I usher him inside. ‘I’ve been trying to get hold of you! Oh my God!’

I shoo him through to the kitchen, where he and Charlie warily regard each other.

‘Charlie, Travis. Travis, Charlie,’ I say by way of introduction before I turn my attention fully to Travis. ‘Where the hell have you been?’ I shake my head. ‘Never mind that. I don’t care. What have you found?’

He looks blank for a tiny moment.

‘Oh right, Antoinette,’ he says. ‘She hasn’t turned up yet then?’

I stare at him. ‘No, Travis,’ I say. ‘She hasn’t turned up yet. I texted you about this last night. Did you not get it?’

Travis frowns a little and pulls his phone out of his pocket. ‘Oh,’ he says. ‘So you did. Sorry. Not sure how that slipped past me.’ He sucks in a sharp breath as he catches up on my messages. ‘Well, that’s not good.’

‘No shit—’ Agnes starts to say but I interrupt.

‘We were hoping you might be able to trace the number. Is that something you can do?’

Travis doesn’t lift his eyes from his phone. ‘Um,’ he says. ‘I can try. Sure.’

‘What about her iPad? Did you find anything on there?’

‘Yes,’ Agnes says. ‘Did you manage to trace the IP address from those messages?’

Travis finally looks up at us. ‘Not exactly,’ he says. ‘I’ve been following up on some other leads.’

Charlie has been quiet up until this point but he comes over now and stands directly in front of Travis.

‘What are these other leads then, mate?’ he asks. I give Charlie a glare. He’s being rude, which isn’t like him. But also, I don’t think he needs to be. We’re depending on Travis here. But Charlie ignores me. ‘They must be good, right? Because Kitty’s been trying to get hold of you urgently.’

Travis just stares at him.

‘We’re waiting,’ Charlie says. ‘Have you found out anything at all?’

Travis still doesn’t say anything but a bead of sweat appears on his upper lip.

‘You’re not a PI at all, are you?’ Charlie says.

Travis sinks into one of the chairs and drops his head into his hands. ‘No,’ he says in a quiet voice.

What?

What?

I take a step towards him, rage and confusion twisting my hands into fists. I feel Agnes gently grab my arm, holding me back.

Travis looks up at me. ‘I’m so sorry, Kitty.’

‘What do you mean you’re sorry?’ I spit. ‘What do you mean you’re not a PI? Of course you are. You’ve been helping me?’

He shakes his head, which is hanging with shame. ‘I’m not. I’m not. And I’m just so sorry. It was never meant to get this far.’