Page 106 of To All the Men I’ve Killed Before

I glare at him. ‘You lied? My sister is fucking missing and you’ve been lying to me?’

He can barely look me in the eye as he mutters again how sorry he is.

‘Who the hell are you then?’ I ask.

‘My name really is Travis Truman,’ he says. ‘But I’m an actor.’

An actor.

A fucking actor.

‘I’m auditioning for a role as a PI,’ he’s saying as if his explanation means anything, as if it could possibly cut through the red mist of rage that’s engulfed me. ‘I was trying a bit of method …’

‘A fucking role!’ I scream as I shake Agnes off and fly at him.

‘That’s where I recognised you from,’ Agnes says. ‘I’ve seen you at auditions.’

I have never been angrier in my life.

I want to rip his throat out.

I want to scratch his eyes out.

I want to squeeze the life out of him with my bare hands.

But before I reach him, Charlie has wrapped me in his arms and pulled me close into his chest. I struggle a bit to get away but he holds me tight.

‘Get out,’ I hiss at Travis. ‘Get the fuck out.’

‘I’m sorry,’ he says again as he stands up. ‘I really am.’ He turns to go but then spins back to face me again. ‘I just met you. And I really liked you,’ he says. ‘So I kept pretending. I’m really sorry, Kitty.’

‘We have wasted time waiting for you,’ I say, my voice a snarl. ‘We thought you were helping us.’

He bows his head.

‘I trusted you. And all you’ve done is waste our time.’

‘I don’t know what else to say.’ He looks cornered. Useless.

‘I think you’d better go,’ Charlie says.

And he does.

Leaving the rest of us staring after him in shock.

58

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

Agnes is the first to speak.

‘I don’t believe it,’ she says. ‘What the fuck?’

All the rage has evaporated from my body, leaving me feeling light-headed and weak. I pull away from Charlie and sink into a chair.

‘He lied,’ I say. ‘It was all lies.’

‘So we’re no closer to finding Antoinette?’ Agnes says, her shoulders dropping.