Page 90 of To All the Men I’ve Killed Before

‘Hey, Travis,’ I say. ‘How are you?’

‘Not bad,’ he says. ‘I mean, no one has physically assaulted me after what I thought was a good date for a few days.’

I cringe.

‘I really can’t tell you how sorry I am about what happened,’ I say.

‘I know how sorry you are. I got your texts.’

‘Oh. Good,’ I say. ‘I wasn’t sure because you didn’t reply.’

I hear him sigh. ‘I’ve just been busy. I’m sorry. I wasn’t deliberately ignoring you.’ He sounds kinder now, his voice doesn’t have the edge to it that it did when he answered. ‘What are you up to?’

‘Actually,’ I say, ‘this isn’t a social call. I need your help with something.’

‘Okay. What?’

I don’t want to go through it all over the phone. ‘It’s complicated,’ I say. ‘Can you come over?’

There’s a pause. ‘I’m out on a job at the moment,’ he says. ‘But I can stop by this evening. Is that okay?’

It’ll have to be.

‘That’s great,’ I say.

I hang up and turn to Agnes, who’s looking at me with expectation.

‘He’s out of the area at the moment, but he’s going to come over later.’

She closes her eyes with relief. ‘Do you think he’ll be able to help us?’

‘I’m sure he will.’

I think about Travis and his not-that-brilliant attempt at finding Aidan Ward and suddenly I’m not so sure at all.

But it’s not like we have any other options.

50

The wine cellar, Kitty and Antoinette’s Airbnb, West Hollywood, Los Angeles

I head back to the villa after I’ve spoken to Travis.

There’s something in the wine cellar I need to deal with.

I’ve grabbed a knife from the kitchen.

Something small and mass-produced.

It’s not ideal.

I wanted to take my time with this kill. I wanted to really make him suffer.

But now, it just needs to be quick.

He’s still curled up in the corner when I turn the cellar lights on. He doesn’t even turn to look at me this time.

Is he dead already?