The man thought it was the time to tell the truth. ‘You know I’m a student and am doing agency work through the summer but when I’m on days off from that, I just tend to play on the PlayStation, maybe watch a bit of wrestling on TV or football during the season, go to the pub . . . that kind of thing.’

‘Video games and wrestling?’

‘Not all the time.’

Kelly started laughing. ‘No, it’s fine. At least you’re honest. Some guys will tell you anything.’

Frank screwed up his face slightly in his best look of disbelief. ‘Really? That’s just shameless.’

‘Yeah, like you’ll ask them what movie they like and they’ll mention some classic just because it’s in all those top ten of all time lists.’

Frank peered at her but she was smiling. ‘How did you know?’

‘I looked you up – I look everyone up. I don’t just go out with someone based on their stupid dating website profile. Everyone looks like a decent person on there. I read the reviews you wrote on the uni’s magazine website. I know what you’re actually into, that’s why I agreed to meet.’

‘Oh, right. That’s kind of clever. I didn’t do any of that.’

Kelly grinned even more widely and Frank realised he really liked her. ‘No, it’s fine,’ she said. ‘Admittedly I didn’t find anything that said you didn’t know how to drink a cup of coffee but the rest of it seemed nice.’

‘Sorry, I can usually drink without choking,’ Frank smiled. ‘So, er, what do you mean by “looking people up”?’

‘Why, have you got something to hide?’

‘No but . . .’

‘Look, you’re twenty-one and I’m twenty-three. When you’re a young woman on a site like that, you get all types of weirdo wanting to talk to you. You get the older guys telling you how rich they are and that they’ll look after you, then you get the younger ones sending you pictures of their six-packs as if it’s supposed to be impressive.’

Frank must have glanced down at his own non-washboard stomach because Kelly giggled. ‘Look, if it was only pictures of stomachs I got sent, I’d be fine.’

The man felt his eyes widen. ‘Oh . . .’

‘Exactly. By comparison, you’re pretty normal. That’s good.’

‘So do you already know my favourite film?’

‘Yes, you should probably change the privacy settings when you sign up to social networks.’

‘Is it your favourite movie too?’

‘Yes. I used to watch it over and over when I was a kid. I think it’s kind of sweet you like it too.’

Frank didn’t know what to say. He felt a little embarrassed but also slightly ill-equipped as Kelly clearly knew far more about him than he did about her. It did give him hope that he could just be himself rather than have to concentrate non-stop in an effort to try to be someone he wasn’t. He took another drink of his coffee while the woman watched him. ‘Sorry if I sound a little stalker-ish but I’ve been out with a few dicks over the years and I don’t have the time to invest in them any longer. You seemed nice.’

‘Thanks, you seem . . . nice too. A little scary though.’

Kelly laughed. ‘Yeah, I’m terrifying.’

Frank enjoyed the rest of the afternoon. Kelly was certainly different and didn’t seem to have any kind of ego. Her intelligence shone through and, the more they spoke, the more Frank realised she had agreed to go out with him not because of his cheesy message to her on the website but because she had looked up the kind of things he liked and known they had a lot in common. She was happy to laugh at him without it being cruel and have him poke fun at her too. Her confidence was a little intimidating but, if that was her worst trait, he figured it was his problem not hers.

After they finished their first drinks and had another each, Kelly said she had to go because she had an evening shift on the reception desk of the hospital where she worked.

Frank was nervous about asking if she would go out with him again but she didn’t give him any option by saying she’d message him to arrange going out on a Friday or Saturday evening. As they said goodbye outside the cafe, Frank stretched his arm out and they shook hands before going their separate ways. The woman had a massive smile on her face and giggled throughout the handshake and Frank could see how absurd it was. He cursed himself for not trying to hug her at the very least.

It was a fairly short walk home for the man and he spent the journey thinking about little things he could have said differently and wondering how he could phrase a text message later that day to say he’d enjoyed himself. As he neared his flat, Frank decided to stop in the off-licence on the next road over to see if his friend was working.

He entered the shop and was delighted to see a familiar face. ‘Hey, Sanj, how are you doing?’ he said.

The young man behind the counter looked up from the magazine he was reading and grinned. ‘Not bad, how are you, fella? We still on for Friday?’

‘Definitely. Can I use your toilet?’

‘Are you still waiting on a plumber?’

‘Our landlord keeps saying he’ll sort it but we still have to flush with a bucket for now.’

The man behind the counter pulled a face. ‘All right, you know where it is but don’t tell my dad I let you back there.’

Frank walked towards the rear of the store and went through the side door he knew led down a short corridor to the small bathroom. Someone had already left a newspaper in there so he skimmed through it while also checking the emails on his phone. He went to flush the toilet but, as he did so, thought he heard raised voices from the main part of the shop. He quietly opened the door and walked towards the voices. There was a curtain of beads that stretched all the way to the floor and Frank peered through the gaps, being careful not to disturb them.

Despite the warmth of the day, he felt a chill tingle down his back as someone in a black hood stood holding a knife at his terrified friend.

21

After the conversation with Cole, Jessica knew exactly where she was going. A call had come in from a man apparently in a back room of an off-licence just off Oxford Road saying it was being held up by a woman wearing a familiar-sounding black hooded cloak. He told the operator he was going to intervene and had not given the person time to try to talk him out of it.

Jessica had no idea what to expect at the scene because the man who called them had hung up. She could be going to a situation where somebody had been stabbed or to a shop where the person she was trying to track down had been stopped. As she pulled onto the side street where the shop was, her heart sank. Police had sealed off the area and there was a chaotic mix of officers trying to keep pedestrians away, others securing the scene, and an ambulance blocking one end of the road. She hoped the woman she wanted hadn’t escaped but, above that, wanted to hear no one had been hurt.

Jessica parked on double yellow lines, half on the pavement, and bounded towards the officers. ‘What’s going on?’ she said.

One of the officers recognised her and replied. ‘There’s a woman down on the inside and a paramedic with her. Two men have been separated and are being spoken to.’

‘Is she badly hurt?’ Jessica asked.

‘I don’t think so. I’ve been out here and it’s been a bit crazy.’ The officer broke off to tell a pedestrian who had come a little too close to back away. Jessica looked around and glimpsed a familiar-looking face among the small crowd of people. She didn’t want to spook the person so continued looking around the crowd as if it was a natural thing to do. Jessica walked back towards her car as calmly as she could, then doubled around until she was at the back of the people watching the shop front. A few other pedestrians continued to walk by but Jessica kept her eyes on the back of the man. He was edgy and kept reaching towards the pocket of the three-quarter-length trousers he was wearing. Jessica hoped it was a phone or something similar but wasn’t willing to take any chances.