The Role Model: A shocking psychological thriller with several twists by Daniel Hurst (big ebook reader txt) 📗

‘What?’ I ask, taking hold of her hand again.

‘I don’t know. I thought that I’d imagined it somehow. Like an hallucination. Because of all the stress I’ve been under.’

I think about what my daughter has just said, and while it does sound a little ridiculous, I understand where she is coming from. To say the last seven days have been tough would be the understatement of the century. I can’t blame Chloe for feeling like her brain is muddled right now. I sure as hell know that mine is.

‘But it wasn’t an hallucination?’ I ask, trying to get some clarity.

Chloe shakes her head.

‘No. It was real, alright.’

‘You have no idea who this guy is?’ I ask. ‘Did you recognise him? Could it be somebody from your college?’

‘No, he’s older. Mid-twenties, I think. Said he was called Jimmy. I tried to find a photo of him on social media, but I can’t do much with just a first name.’

I nod my head. I don’t bother saying that Jimmy is probably a fake name too.

‘So he didn’t say what he wanted?’

‘No. Just said he wanted to meet you tomorrow.’

‘Just me? Not you?’

Chloe shakes her head.

I’m suddenly aware that I am holding in my breath and let out a deep exhale. Apparently, I’m so stressed now that I have to remind myself to breathe. But somehow, I don’t think my anxiety levels are going to diminish any time soon. Not until the meeting tomorrow, at least.

‘What are you going to do?’ Chloe asks me, searching my face for some sign of hope.

‘I’ll have to go to the park and meet him,’ I reply, shrugging my shoulders. ‘What else can I do?’

‘Be careful,’ Chloe warns me, taking her turn to give my hand a squeeze now. ‘This guy could be a nutter.’

‘Let’s hope not,’ I reply, feeling my daughter’s hand gripping me but actually enjoying it because it’s giving me strength. ‘Maybe he just wants something simple.’

‘Like money?’

I shrug. ‘What else could he want?’

We sit in silence for the next few minutes, out of things to say but no doubt with plenty to think about. I wish I knew the answer to my last question, but I’m going to have to wait until tomorrow to find out what Jimmy is after.

I just pray that it is something that I can give him.

For all of our sakes.

23

HEATHER

I check my watch and see that it is two minutes to five. Glancing nervously around the park, I look to see if there is any sign of the man who is supposed to be meeting me here at this time.

Where is Jimmy?

My heart won’t stop racing until I find out.

I spot a figure approaching from the car park and wonder if that could be him until he gets closer, and I realise that he is a little old for the person that Chloe described. She said Jimmy looked to be in his mid-twenties, and this man looks close to forty. Then I see him turn around and open out his arms for the child running behind him. He’s just some father taking his kid to the park.

He’s definitely not a guy on his way to blackmail someone.

Looking left and right, I see nobody else of interest other than a couple of teenagers sitting on their bikes over by the railings and an old woman pottering around by the flowerbeds. Checking my watch again, I see that it is one minute to five.

Is Jimmy going to show?

Or is this just one big hoax?

I had to pull a sickie just to be here at this time today, feigning stomach cramps halfway into my shift this afternoon and bailing out on my colleagues back at the station. I hate lying, and I’m not sure if any of them actually bought it, but as lies go, it’s definitely not the worst one I have ever told in my life.

I’m just about to check the time again, estimating that it must be five by now, when something disrupts me out of nowhere.

‘Good afternoon.’

The sound of the male voice right behind me almost makes me jump out of my skin, and I spin around to see the young man standing nearby. He’s mid-twenties. He’s smirking. And he is here at five o’clock.

This must be Jimmy.

‘Thank you for meeting me,’ he says. ‘Let’s take a walk.’

He starts moving away from me across the grass, but I don’t follow him.

‘What do you want?’ I ask, expecting him to stop and turn back to me. But he doesn’t. He just keeps going. He obviously wants to take the lead.

I briefly consider not giving him the power, but what choice do I really have? He is holding all the cards here.

Walking after him, I just about catch him up in time to hear him speak again.

‘As I said to Chloe, I saw what happened in this park just over a week ago,’ Jimmy says, strolling with his hands in his pockets as if he is out for a leisurely walk and not a discussion about something that could make the national news if it was to ever come out. ‘I know what happened to poor, unfortunate Rupert, and I know what part you played in that too.’

‘Where were you?’ I ask, not that it really matters. But for some reason, I need to know.

‘I was over there when you first arrived at the park,’ he says, pointing to the row of hedges in the distance. ‘But I ended up in there.’ He points to the woods to our left. ‘That’s where I watched you bury him.’

‘I heard you,’ I say, shaking my head. ‘I’d hoped it was nothing, but it must have been you.’

‘Yeah, I accidentally snapped a twig. I was worried you’d seen me, but I guess not.’

We walk on in silence for a moment as I think back on the memory of that night. But there are no more answers to be found there. Only the ones