Killing You Softly Read Online Free PDF

got out of Denver and was on the plane to Heathrow, until I could look into his
    honey-brown eyes and hear him tell me that he loved me. Meanwhile, in an effort to take my mind off the fake bikini pictures, I focused on Scarlett Hartley and decided on the spur of the moment
    to go and see Alex Driffield.
    Passing the Old Mill on the outskirts of Chartsey Bottom, I was overtaken by Tom in his white Peugeot. He waved at me as he zipped by. I wobbled and waved back.
    Should’ve worn a thicker jacket, I thought to myself as I reached Main Street. And gloves and a big scarf. I had chosen the wrong clothes, as usual.
    I reached the church opposite Tom’s place – the church with the lych gate and the churchyard with the leaning gravestones, the inscriptions of which had been worn away by centuries
    of rain and frost. Worshippers were huddled in the church porch. I cycled on, a girl on a mission, but it was only when I reached the faded sign outside JD Car Repairs that I fully realized what
    that mission was.
    I was being drawn in to the murder case despite myself, making emotional connections between the fates of Lily and Scarlett, on the road to becoming a one-girl crusader to discover the
    truth.
    Anyway, the workshop was closed. I stopped and peered in through the grimy window, saw a rusty blue car on a ramp over a mechanic’s pit, a small office at the far end with the usual
    calendar pictures on the wall. I shuddered again at the memory of the bikini photos on my Facebook page – who, why, when?
    ‘Looking for someone?’ a voice asked, and I turned round to see Jayden striding towards me with Bolt, his bandy-legged dog.
    Jayden the gatecrasher at Tom’s party, Lily’s ex. Jayden who had saved my life when Harry Embsay planned to drown me that night, out by the ruined abbey.
    Harry shines his torch beam in my eyes. ‘What’s wrong, Alyssa?’ he asks after he’s described how my murder will be explained away and he’s dragged me through
    the reeds into the freezing river. ‘Can you spot a loophole?’
    I retch and pull away, thinking, if this is it, if this is really what’s going to happen, just do it.
    The sky is black. The river rushes on.
    Just do it!
    It’s so dark we don’t know anyone is there until a dog hurtles out of the cloisters and down the hill towards us. I don’t see it but I hear it snarling as it comes. Harry
    just has time to swing his torch towards Bolt as the Staffie leaps chest-high and sinks his fangs into Harry’s shoulder. The torch drops to the ground. I dive down, grab it and swing it
    along the bank towards the stepping stones. Jayden walks in our direction – strolls actually, with both hands in his jacket pocket, shoulders hunched against the cold. I half run, half
    stagger to meet him with the chorus of Bolt’s snarls and growls playing in the background.
    Jayden doesn’t say anything. He takes the torch from me and aims it at Harry and Bolt. The guy is still standing, but by now the dog is chewing his face, and blood gushes from the
    shoulder wound. I groan and retch again.
    Reliving every last second of the scariest moment of my life as only someone with my perfect recall can, I came face to face with my knight in shining armour.
    ‘Looking for someone?’ Jayden said again.
    ‘Yeah – Alex. Do you know where he is?’ I ignored Bolt, who had padded up and was sniffing at my boot. I didn’t bend down to pat him – best not to risk it in case
    he took my hand off. ‘Did you hear about the body in the canal?’
    Jayden swore, turned and strode away. ‘Yeah, don’t go near this one,’ he muttered over his shoulder in a weird echo of Will Harrison’s advice.
    I cycled after him with Bolt trotting alongside. ‘Why not? Did you know Scarlett Hartley? Why won’t anyone talk about it?’
    Jayden does silence better than anyone I know. He loped on past the Bridge Inn, hands in the same jacket pockets, shoulders hunched, with that untamed look in his eyes.
    ‘You know