Shadows Read Online Free PDF Page A

take you in record time. You’ve gone soft.’
    The power of speech finally returns to me. ‘What the fuck are you talking about?’
    He paces under the tree, in the leafy shadow, his eyes on me. ‘You can drop the act. Your little friend’s still down the street.’
    ‘I don’t know who the hell you think I am—’
    ‘Fuck, Gabe, if you didn’t want to be found, why’d youpost that story on a website you’d know I’d read?’
    My mouth falls open. ‘You read that?’
    ‘How do you think I found you?’
    I step back and grab on to the railing of the front deck. The flowering shrubs by the fence blur and my legs feel weak. Pressure builds in my head. ‘You need to go.’
    ‘Just tell me how he died. Tell me what you did. If you and Jude got yourselves into trouble, I can help—’
    I slam my fist on the railing. ‘We weren’t into anything! We were arguing over music and he took his eyes off the road. We rolled and went through a fence. A post came through the window and took his head off. Is that what you want to hear?’ I’m shouting at him, and I can’t stop. ‘His blood was all over me and I couldn’t find his head. I don’t know why I’m still alive—I wish I wasn’t!’
    I’m shaking. From grief and rage and shock. Nothing feels real except this. Nothing ever feels as real as this pain. Except the loathing I have for Rafa right now. I’ve never spoken about the accident. Not when they cut me from the car, not when I was in the hospital, not when I was in rehab.
    Rafa has stopped pacing. ‘His head?’ He swallows and looks away.
    I’m taking deep breaths, trying to hold back tears. I am not crying in front of him.
    Rafa rubs a hand over his face and his shoulders fold.‘I wish I knew what the hell was going on here.’ He glances towards the road and sighs. By the time I look at the front gate and back to where he’s been standing, he’s gone. Dead leaves and a stray dandelion settle to the ground. I blink. Nobody moves that fast.
    I don’t want Maggie to find me like this, so I go inside and lock myself in the bathroom. I sit on the edge of the tub, staring at the pale blue tiles on the floor. If I let go now, I won’t be able to stop. I run the shower and get in, shaking, and wait for the warm water to calm me.
    What the hell is going on?

WHAT LURKS IN THE DARK
    By the time I’ve showered and dressed, I’ve convinced myself I’m fine. Jason turns up on time with a bottle of wine worth more than the entire contents of our fridge. He seems keen to impress Maggie, but he doesn’t talk in riddles, kiss her fiercely or demand to know why she’s not dead. So how serious about her can he be?
    ‘Is Rafa still coming?’ Maggie is pouring a second round of drinks. Her fish is in the oven and the kitchen smells of ginger and lime. Newt Faulkner is strumming out a tune from the speakers on the bench.
    ‘I doubt it.’
    She puts the bottle down. ‘What happened?’
    ‘We had words.’
    ‘Gaby,’ she chides. ‘You hardly know him. How canyou be arguing already?’ But I can see in her eyes that she has an idea, and it’s not as comforting to her as I thought it would be.
    Jason is sitting on a stool by the bench, relaxed and easy in our cramped home. ‘Men,’ he says and smiles.
    He’s certainly easy on the eyes. His hair is even fairer than Maggie’s, and hangs to his shoulders in soft curls. He’s got an open face, with startlingly blue eyes. All this and a lawyer? Maggie may have hit the jackpot. She obviously thinks so—she can’t stop looking at him.
    ‘Shame they’re all bastards,’ I say to Jason and raise my glass.
    He chokes on his drink, and then recovers. ‘So young, and yet so jaded.’
    I shrug, and give him my best jaded smile, forcing myself to be sociable for Maggie’s sake.
    ‘So where are you from, originally?’ he asks.
    Small talk. Great.
    ‘All over.’
    ‘Really?’
    ‘Yeah, my parents travelled a lot.’
    ‘Where are they now?’
    Clearly