The Catch Read Online Free PDF

door. There were tissues in the glovebox. He used a couple to wipe up the blood, shuddering at the thought of where it had come from, then stuffed the soiled tissues in his pocket.
    ‘Let’s go in,’ he said. ‘Make the call on your landline.’
    Robbie didn’t move. He stared at Dan, a curious look in his eyes. Amusement, almost.
    ‘What?’ Dan said.
    ‘You really wanna do that?’
    Dan felt his heart rate go up a notch. A crippling weight pressed on his stomach, like something trying to shove his organs apart.
    ‘Of course. We have to—’
    ‘No, we don’t. We don’t have to tell anyone.’ Robbie moved a step closer, his eyes blazing with intensity. ‘It was an accident, pure and simple. O’Brien is dead, and that’s terrible for him. But let’s be honest, he was a piece of shit.’
    ‘You can’t say that for sure.’
    ‘Look how he treated Cate. An arrogant old lech who wouldn’t take no for an answer. Imagine what he might have done to her if we hadn’t been there ...’
    Dan was shaking his head, not wanting to be persuaded. ‘But what about his family? If he’s got kids ...’
    Robbie shook his head. ‘He hasn’t, I’m sure of that. He divorced a few years back. Lived on his own. And even if there were kids, they’d be grown up by now.’
    You can’t imagine what it’s like , Dan thought. The whispered condolences. The sorrowful smiles. The way the whole world suddenly collapses, folding in on itself, and you’re trapped in a suffocating darkness that might never end ...
    He cleared his throat. ‘He’s still going to be missed. What about his job, his colleagues?’
    ‘All I know is he travelled a lot. Maybe he worked for himself?’
    ‘You’re trying to tell me the guy lived in a void, but I don’t buy it, Robbie. This has made a hole in someone’s life, you can be sure of that.’
    ‘All right. But nothing we do now will bring him back. It’ll only ruin our lives, won’t it?’
    Dan swallowed. His mouth had become too dry for him to speak. Again he thought of his parents, and the manner in which he had lost them, and now the appalling irony that he could even contemplate running away from a situation like this.
    If you do something wrong, put your hand up . That was what had been drilled into him. Take your punishment, and in the long run you’ll be a better person for it .
     
    ****
     
    Robbie was studying his face, waiting for his argument to hit home. Then he added: ‘It’s not just us, Dan. Think of our families. Cate. Your brother. And Joan. What will this do to Joan?’
    Dan knew he was being manipulated, but he also knew that Robbie had a point. Was Dan so adamant about this that he’d subject his aunt to more tragedy, more heartbreak?
    Then he remembered: ‘O’Brien texted your sister. The police will track her down.’
    ‘I’ll speak to Cate, don’t worry.’ Robbie’s attitude became a little more brisk. He gestured at the car. ‘You’ll have to get this fixed up. But not through the insurance.’
    ‘I can’t, anyway. I don’t have comprehensive cover.’
    ‘Okay. Well, it needs to go somewhere that won’t ask questions. I could try and find a place if you like?’
    ‘Robbie, this is wrong .’
    ‘You wanna go to jail, do you?’
    ‘Of course not. But maybe that’s what we deserve.’ Dan placed a hand over his mouth for a moment, as if to block the words before they emerged. ‘I don’t know what to say. Are you really suggesting we should just do nothing?’
    Robbie gave a benevolent smile. ‘In a way, the hard part’s already done.’
    ‘But I can’t bear the thought of leaving him there. Perhaps if we reported it anonymously ...’
    ‘You’re kidding? The technology these days, they can trace the phones in a heartbeat. And they record all the calls. Once they play it on TV, somebody’s bound to recognise you. They’ll have you banged up in no time.’
    ‘So we own up to it, then. We tell the truth.’
    ‘That it was an accident?