‘And had she?’ Rob asked.
‘No.’ Suzie shook her head. ‘She doesn’t know anything to tell me, bless her. She’s always believed her dad abandoned her mum before she was born, and Josie’s never even told her his name.’
‘Have you told Holly any of this?’
‘No, it’s not my place. Josie obviously thinks she’s protecting her by keeping her in the dark, but I think they’d both be safer if Holly knew what they were dealing with, so I’m going to try to persuade her to tell her when she comes back.’
‘If she comes back,’ Rob said ominously.
Suzie wanted to reiterate that Josie would come back, but she honestly wasn’t sure any more. It was obvious the woman had issues, and the attack had probably unbalanced her already unstable mind. Added to which, Josie clearly had a drink problem, and maybe even a drug habit. But if Josie had gone to such great lengths to protect Holly so far, would she really give up on her now?
Clinging to the hope that she wouldn’t, Suzie said, ‘If she’s not back by morning, I’ll talk to Holly – see if she can think of anyone her mum might be staying with. She must have at least one friend she trusts.’
‘Doesn’t sound like she trusts anyone, from what you’ve told me,’ Rob said, scrolling through the article again. ‘But if you’re right, and this murder is connected to whatever’s going on, you seriously need to think about handing Holly over to the police before these phantom killers come after you, as well.’
The image on the screen suddenly changed to one of the sultry shots Holly had taken of Suzie, and Suzie blushed when she realized that Rob must have accidentally clicked back to the website, which she’d minimized instead of closing down before going online.
‘Whoa, what’s this?’ Rob’s eyes lit up.
‘Nothing,’ she said, trying to click back to the article.
‘Hang about,’ Rob said, batting her hand away. ‘Who took it?’
‘Holly,’ Suzie said. ‘It’s for the website I told you about.’
‘The modelling agency?’ Rob said, his gaze fixed on the image of Suzie lying on a beach with one knee raised, the other leg outstretched; lips parted, eyes half closed, her glossy hair cascading down her back. ‘I reckon you’d be better sacking that off and setting up as a webcam babe instead, ’cos blokes would pay through the nose to have a one-on-one with you looking like this.’
Suzie frowned. Given the violent way Rob had reacted in the past to men simply looking at her in bars, she was surprised he would even suggest such a thing.
‘Babe, I was joking,’ Rob said when he saw her expression. ‘But seriously, these are gorgeous.’
‘Thanks,’ Suzie murmured, quickly closing the laptop down. ‘They’re only test shots for me to experiment with. I’ll replace them with photos of the models who sign up to the agency before I launch the website.’
‘I know you think you’re past it, but you’re still the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met,’ Rob said.
Certain that he had been joking about the webcam thing, Suzie smiled and reached for her drink.
‘So what now?’ Rob asked, taking a swig of his drink and stubbing his cigarette out in the ashtray. ‘Reckon she’ll be asleep yet?’ He flicked his eyes up at the ceiling.
‘Probably,’ Suzie said, realizing that she hadn’t heard any movement from up there in a while. ‘She was pretty wiped when I left her.’
‘Want to chance it?’ He gave her a wolfish grin. Then, seeming to think better of it, he said, ‘That’s if you still want to? If you need time to think about it, I can leave and come back tomorrow. Or I’ll sleep on the sofa. Whatever’s best for you.’
Suzie bit her lip and stared into her almost empty glass. She was the one who had initiated things tonight, and she had no doubt they would already have made love by now if Rob’s crazy ex hadn’t turned up.
‘You can stay,’ she said, looking up after a moment. ‘But if we’re going to give this another go, you need to be sure it’s what you really want.’
‘I’m sure,’ Rob said, stroking her cheek with the back of his fingers. ‘But are you? I don’t want you to feel like I’m rushing you into it.’
‘Shut up and kiss me,’ Suzie said, repeating what she’d said earlier. ‘And this time, don’t stop,’ she added huskily.
35
Josie still hadn’t been in touch by the following morning, and there was no sign that she’d been home when Suzie and Holly went over to check the flat. The air smelled as bad as always, and dust motes rose up into the air in each of the rooms they entered.
‘What if she’s been attacked again?’ Holly fretted, as they went back through the rooms they had already checked, looking in cupboards and checking under the beds. ‘Or been run over, or fallen into a ditch and been too weak to climb out of it?’
‘I’m sure nothing’s happened, or we’d have heard by now,’ Suzie reassured her, trying to ignore her own nagging doubts about Josie’s wellbeing. ‘She’s most likely gone to a friend’s place, so is there no one you can think of? She must have mentioned somebody?’
‘No.’ Holly shook her head. ‘I’ve already told you, she hasn’t got any friends; just people she works with.’
‘I find that really hard to believe,’ Suzie said. ‘What about boyfriends?’
‘There’s only ever been one that I know about,’ said Holly. ‘I thought I’d told you about him? She met him in the cafe she was working in and we moved in with
