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SUGAR FOR SUGAR
by
Seb Kirby
How far would you go to uncover the secrets of your past?
Issy Cunningham has made a new life for herself but that's all about to come crashing down.
If only she could recall what happened that Valentine's Eve, she would be able to tell the police what really took place.
But those memories won't come because there's too much in the past that troubles her.
How can she set the record straight when her past won't let her be?
A sound from somewhere far off, getting
closer all the time.
I open my eyes.
The phone is ringing.
I pick it up and
look at the image on the screen.
The bearded man
again, the one with the name Colin Tempest next to his photo. Someone I must
know. I have to answer.
I take the call.
A male voice.
“Issy, I’ve been trying to reach you but you haven’t been answering.”
I can’t
concentrate on what he’s saying. I say the only thing that comes to me. “Who
are you?”
“Don’t be
foolish, Issy. It’s Colin. We need to talk.”
It’s a voice
I’ve heard before.
“I can’t talk
now.”
He’s insistent.
“I can come over. Where are you?”
I look around
the room. It doesn’t look familiar. I say the only thing I can. “I don’t know.
I don’t think I’ve ever been in this place before.”
There’s a new
note of concern in his voice. “I’ll find a way to help you, to make amends if
you just tell me where you are.”
Make amends? So
he’s done something to me. He thinks the reason I’m not talking to him is
because of that.
“Tell me what
you did to me.”
“I’m sorry,
Issy. I’m really sorry but he left me no choice. You were the only one I could
turn to, the only one who might have convinced him to change his mind.”
“What happened
to Mike?”
“You know what
happened to him, Issy. He died. A heart attack. You must know that. Why are you
trying to pretend that none of this has happened?”
Mike is dead. I
must have known that.
Is this the
reason for these feelings of guilt I can’t control?
“I’m not
pretending.”
He pauses for
longer than he should. “The police have been here. What if they start
interviewing everyone? It won’t be long before they get round to you and me.
Whatever else is said, I need you to promise you won’t reveal our secret. You
know it would ruin me and my family.”
I don’t know any
secret. Why would he think I did?
“If anyone asks
it’s not going to be a problem for me to tell them I don’t know.”
“Thank you,
Issy. I knew I could depend on you.”
I stare again at
the profile picture of the bearded man.
He wants me to trust
him again but I know I can’t.
His voice breaks
into my thoughts once more. “Look, Issy. I’ve got to go. Something urgent.
Thanks for your help. Thanks for being so understanding. Thanks for
everything.”
He closes the
line.
I know that
what’s been said won’t last long in my mind. I make a note on the phone.
Mike is dead.
Why do I feel so guilty? Colin behaves like he owes me.
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