Page 45 of Plot Twist

‘Fantastic! Oh, wait ’til I tell the publishers,’ she exclaimed. ‘They were worried you couldn’t deliver but I’ve told them just to give you some space. Riley always meets his deadlines, I said. I knew you’d come up with the goods.’

Riley nodded. ‘I’ve definitely got the goods.’

‘Oh yes, all the goods,’ I agreed, nodding along.

No wonder Riley was feeling the pressure. I felt it. I gave him a small ‘it’ll be fine’ smile and he grimaced back as Katrine ushered us into a small room at the back of the bookshop.

‘You can leave your things here. The thriller writer, Zander Bennett, is just about to arrive so we can have a quick chat beforehand with the host about the itinerary. Have you read any of his work? He is A-MA-ZING. So talented. I mean, I would say that because he’s also a client but he’s seriously so good. He’s written eighteen novels now. Can you imagine?’

Katrine sashayed ahead, beckoning Riley to follow.

‘No, I can’t,’ Riley mumbled, shooting me a helpless look.

‘I’ll leave you to it,’ I whispered to him. ‘Good luck!’

‘Where are you going?’ he whispered back, frowning. ‘What if she asks me more about the second book?’

I touched his hand lightly. ‘Just change the subject. Ask her about the other guy– Zander or whatever. He’s obviously the favourite writer child.’

I patted his arm before turning on my heels to examine the books in the thriller section. I wanted to see what Zander’s books were about. Eighteen novels was pretty impressive; I could barely write one.

‘Have you read them?’ someone asked as I located the row of Zander’s books, which were packed proudly on a stand at the front of the store.

I looked up. The man standing in front of me had a shaved head with tattoos creeping out from under his black shirt and the side of his neck. He carried a black biker jacket and clutched his rucksack in his hand. He looked like he’d love a good crime novel. In fact, he wouldn’t look out of place in the novel himself. As the actual murderer.

‘No,’ I said, examining the blurb on the back of the first in the series. ‘Not really my thing. I don’t think I could sleep at night reading some of these.’

I wasn’t sleeping much at night anyway, but still.

‘Ah,’ he said. ‘Shame, that. I wrote them, you see. I’m Zander, the author.’

Christ. I was dissing the star of the show.

‘Ah, it’s lovely to meet you. I’m Becca. I’m here with Riley, the romance writer. He’s your warm-up act, I believe.’

He snorted. ‘Romance writers get all the groupies.’

‘Not a groupie. Just a friend. Actually, I’m an aspiring writer, too,’ I said.

‘Genre?’ he asked.

‘Children’s fiction,’ I explained. ‘I’m a teacher.’

He nodded slowly, as though he approved. ‘You know your audience, then. That’s a start. And that Riley one clearly knows his. He’s like some sort of boy band member, just needs to open his mouth and all the women fall at his feet.’

‘Oh, well, he’s a great writer. Have you readThe Fall Out? It’s wonderful.’

Zander snorted. ‘As if.’

‘Don’t judge a book by its cover,’ I said, frowning at him. ‘Just because you’re a crime thriller writer doesn’t mean you go around murdering folk. At least, I hope not.’

He shrugged. I wondered if he was contemplating making his next victim a male romance writer.

‘Anyway, nice to meet you,’ I said. ‘Hope the event goes well.’

I moved away from him as quickly as my legs could carry me, towards the children’s section which was located upstairs.

Ahh, lovely. Grown-ups could be scary but this felt much more like home. I watched two children and their mum browsing the shelves, a child reading a book with his grandparent in the corner and a lady looking at books on her own. I checked out some of the titles that would be comparable toQueen Bee, reading the blurbs on the back and trying to think of all the things Riley had told me about high stakes, conflict and resolution. I looked around, picturingQueen Beeon the shelves here one day. The thought sent shivers up my spine.