Page 138 of Criminally Yours

“Hugo must have tried to shoot me at the police station. Professionals don’t use shotguns for that kind of job,” she mumbled.

Her phone rang.

“Rylee, hey.” Millie waved at the video version of Rylee. “I’m so glad you suggested talking like this. I can’t believe I was too scared to do this in the past.”

“Oh my god, I know we’ve done voice notes before, but I love your accent.”

Millie laughed. “Yours is fucking cool.”

“Say fucking again! You make it sound so posh,” Rylee shouted down the phone.

“Fucking,” Millie replied between laughter. “How are you?”

“Really great, but I haven’t run from a criminal in the last twenty-four hours like you. Tell me everything. Maybe I’ll write fan fiction action hero smut and include this as the storyline.”

Millie couldn’t stop her smile even as she recounted everything that had happened.

“If this were a book, especially one of the ones we love, this wouldn’t be over,” Rylee said.

Millie paused on the edge of the town. “I thought the same, but I wasn’t sure if it was Strike’s worries getting to me.” She gave a hollow laugh. “It’s just… No, it doesn’t matter. Let me show you how beautiful it is here.”

Millie flipped the camera.

Rylee’s face moved back and forth from her camera, studying the view. “It’s stunning, although it looks rough out there. Those are dark clouds.” Millie glanced above the phone. Waves crashed. She’d dressed for warmth but should have brought a coat.

“A spring shower must be on its way.”

“Tell me what you were going to say before,” Rylee pressed. “It’s just what?”

“Hugo was anxious around his dad. And he shook loads, which was probably because he’s still on drugs, but then he held the gun, and he couldn’t have pulled that trigger and hit me. He shook when he stabbed that man, too, and… That’s what the trophy was at the house. It wasn’t a disc. It was a clay pigeon trophy. And there were photos on the walls, and… fuck. His dad might have been the shooter.”

Millie flipped the camera phone view. A shadow filled the space behind her. Randolph loomed over her shoulder, creeping closer, a menacing sneer stretching his lips and revealing his teeth.

Millie screeched as he seized her phone and crushed it against a stone.

“It’s time you learnt nosey girls who fuck up my life get what they deserve.”

CHAPTER 58

Millie

Randolph dragged Millie through the low tide toward a cliff. Water filled her trainers as he pulled her through the sea.

She screamed for help. He slapped her across the face, the echo of the crack punishing her ears as blood filled her mouth.

“Scream again, and I’ll shoot you dead,” he sneered. “I don’t care anymore. I’ve got nothing left to lose.”

He gripped the hood of her jumper. Sand from the beach clumped at the bottom of her jeans.

“You don’t have to do this,” she whispered.

“You said the same thing to Hugo yesterday. Look at how that worked out. They arrested him, and now, he’ll reveal my secrets, fucking prying girl.”

“You’re not doing this because you care about him?”

Randolph twisted her hood so it was so tight against her neck, it dug into her skin, choking her.

“I don’t care about that fuck-up. He’s been trouble since he was born. I wanted a child who would help me in my political ambitions, not ruin them. I could have been Prime Minister,but now, I’ll end up in jail. Once you’re dead, I’m leaving the country.”