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than that, I don’t really know. He lived alone, talked about his favourite football team and loved betting on the dogs. I feel bad that I didn’t really know him much outside of work.’
    The lump in Jaz’s throat seemed to grow with each fleeting second. She needed to get away from the picture of Tommy. The way Marcus had drawn him, he seemed so full of life. His eyes glistened and the creases on his face were happy lines, as if he’d recently been laughing. If Jaz kept staring at this any longer she was going to lose it. Already she was fighting back the tears. ‘I just need to use the bathroom,’ she said, tucking her crutches firmly under her arms. ‘Be right back.’
    The click of her crutches against the solid floor echoed around the house but Jaz pressed on faster, past Carl’s closed door to the toilet. Once inside she bent over and sucked in deep breaths. After ten big ones she righted herself, only to see her reflection in the mirror. Who was that girl she saw? She didn’t look like a killer. Instead, she looked like a scared girl with red-rimmed eyes and a grim line for a mouth. Jaz clutched the end of the sink and leant closer to the mirror, as if hoping to see into her soul through her blue eyes. Could Marcus see her inner torment? Was she doing a good enough job of hiding it all? Was she strong enough to continually fight the feelings that plagued her? Her reflection could answer none of her questions.
    Turning on the tap, Jaz washed her face with the cool water. She used the plush hand towel to pat her face dry before squaring up her shoulders, pasting on a smile and leaving the sanctuary of the bathroom. All she knew is that she had to keep going. At night in her bed was when she was allowed to fall apart. Until then, she had a job to do.

Chapter 4
    Jaz asked Marcus to take her home ten minutes later, saying she had a big headache, which she blamed on her skateboard stack. Marcus, being so nice, totally understood and drove her back to her house.
    After she waved him goodbye she didn’t go back to her room and lie down. Instead, she went into the house in search of pen and paper while putting her phone to her ear.
    ‘Hi Tay. Are you busy? Can you pick me up and take me to the cemetery please? Oh, thank you. See you soon.’ He was still at The Ring but said he’d come straight over. Jaz only had five minutes so she quickly wrote out a short message for the Agency, listing the two names she thought should be investigated further. She didn’t bother with a code this time as it would be too hard with their names. Hopefully she wouldn’t be in trouble for cutting corners.
    With the small note tucked in her hand, she hobbled back outside to wait for Taylor. The rumble of his Mustang could be heard long before he turned into the driveway.
    ‘Need a ride?’ he said with a smile.
    ‘You will get sick of me soon. Hopefully as soon as I can put some weight on my leg I’ll get back driving,’ she said, after fitting herself and her metal legs inside the car.
    ‘I don’t mind.’ Tay looked relaxed with his shirt sleeves rolled up. How he managed to make a plain white school shirt look cool was something she’d never be able to duplicate. He wore his dark sunnies and she wondered if his smile reached his eyes. ‘How did it go with Marcus? Did he say anything?’
    ‘Where’s Anna?’ Now she understood why he was so keen to come pick her up.
    His lips stretched into a thin line. ‘She’s with Pax. I managed to convince her to stay and that I’d be back. She’s taking this protection thing a little seriously.’
    ‘She cares about you, we all do.’ Jaz sucked in a breath. ‘I guess you want to know what happened with Marcus, right?’
    Tay stopped at a red light before he turned to her, lifting his glasses. ‘How bad was it? Are we safe?’
    Jaz let his words sink in. Are we safe? From others or from ourselves, she wondered. ‘I think so. Rich, the other guy, is okay but I don’t think he