Read Online Guilty Innocence by Maggie James - Free Book Online Page A

despite having witnessed the murder of Abby Morgan, having seen the rake batter her delicate flesh, the knife slide in between her ribs? Women are, after all, notorious for this kind of thing, maintaining correspondence for years with serial killers in jail, marrying prisoners on Death Row in America, seemingly drawn to the psychopathic side of human nature. Perhaps Natalie will be of the same ilk. Maybe she’ll reconsider, once she’s had time to get over the initial shock. He realises she yearns for love, for security and permanence; the chance exists she might regret dumping him as her anger recedes.
    But then, he reflects, he doesn’t want a woman who’s with him because he’s a convicted child killer but one who’ll love him because he’s worthy of the emotion, and at that point he abandons his self-pretence. Because he’s not lovable, not at all, as his mother has demonstrated so decisively.
    Natalie and her penchant for snooping. He sighs. Tony Jackson will go ballistic if he ever finds out Mark didn’t inform him immediately of the breach of his identity. One that might unleash vigilante action against him if the public find out one of Abby Morgan’s killers is sheltering amongst them. Thugs who like nothing better than an excuse to release their ever-ready aggression are as common as skid marks in a crapper.
    Thing is, Mark doesn’t believe Natalie will reveal to anyone what she’s discovered. Admit she’s been dating a convicted child killer? Nope. Not going to happen. Besides, Natalie’s from a solid lower middle-class background. Odds are she has no connections to the kind of thug who’d like nothing better than to dispense him a dose of his own medicine.
    Anyway, the part of Mark that yearns for stability, routine, shies fiercely away from what admitting the breach will entail. A fresh identity, a new life, the idea of which holds little attraction. Hell, he’s taken four years to establish what he has now; a stable job, the respect of his boss and colleagues, his home, shabby and cramped though his flat is. The notion of starting again, with a different workplace, a new controlling officer, holds the same appeal as a shit sandwich for Mark.
    No. Better by far to accept he’s blown it with Natalie Richards, and pray he’s right in his assumption she’ll keep quiet about him being Joshua Barker.
    He reaches across to let out some of the now tepid water, turning on the hot tap full blast to top it up and adding another slug of lemon bath gel. Once it’s replenished, he slides back into the soothing heat, inhaling the sharp citrus scent.
    Something’s been nagging in his head since he got back to his flat. Now, with the tension starting to drain away, it comes back to him. The date. Today is March 12, which means the fourteenth anniversary of Abby Morgan’s murder is a mere nine days away. A fact that’s been chewing Mark up in recent weeks, the date always raw and painful for him. What with all the drama yesterday with the letter, it slipped temporarily into his subconscious and has now resurfaced, ugly and mocking, to taunt him. Somehow, with Natalie’s rejection still smarting, it seems worse this time around. So many years have passed and yet the horror remains as keen, as fresh, in his mind as ever.
    Mark’s mind travels back to Abby Morgan’s murder. More specifically, March 21, the date when she died. Whilst he’s serving his detention, he’s unaware of the annual vigil that takes place at the scene of her murder. Then he’s released at the age of twenty-one, with a raft of restrictions governing his life and behaviour. When March 21 next rolls around, Mark’s antsy all day, his memories making him uncharacteristically restless. He’s in his flat after work, the small television in one corner his connection to world events. He turns it on and settles down to watch the news, his mind elsewhere. His hands shovel his pie and chips from the local takeaway into his mouth. Mark’s