He sets off down the hill again, enjoying the rough ride, letting each bump loosen him up and add to the adrenalin. Facing Jacinta isn’t an easy prospect, but when he pictures her smirking face the rage in his belly keeps him moving.
Eventually he reaches the main road. Although it is early, there are plenty of people around, shop workers rushing to open up, tea rooms already busy with eager tourists making the most of their holidays. Zac studies them as he travels by, making up secret lives for a few of them: that grey-bearded twig of a man putting money in the parking meter is a former Olympic long-distance runner; the rotund woman with the screaming twins used to peddle drugs in Manchester; the lady in the bakery has been in witness protection since her husband was murdered. Anyone in walking gear is given a score out of ten: less than three means his dad will probably be out rescuing them later. Zac has heard countless stories of ramblers who set off blissfully unprepared for any kind of mishap, relying on their mobile phone’s GPS to navigate, or sometimes simply presuming that if there is a path it will lead them on a circuit to civilisation, not deeper into the wild. It’s easy to spot who is prepared: usually older men travelling with wives or families, lightweight backpacks bulging with supplies. A group of friends who don’t appear much older than his sister jostle and joke as they head down the road away from town, and he wonders where they are going. He tries to imagine himself part of a big group like that, but the picture won’t stay with him. It hadn’t been so difficult to get along with girls when he was younger, but Maddie is his last true female friend, and after this morning it’s likely he has lost her. Looks like he and Cooper are stuck with each other for now.
Eventually he freewheels down a short hill, before taking another cycle path as a short cut to the opposite side of town. Before long he is riding down Cheshire Way, counting the numbers until he reaches the tall Edwardian terrace that says 24.
He checks his phone – it’s only eight o’clock, she might not even be up. He had planned to knock, but now he thinks better of trying to get past a pair of irate, half-dressed parents. He walks to the end of the road, sits on the street sign and calls Jacinta’s number.
‘Hello?’ Her voice is uncertain.
‘Jacinta, it’s Zac . . .’ He hears her repeat his name in surprise but doesn’t stop talking, ‘I’m sitting on your street sign, and I’m about to hammer your door down if you don’t come out here and talk to me.’
She hangs up without a word. He checks the time, decides he’ll give her five minutes and then call back. He sees that Sophia has tried to ring Georgia four more times. Damn. Georgia is going to be livid. It’s not going to be easy to make up his reasons for stealing, but she will know the truth soon enough, perhaps he won’t have to.
His throat constricts. He gulps a few times, trying to clear an easier path to breathe.
Georgia is going to find out what you have done.
Forget that, he tells himself, and concentrate on your mission.
He waits.
Jacinta hurries towards him a minute later, buttoning up her cardigan as though she got dressed in a hurry. ‘I snuck out,’ she whispers, standing in front of him with her arms folded, ‘so you’d better make it quick.’
Her face is pale without its usual pasting of make-up. He has caught her off-guard – she hasn’t had time to conjure her spiteful veneer.
‘Fine,’ Zac growls. ‘If you don’t go back inside and take that photo off Facebook right now, I will hound you until you do.’
‘That sounds like stalking and intimidation, Zac,’ she snips. ‘I’m sure my parents will have you arrested for it.’
He jumps up, steps closer. ‘You don’t understand, do you? That photo belongs to my sister. If you humiliate her, I will make absolutely sure that the same thing happens to you.’
He is close enough to see her falter. ‘It’s just a laugh, Zac. Why are you worried? You can’t even tell that Georgia’s there.’
‘If you tell anyone where you got it,’ Zac interrupts, ‘I will make sure something horrible happens to you – in public.’
Jacinta’s eyes narrow. ‘You’re evil, Zac.’
‘So are you. You’re playing with people’s lives, Jacinta. It’s not some game.’
He sees her puffing up, rearing back. She dances in his vision like an adder about to strike.
‘That’s a joke, coming from a gamer like you. Maddie is always laughing at you, you know. She thinks you’re pathetic and weird. We all do. I’ll bet that’s why you lust after your cousin – she’s the only girl that even notices you.’
How can her words not sting like crazy, but he’ll be damned if he shows it. ‘Just take the photo down, Jacinta. Pretend it never existed, or you might find I’m more twisted than you imagined.’
He grabs his bike and walks away before she can say anything else. Before she sees how upset he is. He won’t give her the satisfaction of looking back.
26
CALLUM