Angela Clarke - Trust Me

Published by Avon

An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

The News Building

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins 2017

Copyright © Angela Clarke 2017

Angela Clarke asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780008174644

Ebook Edition © June 2017 ISBN: 9780008174651

Version: 2017-05-11

‘Written in the sharpest style, [ Follow Me ] races along, leaving the reader almost as breathless as the heroine – but there is a verve to it that is impossible to resist… Clarke is certainly someone to watch’

Daily Mail

‘Watch Me is another zinging thriller in this social media crime series from Angela Clarke… Smart, sassy and totally on point, following Nas and Freddie’s investigations is a must’

Sarah Pinborough, author of Behind Her Eyes

‘Starts with heart-pounding intent, and then the excitement intensifies…’

Sharon Bolton, author of Daisy in Chains

‘Fast paced and full of excitement, it’s hard to know where each chapter will take you in this thoroughly unpredictable ride. It kept me gripped and I cannot wait for the third instalment to see what happens next’

Katerina Diamond, bestselling author of The Teacher and The Secret

‘The clock is ticking in Angela Clarke’s excellent new novel Watch Me . Creepy, clever and unnerving; you won’t ever want to log on again’

C. L. Taylor, author of The Missing

‘I loved this! An utterly addictive, gripping thriller’

Robert Bryndza, author of international number one bestseller The Girl in the Ice

‘Stylish, pacy and packs a bruising punch’

Sarah Hilary, author of the DI Marnie Rome series

‘A sharp, punchy, fast-paced thriller, that will keep you hooked until the very last page’

Casey Kelleher, author of Bad Blood

‘Fast, feminist and sharp as a knife. Just ripped through Watch Me by Angela Clarke and recommend you do the same. If you dare’

Anna Mazzola, author of The Unseeing

‘Ingenious, fast-paced and full of dark wit. This is crime writing with attitude’

Mark Edwards, bestselling author of Follow You Home

‘An utterly compelling, brilliantly plotted tale that expertly ramps up the tension and drags the reader in as the pages turn and the clock ticks down’

Neil Broadfoot, author of All the Devils

‘A very contemporary nightmare, delivered with panache’

Independent

‘Freddie is a magnificently monstrous character’

Saturday Review , BBC Radio 4

‘Clarke has made an appealing flawed female lead who’ll make immediate sense to readers who enjoyed Rachel in The Girl on the Train . An invigorating cat-and-mouse game, with a dark and filthy wit that deliciously spikes the regular drenchings of gore’

Crime Scene Magazine

‘Slick and clever’

Sun

‘Set in a London of East End hipsters, Tinder hook-ups, and internships, this tongue-in-cheek tale explores murder in the age of social media’

Sunday Mirror

‘A chilling debut’

Hello

‘Puts complex women and their stories front and centre’

The Pool

‘Angela Clarke brings dazzling wit and a sharp sense of contemporary life to a fast-paced serial killer novel with serious style’

Jane Casey, author of the Maeve Kerrigan series

‘In Follow Me , Clarke creates a completely compelling world, and a complex heroine. Freddie is refreshing and fascinating – a credible addition to the crime canon and a great alternative for anyone who has grown frustrated with the male dominated world of the whodunnit. Follow Me is literally gripping – the tension levels were forcing me to clutch the book so hard that my hands hurt!’

Daisy Buchanan, Grazia

‘A fascinating murder mystery and a dark, ironic commentary on modern social media’

Paul Finch, author of Stalkers

‘Clarke turns social media into a terrifyingly dark place. You won’t look at your accounts the same way again. I was hooked and couldn’t stop turning the pages. With a memorable and unique protagonist, Clarke explores the phenomenon of (social media) celebrity while tapping into your fears’

Rebecca Bradley, author of Shallow Waters

‘Pacey, gripping, and so up-to-the-minute you better read it quick!’

Claire McGowan, author of The Fall

For Claire McGowan, with thanks.

(Will people think we’re at it now, like Brontë and Thackeray?)

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.

T. S. Eliot

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Praise for Angela Clarke

Dedication

Epigraph

Amber

Kate

Freddie

Nasreen

Freddie

A

Kate

A

Freddie

Freddie

Nasreen

Kate

Nigel

Nasreen

Freddie

Nasreen

Kate

A

Kate

Nasreen

Nasreen

A

Nasreen

Paul

Freddie

Freddie

Kate

Nasreen

Freddie

Freddie

Amber

Kate

Nigel

A

Freddie

Freddie

Kate

Nasreen

Kate

Freddie

Nasreen

Nasreen

Freddie

Freddie

Kate

Nasreen

Freddie

Nasreen

Nasreen

Freddie

A

Freddie

A

Nasreen

Nasreen

A

Nasreen

Freddie

Nasreen

Kate

Nasreen

Freddie

Nasreen

Freddie

Nasreen

Nasreen

Freddie

Nasreen

Freddie

Nasreen

Freddie

Nasreen

Freddie

Nasreen

Freddie

Nasreen

Freddie

Nasreen

Freddie

Kate

Acknowledgements

Reading Group Questions

Q&A With Angela Clarke

About the Author

Also by Angela Clarke

About the Publisher

Hurriedly she opened her wardrobe, pulling her coat from the hanger and shoving it into her bag. She had minutes at most. Panic burnt through her body. Every fibre felt like it had been stripped raw. Tears welled up and over her eyelids, splashing onto the carpet. She tried not to snivel. There was still a chance to get away. She made it to the hallway before she remembered the photo. Her heart squeezed. She couldn’t live without it. Not now. Running back into her bedroom, she reached for the frame on her bedside table.

A noise sounded behind her. A thud, and then the front door opening. She froze. Held her breath. Her hand outstretched. Shaking. Her heart hammering in her ears.

Too late.

New message:

Wanna go to a party?

Going to be bangin.

Trust me.

The table is shaking. Kate realises she’s gripping it. She is shaking. The video on the computer screen is jerky. Handheld. Shot from a mobile. Live . It’s a room: square and shabby. A single bulb hanging from the ceiling. Beer bottles and empty cans brimming over with cigarette ends colonise the space. She can’t see any windows. But there’s a closed door in the background. Is it locked? Two crude drawings – an animal and a circle – have been spray-painted in black onto the back wall. A stripped, stained duvet has been made into a hasty bed. Her brain can’t – won’t – process what she’s seeing. It’s like something blunt-edged is smashing into her, trying to gouge out the fear that’s been buried under decades of safety, food, shelter and scatter cushions. But it’s there. It’s coming. An innate force within her. She recognises danger. Fight or flight. She says the words over and over in her head, until she realises it’s a command: fight or flight! Kate doesn’t move. She doesn’t make a sound. She is watching it happen.

A voice on the video shouts: ‘Like up the post! Get this to one thousand likes!’

He sounds like one of the boys from her class. Young. Excitable. A child.

The girl on the screen turns to look at the camera. Her eyes focus in recognition. They look past the lens. Out. Realising. Pleading. They’re looking straight at Kate. Fight or flight? The girl twists, tries to push herself up on her elbows. The man forces her down. His slim muscular back is turned toward the camera. Kate can’t see his face.

‘No!’ The girl manages.

She said no.

The girl’s speech is slurred. ‘You’re hurting me. Please. No.’

Kate reaches toward her. Her fingers futilely prod the screen. Push her laptop. She is at home. In her house. Watching this. Where is this being filmed? Somebody must hear the girl’s shouts? Someone must stop this.

Comments from viewers float up over the feed:

They’re so young lmao

She a slut!!

She said no. This is rape.

This is rape.

‘Just one more!’ the man shouts. Man? His skin is smooth, hairless, young. The girl jerks back. Claws at his face. Kicks her legs.

She said no.

He slaps the girl hard. The noise a loud crack. She’s flung sideways. There’s a scream. Is it the girl? Is it the man? Is it Kate? The girl scrabbles, swings up, punches him in the face. A fighter. She’s a fighter.