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CHAPTER 78 — THE COMPLICATION
publish date:
2026-10-19 21:42:50
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Until the Final Whistle CHAPTER 78 — THE COMPLICATION
UNTIL THE FINAL WHISTLE---EVELYN---The call came on Thursday morning.I was in my office at the club, halfway through a meeting with Sarah about the documentary's final edit, when my phone buzzed on the desk. I glanced at the screen. Rennick."Sorry," I said to Sarah. "I need to take this."She nodded and gathered her tablet. "I'll be next door."I waited until the door closed and then answered the call. "What is it?""Michael Cross has changed his plea."I sat up straighter in my chair. "Changed it how?""He was going to plead not guilty. Fight the charges. Make us go through a full trial with the video and the witnesses and everything else." Rennick paused. "As of this morning, he's pleading guilty. All charges. No contest.""That's good, isn't it?""It's good for the case. It's not good for you.""Why not?""Because a guilty plea means there's no trial. No cross-examination. No chance for you to tell your story in open court. He gets sentenced and it's over. And the reason he's
Until the Final Whistle CHAPTER 77 — THE QUIET NIGHT
UNTIL THE FINAL WHISTLE---EVELYN---We ordered pizza.Not the kind of pizza Luca would have chosen if he had been on his own. The kind I liked. Thin crust. Too many vegetables. Extra olives. He didn't complain. He just paid for it and carried it to the flat and set the box down on the coffee table and opened it up."What do you want to watch?" he asked."Something stupid.""Define stupid.""Something that has no connection to football, crime, lawyers, or anything that has happened to us in the last three months."He scrolled through the streaming services for a while. Then he found a film about a man who accidentally adopted a dog and spent the rest of the film trying to give it away. It was ridiculous. It was predictable. It was exactly what I needed.We sat on the sofa with the pizza between us and watched the man try to give the dog away for the fourth time. Luca laughed at the bit where the dog ate the man's shoe. I laughed at the bit where the man tried to hide the dog in a cu
Until the Final Whistle CHAPTER 76 — THE FIRST DAY BACK
UNTIL THE FINAL WHISTLE---EVELYN---Luca drove me to work the next morning.Neither of us said much in the car. The city slid past the windows in grey light and the radio played quietly in the background, and I watched the streets fill up with people going about their ordinary lives while the story with my name on it played out on every screen in the country.When we turned into the car park, I saw the cameras.There were more than there had been after the forecourt. Photographers lined up along the fence. Reporters holding microphones. A news van with its satellite dish pointed at the sky. They spotted Luca's car the moment we turned in and the whole crowd shifted toward us like a wave.Luca killed the engine and looked at me."Ready?" he asked."No.""Then we sit here until you are."I looked at him. His hands were on the wheel and his jaw was set and he was watching the crowd outside the window the way he watched an opposition defence before a free kick."If I walk in there with
Until the Final Whistle CHAPTER 75 — THE STATEMENT
UNTIL THE FINAL WHISTLE---EVELYN---The police came to my flat at four o'clock.Two officers. A detective in a grey suit. A victim support officer who sat beside me on the sofa and spoke in a low, steady voice while the detective set up a recorder on the coffee table. Luca sat on my other side. He didn't say anything. He just stayed close enough that I could feel the warmth of his arm against mine."Take your time," the detective said. "Start wherever you feel comfortable."I took a breath. Then I started talking.I told them about the party. About Julian. About the drink and the hallway and the door. I told them about the video and what was on it and how I had come to have it. I told them about Michael Cross and the safe deposit box and the message that had been sent to my phone. I told them about Victor Hale and the corner of the room and the phone held low. I told them everything.When I finished, the detective looked at me over the top of his notebook."Miss Ashford. Are you wi
Until the Final Whistle CHAPTER 74 — THE CALL
UNTIL THE FINAL WHISTLE---EVELYN---We stayed at the cottage that night.Neither of us suggested going back to the city. The fire was still burning and the rain had stopped and the drive was tucked safely in Luca's pocket and the whole world outside felt very far away. We ate something from the cupboard that wasn't quite a meal and we didn't talk about the video at all. We talked about nothing. Football. The documentary. Kovac's protein bars. Whether the cottage needed a new roof. Ordinary things. Small things. The kind of things two people talk about when they have just survived something and need to remember how to be normal.At some point we fell asleep on the sofa with a blanket over both of us and the fire dying down to nothing. When I woke up, the light through the window was grey and thin and Luca was already awake beside me, watching me."Morning," he said."Morning.""Sleep okay?""Better than I expected."He reached over and pushed a strand of hair away from my face."Goo
Until the Final Whistle CHAPTER 73 — THE VIDEO
UNTIL THE FINAL WHISTLE---EVELYN---The cottage was cold when we walked in.Luca went straight to the fireplace and started building a fire while I stood in the middle of the room with my coat still on and the USB drive in my hand. The drive was small and grey and unremarkable. It looked like nothing. It looked like something you would find in a drawer and throw away without thinking twice.But I knew what was on it. Or I thought I did. And that was enough to make my hands feel like they belonged to someone else.Luca finished with the fire and stood up and dusted off his hands. He didn't cross the room. He didn't reach for me. He just stood there by the fireplace with his arms at his sides and waited for me to decide what came next."We don't have to do this today," he said."I know.""We can wait. We can put it somewhere and come back to it next week. Next month. Whenever you're ready.""I know.""But you're not going to wait.""No."He nodded slowly. He crossed the room and pull
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