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Chapters (69)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Epigraph
  4. Prologue
  5. Chapter One
  6. Chapter Two
  7. Chapter Three
  8. Chapter Four
  9. Chapter Five
  10. Chapter Six
  11. Chapter Seven
  12. Chapter Eight
  13. Chapter Nine
  14. Chapter Ten
  15. Chapter Eleven
  16. Chapter Twelve
  17. Chapter Thirteen
  18. Chapter Fourteen
  19. Chapter Fifteen
  20. Chapter Sixteen
  21. Chapter Seventeen
  22. Chapter Eighteen
  23. Chapter Nineteen
  24. Chapter Twenty
  25. Chapter Twenty-One
  26. Chapter Twenty-Two
  27. Chapter Twenty-Three
  28. Chapter Twenty-Four
  29. Chapter Twenty-Five
  30. Chapter Twenty-Six
  31. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  32. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  33. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  34. Chapter Thirty
  35. Chapter Thirty-One
  36. Chapter Thirty-Two
  37. Chapter Thirty-Three
  38. Chapter Thirty-Four
  39. Chapter Thirty-Five
  40. Chapter Thirty-Six
  41. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  42. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  43. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  44. Chapter Forty
  45. Chapter Forty-One
  46. Chapter Forty-Two
  47. Chapter Forty-Three
  48. Chapter Forty-Four
  49. Chapter Forty-Five
  50. Chapter Forty-Six
  51. Chapter Forty-Seven
  52. Chapter Forty-Eight
  53. Chapter Forty-Nine
  54. Chapter Fifty
  55. Chapter Fifty-One
  56. Chapter Fifty-Two
  57. Chapter Fifty-Three
  58. Chapter Fifty-Four
  59. Chapter Fifty-Five
  60. Chapter Fifty-Six
  61. Epilogue
  62. Prologue
  63. Chapter One
  64. Acknowledgements
  65. Credits
  66. More from Claire Allan …
  67. About the Author
  68. Also by Claire Allan
  69. About the Publisher

‘She was my girl,’ Liam says, and he deflates even more. Shrivels into the ghost of a man who looks as if he could just blow away on the wind. ‘Do you understand that, Ryan? You’re a father yourself now. You must understand where I’m coming from?

‘My daughter’s killer, no matter what he says or does or what life he lives, or what lies he tells, I just want him to know he will get what’s coming to him. There’s no jail in the world that will compare to what he will feel on the day of reckoning. I have to hope and believe he will know no peace in this life or the next. I have to hope that he rots in hell. He can admit he’s guilty, or claim he is innocent until the day he dies, but he can’t run from God.’

As soon as I have loaded Liam into the taxi and paid the driver, I rush back into the newsroom and into Ryan’s office.

‘You haven’t sent that page yet, have you?’

‘The Doherty piece? I’m just sending it now before we have any more untimely interruptions,’ he says, his face set tight.

‘Can I just change one thing?’ I ask, and I know I’m pushing my luck. In fact, I am at the pointing of hefting my luck over the edge of a cliff.

He pushes his seat back from the desk and gestures at me to work at his computer.

I delete the existing opening paragraph and start to type.

THE FATHER of slain schoolgirl Kelly Doherty has told The Chronicle that he hopes his daughter’s killer ‘rots in hell’ and has ‘no peace in this life or the next’.

Liam Doherty has said he will never forgive the man who murdered eight-year-old Kelly in 1994.

It’s a stronger opener. I push my chair back and show it to Ryan. He shakes his head slowly.

‘I think I prefer the original, about her being a wee angel.’

‘That was watery, Ryan. And you know it. What’s up with you these days? Have you lost your nerve altogether?’

‘Hardly. If I’d lost my nerve, I’d have told Liam Doherty we’d pull the article. I would hardly have told him it was already away to print. Stop questioning me, Ingrid. You’ve no idea what we’re facing here.’

He reaches over me and hits send on the final article, with my new intro. We watch as the icon on the page turns to green, signalling that it has been sent to the press. My body sags with relief.

‘Tell me,’ I say. ‘Tell me what we’re facing.’

Ryan just shakes his head. ‘Just go back to work. There’s a paper to get out.’

Despite saving the story from being pulled, he sounds defeated.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Ingrid