BooksBarbecue
Back Her White Lie
Chapters (72)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Chapter One
  4. Chapter Two
  5. Chapter Three
  6. Chapter Four
  7. Chapter Five
  8. Chapter Six
  9. Chapter Seven
  10. Chapter Eight
  11. Chapter Nine
  12. Chapter Ten
  13. Chapter Eleven
  14. Chapter Twelve
  15. Chapter Thirteen
  16. Chapter Fourteen
  17. Chapter Fifteen
  18. Chapter Sixteen
  19. Chapter Seventeen
  20. Chapter Eighteen
  21. Chapter Nineteen
  22. Chapter Twenty
  23. Chapter Twenty-One
  24. Chapter Twenty-Two
  25. Chapter Twenty-Three
  26. Chapter Twenty-Four
  27. Chapter Twenty-Five
  28. Chapter Twenty-Six
  29. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  30. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  31. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  32. Chapter Thirty
  33. Chapter Thirty-One
  34. Chapter Thirty-Two
  35. Chapter Thirty-Three
  36. Chapter Thirty-Four
  37. Chapter Thirty-Five
  38. Chapter Thirty-Six
  39. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  40. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  41. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  42. Chapter Forty
  43. Chapter Forty-One
  44. Chapter Forty-Two
  45. Chapter Forty-Three
  46. Chapter Forty-Four
  47. Chapter Forty-Five
  48. Chapter Forty-Six
  49. Chapter Forty-Seven
  50. Chapter Forty-Eight
  51. Chapter Forty-Nine
  52. Chapter Fifty
  53. Chapter Fifty-One
  54. Chapter Fifty-Two
  55. Chapter Fifty-Three
  56. Chapter Fifty-Four
  57. Chapter Fifty-Five
  58. Chapter Fifty-Six
  59. Chapter Fifty-Seven
  60. Chapter Fifty-Eight
  61. Chapter Fifty-Nine
  62. Chapter Sixty
  63. Chapter Sixty-One
  64. Chapter Sixty-Two
  65. Chapter Sixty-Three
  66. Chapter Sixty-Four
  67. Chapter Sixty-Five
  68. Chapter Sixty-Six
  69. Chapter Sixty-Seven
  70. A letter from Jackie
  71. About the Author
  72. Also by Jackie Walsh

‘It’s over, Andriu. I know it was you. You had our phones the night of Electric Picnic, the night Avril Ryan sent me a message telling me I was in trouble. You read the message. You deleted the message. But not before arranging to meet her. You killed her. She was warning us about you.’

Andriu says nothing. Grabbing me, he puts his hand on my neck, pushing me further down the hallway behind the stairwell. I struggle under the pressure, trying to keep my feet on the ground. No one can see us here. I can barely breathe in his grip. I’m panting, dragging in air. My throat gurgles. I can’t speak.

‘No one is going to believe you, Faye, you’re fucking mad. Certified. Everything points at you. Even Tara believes me.’ His words burn like flames of fire. His eyes, blazing with hate. Andriu is framing me and Tara is backing him up. I want to say that Tara will believe me when I tell her how he contrived to turn me against her. But the words are stuck in my throat, choking me.

The front door opens and I can hear someone walking into the building. Andriu lets go of his grip on me and I drag as much air into my lungs as possible. One more minute and I would have collapsed. Andriu would have left me there. Maybe I’d have died. Maybe I’d have lived… I wanted to live.

I realise I’m in a lot of danger here. But so is Tara. What if he hurts her and disappears again? My fingerprints are on the elevator. The buzzer. I broke out of the clinic. I’ll be blamed. Rubbing my neck, I step away.

‘Go away, Faye. Leave us. There’s a great big river out there if you’re looking to escape.’

Bastard. I drop my head as if defeated and I cry. ‘I’m sorry Andriu… I just thought we could get back together. I won’t say anything. I know no one is going to believe me.’ I sound as pathetic as he wants me to. Then I walk towards the exit like I’m giving up but my head is in overdrive planning what to do next. I push open the door and walk outside.

The detective hasn’t returned my call, so I try her number again and this time I leave an urgent message. I tell her to get over to Tara Moore’s apartment quickly, that she’s in danger. At this stage, I don’t care what trouble I get into; I just want to make sure Tara is safe.