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

Wrapping my arms tighter around myself, I watch the dark clouds hurry across the sky. The bright moon highlights their journey. I lift my head, close my eyes and let the cold, harsh wind crash into my face. I try to picture Faye. I remember her green eyes sparkling every time she was happy or excited. Faye was smaller and a lot skinnier than me as a kid. Not so much when we grew into our teens. She hated her brown hair, especially when the weather was damp and it would go all frizzy. I wonder if she still has a fringe. Does she still use MAC make-up to cover her snow-white skin? Faye used to say I was lucky to have sallow skin, but she was never jealous of me. Having Faye as a friend was very special and it took a lot of getting used to when she ended it so abruptly. It’s something I could never get my head around. Her walking out on me the same week my mother died. My two best friends… gone.

The pain still lives in me. It sleeps most of the time. But now I can feel it stir. Did Faye see the news bulletin? Is she worrying like I am, praying that we did a good enough job covering our tracks?

Chapter Three

Faye

‘Holy fuck… is that Huntley Lodge?’ I can’t believe what I’m looking at. The red-brick kip of a house that I spent a lot of my time living and partying in when I was in college is splattered all over the TV.

My body moves like it’s being controlled by someone else in the direction of the screen situated about four feet above my head on the wall in front of me. My eyes fix on the image of the house surrounded by police cars, cops and tape. I strain my ears in an attempt to hear the reporter. The TVs are all set on low volume in this place so as not to disrupt the calm, relaxed ambience we aim to create here at the clinic. But I need to hear this. I need to know what is going on and at the same time I don’t need to hear this. I don’t want to know what’s going on because I never wanted to be brought back there. Things happened at Huntley Lodge. Bad things.

With my face glued to the reporter’s lips, I try to match their movements to the mutterings that are barely audible and scrape together the information.

A woman’s body has been found at the house. It’s been there for a while. The reporter doesn’t say how long and I very much doubt they know that yet. How would they? They’ve only just discovered it. Taking in a deep breath I try to slow down my racing heart. Is this really happening?