Chapters (56)
- Books by Rona Halsall
- Dedication
- Prologue
- Chapter One
- Chapter Two
- Three weeks later
- Chapter Three
- Chapter Four
- Chapter Five
- Chapter Six
- Chapter Seven
- Chapter Eight
- Chapter Nine
- Chapter Ten
- Chapter Eleven
- Chapter Twelve
- Chapter Thirteen
- Chapter Fourteen
- Chapter Fifteen
- Chapter Sixteen
- Chapter Seventeen
- Chapter Eighteen
- Chapter Nineteen
- Chapter Twenty
- Chapter Twenty-One
- Chapter Twenty-Two
- Chapter Twenty-Three
- Chapter Twenty-Four
- Chapter Twenty-Five
- Chapter Twenty-Six
- Chapter Twenty-Seven
- Chapter Twenty-Eight
- Chapter Twenty-Nine
- Chapter Thirty
- Chapter Thirty-One
- Chapter Thirty-Two
- Chapter Thirty-Three
- Chapter Thirty-Four
- Chapter Thirty-Five
- Chapter Thirty-Six
- Chapter Thirty-Seven
- Chapter Thirty-Eight
- Chapter Thirty-Nine
- Chapter Forty
- Ten days later
- Chapter Forty-One
- Seven months later
- Love You Gone
- Hear More from Rona
- A Letter from Rona
- Books by Rona Halsall
- Her Mother’s Lies
- The Honeymoon
- Keep You Safe
- Acknowledgements
- *
She closed her eyes and forced herself to visualise the scene in the video. No shots gave any clue to the men’s identities – it was too cleverly filmed to reveal them in such an obvious way. But one man had worn a signet ring on his little finger, and now that she thought about it, she was sure she’d seen it before somewhere. But where? The man who’d been messing with her feet was older, she felt; something to do with his posture, the slackness of the skin on his body, even though he had dark hair. Probably dyed.
Her eyes sprang open and she grabbed her handbag, found a little notebook she kept in there and started making a list, capturing any memories that might help identify the men. The older man, a big mole on his forearm, quite distinctive, about halfway up. The other one, really hairy hands. He was slender, long-limbed, with olive skin. No distinguishing marks, just the ring.
She made herself focus, ask the questions that would lead her to whoever had done this to her.
Who had been filming?
She frowned as she tried to work out the logistics. Had the two men filmed each other, or was there a third party in the room? Providing the video as a keepsake, a way of reliving the experience they had just bought? Or was it more opportunistic – two of the hotel staff who had worked out how to gain pleasure at their guests’ expense without them even being aware they’d been violated? Maybe that was where the thrill came from. She shivered, not wanting to keep the images in her mind a moment longer.
Instead, she switched her thoughts to the next puzzle. Somebody had sent that video to Matt. The first question was who. But even more puzzling was why.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Thoroughly confused, she decided to go for a walk to see if that would help her think straight. The steep hill pulled at her leg muscles, making her chest heave, her heart pound. She didn’t stop until she’d climbed to the top of the quarry, the valley laid out below her in the milky sunshine of the day.
Such a beautiful view, but there was danger down there underneath the loveliness, and the more she thought about it, the more certain she was that she’d been targeted. It wasn’t a coincidence, her being at the hotel, the men able to access her room. It was planned. And however much James protested his innocence, he had to be involved, didn’t he?