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Back The Cottage Save as PDF
Chapters (82)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. ONE
  4. TWO
  5. THREE
  6. FOUR
  7. FIVE
  8. SIX
  9. SEVEN
  10. EIGHT
  11. NINE
  12. TEN
  13. ELEVEN
  14. TWELVE
  15. THIRTEEN
  16. FOURTEEN
  17. FIFTEEN
  18. SIXTEEN
  19. SEVENTEEN
  20. EIGHTEEN
  21. NINETEEN
  22. TWENTY
  23. TWENTY-ONE
  24. TWENTY-TWO
  25. TWENTY-THREE
  26. TWENTY-FOUR
  27. TWENTY-FIVE
  28. TWENTY-SIX
  29. TWENTY-SEVEN
  30. TWENTY-EIGHT
  31. TWENTY-NINE
  32. THIRTY
  33. THIRTY-ONE
  34. THIRTY-TWO
  35. THIRTY-THREE
  36. THIRTY-FOUR
  37. THIRTY-FIVE
  38. THIRTY-SIX
  39. THIRTY-SEVEN
  40. THIRTY-EIGHT
  41. THIRTY-NINE
  42. FORTY
  43. FORTY-ONE
  44. FORTY-TWO
  45. FORTY-THREE
  46. FORTY-FOUR
  47. FORTY-FIVE
  48. FORTY-SIX
  49. FORTY-SEVEN
  50. FORTY-EIGHT
  51. FORTY-NINE
  52. FIFTY
  53. FIFTY-ONE
  54. FIFTY-TWO
  55. FIFTY-THREE
  56. FIFTY-FOUR
  57. FIFTY-FIVE
  58. FIFTY-SIX
  59. FIFTY-SEVEN
  60. FIFTY-EIGHT
  61. FIFTY-NINE
  62. SIXTY
  63. SIXTY-ONE
  64. SIXTY-TWO
  65. SIXTY-THREE
  66. SIXTY-FOUR
  67. SIXTY-FIVE
  68. SIXTY-SIX
  69. SIXTY-SEVEN
  70. SIXTY-EIGHT
  71. SIXTY-NINE
  72. SEVENTY
  73. SEVENTY-ONE
  74. SEVENTY-TWO
  75. SEVENTY-THREE
  76. SEVENTY-FOUR
  77. Suggested topics for reading-group discussion
  78. Keep Reading …
  79. Lisa Stone also writes under the name of Cathy Glass.Don’t miss her latest book …
  80. About the Author
  81. Books by Lisa Stone
  82. About the Publisher

At 7.30, with no sign of Anne, Ian decided it was time to call it quits for this evening. He straightened in his seat and was about to start the engine when a car appeared in his rear-view mirror, having just turned into Dells Lane. Ian waited. The headlamps dipped and Ian watched the car’s progress in his wing mirror as it came towards him along the lane. He was half expecting it to turn off into one of the driveways or draw up outside a house. But it kept coming.

He ducked down low in his seat as it passed, then raised his head just enough to see out. It stopped outside Anne’s house but didn’t turn into the driveway. The door opened and Anne got out. He could see her reasonably clearly in the glow of the street lamp, but her vision of him was blocked by the car in front. She was wearing a dark winter coat, flat shoes, and had a bag over her shoulder. He couldn’t tell if she’d come from work or not. Ian watched her walk briskly to her front door, key at the ready, and let herself in. The door closed and the lights began going on inside the house. He’d give her a few minutes before he went to the door.

Ian looked at her car, parked right under the street lamp. It was a grey Vauxhall Corsa, which he recognized from when she’d visited him and Emma, but he now realized he’d also seen it – or one very similar – parked outside the Moller Clinic on his last visit. It had been there when he’d arrived but had gone when he’d left. If that car had been Anne’s, which he was pretty sure it was, then she was the person with Moller when Ian had arrived and who’d left in a hurry. Why was she there? And what had happened to make her slam the door as she’d left?

Time to confront her, Ian thought. He opened his car door, but as he did he heard a whirring sound coming from Anne’s house. He looked over and saw her garage door slowly rising. He quietly closed his car door again and waited, keeping low in his seat. The garage door rose to its full height and a small navy van with tinted windows pulled out. It turned left down the lane, going past him. The garage door automatically closed. It had been impossible to see who was in the van through the tinted windows. The lights in the house were still on. Perhaps there was someone else living there, Ian wondered, although there was only Anne listed on the Electoral Register.