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Back The Dead Wife
Chapters (49)
  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. Acknowledgements
  47. About the Author
  48. Also by Sue Fortin
  49. About the Publisher

The double garage-like doors were locked with a heavy-duty chain and padlock, passing between two bars which ran from top to bottom in front of the doors and looking to be fixed into the framework of the building. The doors could only be opened if these two bars were removed. The doors themselves were also locked with a more traditional locking mechanism.

Steph stepped back and looked up at the building. There were no windows on the front at ground level, with just a small window above the doors which she assumed was the first floor. Steph moved round to the left-hand side of the building but there were no windows or doors there. The right-hand side was more accommodating. There were two ground-floor windows and a boardwalk about a metre-wide which ran the length of the building out into the water. It looked as if it went around the corner of the boathouse to the back, where, Steph recalled, there was a roller-type door. She assumed this was where boats could go in and out.

Steph walked over to the first window and, with her torch pressed against the pane of glass, she peered in. There wasn’t much she could make out, but the opposite side of the wall looked to be kitted out with hooks and shelving. There were several paddles hanging along the wall, and life jackets on hooks. There were also two steel boxes pushed up against the wall. In the middle of the floor was a large shape, but Steph couldn’t quite work out what it was. Maybe it was a boat with a tarpaulin covering it. She wasn’t sure. She moved along to the second window to try to get a better look, but this window was blacked out.

Steph eyed the boardwalk. It looked sturdy enough to take her weight and tentatively she shuffled along, keeping close to the side of the building. The water didn’t look particularly deep here, although it would have to be enough to allow kayaks and small boats to gain access to the boathouse, and it looked clear of weeds. She reached the corner and moved round until she was facing out onto the lake. Again, the blackness of the water was hard to comprehend. It was amazing how it could feel so sinister in the darkness and yet somehow there was a strange and dangerous attraction to it.