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Back The Family Next Door Save as PDF
Chapters (117)
  1. Also by
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright Page
  4. Epigraph
  5. PROLOGUE
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
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  29. 24
  30. 25
  31. 26
  32. 27
  33. 28
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  35. 30
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  39. 34
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  54. 49
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  110. 105
  111. 106
  112. 107
  113. 108
  114. 109
  115. 110
  116. Teaser chapter
  117. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

All afternoon she had trawled their relationship, picking it over, holding up a magnifying glass to its imperfections. She’d remembered a night, a few months back, when she’d come in from drinks with friends, her mouth tasting of garlicky olives and red wine. She’d thrown off her jeans and silk shirt, collapsed into bed without brushing her teeth and fallen into a deep sleep.

A couple of hours later, her eyes had opened. She wasn’t sure what had disturbed her, but there was a man standing over the bed. She’d screamed before she’d realized it was Fletcher, and he’d soothed her, his hand on her arm.

“It’s only me. Go back to sleep.”

He’d lain down next to her, on his stomach, stroking her hair, and in that vague, half-asleep way of the middle of the night, she’d registered a slight thud, the sound of something heavy being placed on the carpet before she’d drifted off again.

It was only when she awoke in the morning that she’d noticed Fletcher’s camera on the floor. Her underwear had also been removed, but she had no memory of taking it off. At the time, she’d dismissed it to the black hole of drunkenness, had barely given it a second thought. Now she wasn’t so sure.

She had trusted him. She had invited him into her home and her life, allowing herself to be seduced by the man she thought he was. A part of her could not understand how she might have gotten it so wrong. How was it that she had not sensed this darkness in him, that her judgment had been so skewed? Was it because he was telling her the truth?

The letter box lifted again. “I do understand how you feel, you know.” And then he was standing up, preparing to leave. She could see the shape of him behind the stained glass. “I’ll go far away from here and you’ll never have to see me again, I promise.” His voice sounded muffled against the door and then she picked up the sound of footsteps, of him walking away.

She crawled over to the letter box, lifted it. “Fletch, wait.” The footsteps stopped. “Why did you change your name?”

He crouched down and she saw his mouth, the stubble on his chin, through the open flap.

“I wanted a clean page, a new beginning. Everyone deserves a second chance.” A hopeful lift to his voice. “If you let me in, we can talk about it properly.”

Dessie remembered their holiday plans, their first Christmas together, the way he made her laugh.

She unlocked the door.

76

76

Wednesday 1st August 2018, 2:08 A.M.

4 Hillside Crescent

DS Wildeve Stanton was many things but she wasn’t a fantasist.