Chapters (78)
- Title Page
- Dedication
- Prologue
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sixty
- Sixty-One
- Sixty-Two
- Sixty-Three
- Sixty-Four
- Sixty-Five
- Sixty-Six
- Sixty-Seven
- Sixty-Eight
- Sixty-Nine
- Seventy
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Remarkable Praise for Nicci French
- Also by Nicci French
- About the Publisher
She put down her glass on the wall and, before Jude had a chance to retreat, Erika stepped forward to hug her. She felt the woman’s warm, winey breath on her cheek, the tickle of her coarse blond hair. She stood stiffly in the circle of Erika’s arms, stretching her hand out so she didn’t spill her wine. She didn’t want to hug her back. She thought about Danny in hospital with her new baby. Hadn’t Liam felt like a piece of shit? Hadn’t Erika? Apparently not.
What a household, she thought. Everyone with their secrets and their betrayals.
Forty-Five
Jude left Erika abruptly and strode toward the house. She felt grubby, and wanted to go back to the flat and take her clothes off and shower, and never, not ever, come here again. It was a bad place, a place where anything could happen. There were no rules and no boundaries. There was no kindness here, she thought. It was a savage place.
Music was throbbing in the building, a deep bass thrum. Lights had been dimmed and someone had lit candles and placed them on high shelves so they threw guttering shadows. A few people were dancing. Someone handed Jude a glass and she drank from it without thinking. All her bones felt soft. She shouldn’t drink anymore, she thought, and lifted the glass to her mouth again.
“You think you’ve won.”
A woman’s voice, clear and loud, cut through the music and the chatter. People nearby fell silent.
“You think you can just take Alfie away from us and we won’t fight you.”
It was Tara, and she was clutching the little boy to her and facing Danny. Her face was fierce and her eyes like dark stones.
“Come on, love,” said Andy, putting his large hand on her sinewy arm.
“Yes, time for you to go, I think,” said Danny, smiling gently at Liam’s mother. “You probably need to sleep it off.”
“You nasty, two-faced, scheming bitch.”
Alfie stirred, opened his eyes, gazed round him.
“Give me my son,” said Danny, holding out her arms, her voice a sinister coo. “Come to Mummy, Alfie.”
“I always said he was too good for you.”
“He used to laugh about how you could never let go.” Danny’s voice remained pleasant. She didn’t seem to mind that everyone was watching; perhaps she even liked it. “Some mothers, hey? I won’t be like that with you, I promise.” She laid her long-fingered hand, heavy with rings, on Alfie’s soft curls and he gazed up at her.
“You’re a bad woman,” said Tara, her voice shaking.
“Yes, well, that’s as may be.”
Danny took hold of her son and lifted him out of Tara’s arms, while Tara tried to hold on to him. Jude shut her eyes for a moment in wretchedness as Alfie began to cry.