BooksBarbecue
Back The Favor Save as PDF
Chapters (78)
  1. Title Page
  2. Dedication
  3. Prologue
  4. One
  5. Two
  6. Three
  7. Four
  8. Five
  9. Six
  10. Seven
  11. Eight
  12. Nine
  13. Ten
  14. Eleven
  15. Twelve
  16. Thirteen
  17. Fourteen
  18. Fifteen
  19. Sixteen
  20. Seventeen
  21. Eighteen
  22. Nineteen
  23. Twenty
  24. Twenty-One
  25. Twenty-Two
  26. Twenty-Three
  27. Twenty-Four
  28. Twenty-Five
  29. Twenty-Six
  30. Twenty-Seven
  31. Twenty-Eight
  32. Twenty-Nine
  33. Thirty
  34. Thirty-One
  35. Thirty-Two
  36. Thirty-Three
  37. Thirty-Four
  38. Thirty-Five
  39. Thirty-Six
  40. Thirty-Seven
  41. Thirty-Eight
  42. Thirty-Nine
  43. Forty
  44. Forty-One
  45. Forty-Two
  46. Forty-Three
  47. Forty-Four
  48. Forty-Five
  49. Forty-Six
  50. Forty-Seven
  51. Forty-Eight
  52. Forty-Nine
  53. Fifty
  54. Fifty-One
  55. Fifty-Two
  56. Fifty-Three
  57. Fifty-Four
  58. Fifty-Five
  59. Fifty-Six
  60. Fifty-Seven
  61. Fifty-Eight
  62. Fifty-Nine
  63. Sixty
  64. Sixty-One
  65. Sixty-Two
  66. Sixty-Three
  67. Sixty-Four
  68. Sixty-Five
  69. Sixty-Six
  70. Sixty-Seven
  71. Sixty-Eight
  72. Sixty-Nine
  73. Seventy
  74. Acknowledgments
  75. About the Author
  76. Remarkable Praise for Nicci French
  77. Also by Nicci French
  78. About the Publisher

“I’ve left a bag of my stuff in the boot. Put it in the bedroom when you get in, will you?” He saw her face and grinned. “There are two bedrooms,” he said. “You don’t need to worry.”

She just wanted to be on her way. She got into the car, slung her backpack on the seat beside her and adjusted the seat and rearview mirror. Liam held the door open.

“I’m going to get a train that arrives at Ixley at half past nine this evening. Can you pick me up? It’s just a few miles from the house.”

“Ixley,” Jude repeated. “Nine-thirty.”

“Maybe you can buy some food. With my card, mind. There’s a little shop in the village. We can have a late meal.”

“I should go before one of these cars rams me.”

She stared up at him. Raindrops were glistening in his dark hair and she had the tingling feeling that if she pulled him toward her and kissed him, then time would fold back on itself and they would be eighteen again, and the future would be different this time round. She could do things better.

She shrank back in her seat and frowned at him.

“This really is all right, isn’t it, Liam?”

He smiled cheerfully. “Don’t stress. I’ll tell you everything later. If you’re not comfortable, you can say no.”

He leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. Smell of cigarettes, bristle of beard. A stranger.

“Thanks, Jude.”

“See you at half past nine this evening,” she said.

He shut the door at last, and in the rearview mirror she saw him walking away.

Five

The ancient Honda rattled its way out of London. Jude’s phone told her it should take two hours and fifty-five minutes, because the A12 was clogged with traffic, presumably still escaping London for the weekend. As the car moved at walking pace, she nervously looked at the petrol gauge hovering on empty. What if she ran out? She pulled off at the first service station she saw and dutifully used Liam’s card. Before setting off again, she examined the inside of the car. There were a few empty cans on the floor by the passenger seat, an apple core and chewing gum in the door compartment, a ripped road atlas, a tangle of wires under the dashboard, half a bottle of water. In the back was a child seat, a single miniature red wellington boot and a half-eaten pack of Skittles. Alfie.