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Back The Imposter
Chapters (55)
  1. Cover
  2. ANNA WHARTON
  3. Dedication page
  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. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  54. Praise
  55. THE IMPOSTER

Chloe turns the picture back over. It was true that she had wanted to help. She always wanted to help. She looks up and around her room. She pictures the nights when she had lain here in bed, listening to Nan’s soft breathing on the other side of the wall. It was enough for so long and she really thought this would be it. She always thinks that finally, she will be sated. In the early days, they’d chat through the wall, Nan always grateful to get a reply. For so long there had been nobody. Then her mind drifts back to the Kyles, wondering if it really had gone so wrong? Disappointment is nothing but reality failing to meet expectation. Hadn’t she heard that somewhere? And what had she expected? All she’d wanted was to find out what had happened to Angie. That was it, wasn’t it? She hadn’t asked for more; it wasn’t her fault if Maureen had convinced herself of something else. And then today, after all these weeks of searching for clues, Patrick had given her something bigger than anything he’d told the police. But why?

A horrible thought comes to mind, one so ugly she pushes it away before it has time to tie itself to her. Patrick had been the one to tell her that Angie was never at the park, but was he the only one who knew this? She pictures Maureen then, in her short pinny as she serves up dinner, her hands resting on her hips as she watches Chloe eat from the plate covered in bunnies.

No, Maureen doesn’t know anything about this. It is inconceivable to think she is complicit in his lie. Chloe shakes her head. She won’t have it. It is impossible to hold those two thoughts together. That woman, who has been so loyal in her grief all these years, who has trusted her husband implicitly. It would kill her to know he’s been lying to her. It would kill her to know that he has known all this time just what had happened to their daughter.

Hollie is still speaking, but Chloe cuts her short.

‘Hollie, I’ve got to . . . I’ve got to go.’

‘What do you mean, go? Go where? Where are you?’

‘I can’t explain at the moment.’

‘Chloe, you’re worrying me . . .’

‘Don’t worry, I’ll explain as soon as I can.’

And she hangs up. However hard the truth may be to hear, Maureen deserves to know what really happened to her daughter, and Chloe will be the one to tell her.