‘A superb read and seriously the best domestic thriller I have read this year. Unnerving, compelling and just phenomenal’ Crime Book Junkie

‘Tense, chilling and cleverly plotted’ Bloomin’ Brilliant Books

‘Gripping plot, well-rounded (and unreliable) characters, twists, turns and revelations – all along the way rather than just at the end’ Crime Squad

‘Haunting, intense, and riveting’ Book after Blog

‘Voss has written a page-turner with strong character development and compelling emotional resonance’ Crime by the Book

‘Tense, propulsive, compelling, Louise Voss has created a spellbinding tale of deceit, lies and betrayal that had my brain whirling and my attention focussed throughout’ Live and Deadly

PRAISE FOR LOUISE VOSS

‘Storytelling at its best’ Now

‘Compelling stuff’ Heat

‘It is Louise Voss’s voice that you remember at the end: contemporary, female, authentic’ Independent

‘An exhilarating ride’ New Woman

‘Strong characters, a meaty plot and a satisfyingly unexpected twist’ Woman and Home

‘It’s brilliant … Funny, smart, believable, honest, moving … a lovely book’ Phill Jupitus

‘My favourite book this year. A beautifully written story which I didn’t want to end’ Cerys Matthews

The Last Stage

Louise Voss

Dedication

This one’s for Adrian, with love.

Contents

1. Title Page
2. Dedication
3. Prologue: 1995
4. 1: 2017 – Meredith
5. 2: One Year Later – Meredith
6. 3: Graeme
7. 4: Meredith
8. 5: Meredith
9. 6: Graeme
10. 7: Pete
11. 8: Meredith
12. 9: Meredith
13. 10: Meredith
14. 11: Meredith
15. 12: Meredith
16. 13: Meredith
17. 14: 1983 – Meredith
18. 15: Present Day – Emad
19. 16: Present Day – Emad
20. 17: 1983 – Meredith
21. 18: 1983 – Meredith
22. 19: Present Day – Meredith
23. 20: Meredith
24. 21: Meredith
25. 22: Pete
26. 23: Pete
27. 24: Pete
28. 25: Gemma
29. 26: 1983 – Meredith
30. 27: 1983 – Meredith
31. 28: 1983 – Meredith
32. 29: Present Day – Meredith
33. 30: 1984 – Meredith
34. 31: 1984 – Meredith
35. 32: 1984 – Meredith
36. 33: 1984 – Meredith
37. 34: Present Day – Gemma
38. 35: 1992 – Meredith
39. 36: Present Day – Gemma
40. 37: 1995 – Meredith
41. 38: Present Day – Gemma
42. 39: 1995 – Meredith
43. 40: Present Day – Gemma
44. 41: 1995 – Meredith
45. 42: Present Day – Gemma
46. 43: Pete
47. 44: Meredith
48. 45: Pete
49. 46: Graeme
50. 47: Emad
51. 48: Meredith
52. 49: Meredith
53. 50: Meredith
54. 51: Gemma
55. 52: Meredith
56. 53: Gemma and Emad
57. Epilogue: A year later – Meredith
58. Acknowledgements
59. About the Author
60. Copyright

Prologue

1995

At first, you think you’re imagining it. An old house, but new to you, one whose soft grunts and shifts you’re still becoming acclimatised to; of course there’ll be the occasional rumble in the radiators or protest from a floorboard. It’s a big house, a proud Georgian beast of a house, bought with the collective pocket money of more than a million teenagers.

But why would a floorboard creak, without a foot putting pressure on it, at three in the morning, and loud enough to wake you from a deep sleep?

Wide awake now, everything tensed, listening so hard it hurts. Nothing. You switch on the bedside lamp, leap out of bed and lunge for the key in the lock, turn it silently. Thank God for the lock on the door.

Then a soft noise on the other side of the door: half swallow, half gulp.

Then the sight of the slow dip of the door handle as someone turns it…

1

2017
Meredith

‘Meredith Vincent, you’re a hard woman to track down,’ said an accented voice Meredith vaguely recognised as belonging to someone she disliked.

‘Who is this?’

A laugh. A smoker’s cough. She thought, Ah no, not him. Please say it’s not him.