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Back The Lies We Told Save as PDF
Chapters (44)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright
  3. Table of Contents
  4. Dedication
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. 20
  25. 21
  26. 22
  27. 23
  28. 24
  29. 25
  30. 26
  31. 27
  32. 28
  33. 29
  34. 30
  35. 31
  36. 32
  37. 33
  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. Acknowledgements
  41. Keep Reading…
  42. About the Author
  43. Also by Camilla Way
  44. About the Publisher

That night when I tucked her up in bed I lingered for a while on the pretext of tidying her room. I remembered how excited we’d been when we first moved to the house, how we’d looked forward to making our little girl’s room perfect for her. Glancing around now – at the walls we’d painted a cheerful yellow, the string of fairy lights draped over her mantelpiece, the large dolls house Doug had built, at all the other little touches we’d spent ages picking out for her but that had always been met with total indifference, I tried to find the words to begin. ‘Hannah,’ I said. ‘Darling?’

She looked at me and waited. At seven years old, she was small for her age still, yet she seemed in that moment to have changed, her face a touch less babyish than it was before; one of those moments you have with children, those startling flashes of realization that they are growing up and away from you right under your nose, that time passes so very quickly. Her hair fanned out across the white pillow, her watchful eyes were fixed on mine.

I made myself take a deep breath, my mouth horribly dry. ‘What you heard in the kitchen earlier, sweetheart, it must have sounded so crazy, so silly,’ I began, my smile so forced it hurt my face, my voice shrill. ‘We were just playing a silly game, that’s all! That was Mummy’s friend and we were pretending we were in a film or something!’ Hannah continued to watch me silently. I licked my lips. ‘The thing is, darling, it needs to be a secret. What you heard, what you heard Mummy and her friend saying, the game you overheard, you mustn’t mention it to anyone. Do you see? You mustn’t mention it to anyone at all, not even Daddy. Do you promise?’

Hannah blinked, her face without expression as she considered me. And then she turned over and closed her eyes, leaving me to stare silently down at her, cold with fear.

10

London, 2017

As Clara walked to the police station a memory came to her of a year or so before, when she had fallen and badly twisted her ankle. Fearing that she’d fractured it, Luke had taken her to the hospital where they’d waited long into the afternoon to be seen. It had been unbearably hot, the waiting area full to bursting with the sick and injured, a palpable cloud of frustration and boredom hanging in the stuffy air.