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Back The Lucky Eight
Chapters (64)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Prologue
  4. Five Years Later
  5. One
  6. Two
  7. Three
  8. Four
  9. Five
  10. Six
  11. Seven
  12. Eight
  13. Nine
  14. Ten
  15. Eleven
  16. Twelve
  17. Thirteen
  18. Fourteen
  19. Fifteen
  20. Sixteen
  21. Seventeen
  22. Eighteen
  23. Nineteen
  24. Twenty
  25. Twenty-one
  26. Twenty-two
  27. Twenty-three
  28. Twenty-four
  29. Twenty-five
  30. Twenty-six
  31. Twenty-seven
  32. Twenty-eight
  33. Twenty-nine
  34. Thirty
  35. Thirty-one
  36. Thirty-two
  37. Thirty-three
  38. Thirty-four
  39. Thirty-five
  40. Thirty-six
  41. Thirty-seven
  42. Thirty-eight
  43. Thirty-nine
  44. Forty
  45. Forty-one
  46. Forty-two
  47. Forty-three
  48. Forty-four
  49. Forty-five
  50. Forty-six
  51. Forty-seven
  52. Forty-eight
  53. Forty-nine
  54. Fifty
  55. Fifty-one
  56. Fifty-two
  57. Fifty-three
  58. Fifty-four
  59. Fifty-five
  60. Epilogue
  61. Acknowledgements
  62. Canelo Crime
  63. About the Author
  64. Also by Sheila Bugler

‘You don’t understand, Clodagh. This isn’t about me. It’s about doing what’s right for all the people the foundation has worked so hard to help. If word gets out about what Robbie’s done, people will stop donating. How will that help anyone?’

She didn’t answer, because she didn’t trust herself to speak without screaming. Whatever he said, she knew the decision not to go to the police was as much about protecting Adam as it was about looking out for anyone else. The other thing she knew, which made this whole situation even worse, was that Jake Harris had played a key part in the decision to cover up Robbie’s crime.

‘It’s easy for you,’ Adam said, his voice hardening. ‘You don’t have to make difficult decisions like this. You, and everyone else, get the benefits from the foundation’s work without having to do anything. But I’ve worked my guts out to get us to where we are today. I’ve dedicated my life to doing everything I can for all the people whose lives were devastated by that terrible tragedy. I will not let one person’s bad decision-making ruin all of that.’

‘What if it turns out that Robbie’s the murderer?’

‘Don’t be ridiculous.’

‘You think I’m the one who’s being ridiculous? You and Robbie had a huge falling out. You cut him off from the charity and all of the people he’s got to know over the last few years. Is that not a good enough reason for revenge?’

‘If he was out to get revenge,’ Adam said, ‘he would have killed me, not Nick and Tara. Besides, he’s in Spain not the UK. He took the money and ran. Literally. He’s used our money to buy his little bolthole in Andalucía, leaving me to clear up the mess he’s left behind.’

Clodagh stood up, needing to put some distance between them.

‘I’m going upstairs,’ she said. ‘I can’t be with you right now. I’ll sleep in the spare room tonight.’

‘Clodagh, don’t be like that,’ Adam called after her. ‘Please come back so we can talk about it.’

It occurred to her that this was the second time she’d walked away from him in as many days. She knew that didn’t bode well for the future of their relationship, but the alternative – to go back into the kitchen and listen to his excuses – wasn’t an option. It was still early, not yet eight o’clock. Too early to go to bed, but she didn’t know what else to do.