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Back The Missing Wife Save as PDF
Chapters (64)
  1. THE MISSING WIFE
  2. PRAISE FOR SAM CARRINGTON
  3. Dedication
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. 13
  17. 14
  18. 15
  19. 16
  20. 17
  21. 18
  22. 19
  23. 20
  24. 21
  25. 22
  26. 23
  27. 24
  28. 25
  29. 26
  30. 27
  31. 28
  32. 29
  33. 30
  34. 31
  35. 32
  36. 33
  37. 34
  38. 35
  39. 36
  40. 37
  41. 38
  42. 39
  43. 40
  44. 41
  45. 42
  46. 43
  47. 44
  48. 45
  49. 46
  50. 47
  51. 48
  52. 49
  53. 50
  54. 51
  55. 52
  56. 53
  57. THE EPILOGUE
  58. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  59. Prologue
  60. Chapter One
  61. Chapter Two
  62. About the Author
  63. By the same author
  64. About the Publisher

Louisa blew out a breath. It was the relief rushing out of her, but she hoped it would come across more as a shocked expulsion of air. ‘Scaled down, Oliver, not given up. They’ll still be looking—’

‘For a dead body, yes. No evidence has been found that suggests she’s alive – no proof of life. So that’s it. She’s another statistic. A missing person who’ll never be found.’

Louisa stared him straight in the eye. ‘Do you think this is karma?’

‘Yes.’ He nodded. ‘I think it is.’

‘I’m sorry,’ she whispered. Sorry for you, sorry for what we did. Sorry that I know Melissa is alive. That she was at Tiff’s just a matter of days ago. Sorry to not be telling you.

But you might already know it all.

You might be telling me a pack of lies.

I can’t trust you.

‘What should we do?’ Louisa asked.

‘About what? Melissa?’

‘Melissa, Tiff, the woman in the lane. All of it, Oliver. Where do we go from here?’

‘Nowhere.’ He shrugged. ‘I’ve exhausted all possibilities with Melissa – either she doesn’t want to be found, or she’s dead in a ditch somewhere. And Tiff is dead – there’s nothing to do there, sadly. Apart from give her a good send-off – a party she’d have been proud to have organised herself. And the other thing – well, that stays buried. It has to. If that comes out now, Lou-Lou – I’ll be done for. If I was capable of burying a body when I was nineteen, then they’ll assume I did the same to Melissa. They don’t need bodies to charge you with murder you know.’

No, no they didn’t. She felt a pang of guilt knowing he hadn’t harmed Melissa, but that the police, loads of the general public – even her family – would think he had. She had also questioned it, before she’d seen the drone footage – even questioned it again just moments ago. If after a certain number of years they still hadn’t found proof of life, Melissa would be presumed dead and could be legally declared as such. As must’ve happened with the woman in the lane. But Louisa knew the woman in the lane was dead. Melissa, on the other hand, was very much alive. And surely she couldn’t stay hidden, undetected forever.

She’d have to come out of hiding at some point.

But what bothered Louisa most was who was she hiding from, and why?

45

THE TRUTH

Wednesday a.m. – Day 19 post-party