When someone’s desperate enough, it’s surprising what lengths they’ll go to. Some people want revenge, some absolution. Some will do anything they possibly can to cover up what they’ve done. Others want to unearth what’s been buried.

Some want to hand out their own kind of justice.

Others simply want the legal kind.

I know people who fall into each of these categories.

Which one would I put myself in?

Chapter Eighty-One

Barb

My visit to Davina’s was a success, I think. I managed to get my intended message across in a way that showed I was serious; I conveyed the point I shouldn’t be messed with. It’s funny, watching someone who thinks they know everyone’s business crumble under the weight of the knowledge they weren’t the one holding all the cards. She doesn’t have the monopoly on Stockwood’s gossip. She mostly only knows snippets. Half-truths.

But one of the half-truths she does know is a dangerous one. I can’t allow her to stay on the path she’s begun to carve out with my daughter-in-law. They must veer off-course, or there will be a crash. I’m not worried for me. I’m worried for Nick and my grandsons.

It’s not a legacy I wish to leave them.

I’ve left it so late to make my way back to the complex. I was going to see if I could get a lift from Eric, but he doesn’t like driving in the dark – and the evening is drawing in already. I’ll have to call for a taxi. As I stop on the corner of Apple Grove, I sense a presence. The base of my neck prickles. I can’t see anyone close by. Is someone lurking in the shadows? Watching? I walk on further, rounding the corner to the main road that eventually leads out of the village. It’s a straight stretch here. If anyone’s behind me, they’ll come into view any moment now.

No one’s there.

I let out a puff of air and carry on walking. I get my phone out and dial as I walk.

The collision almost knocks me off my feet. All the air’s expelled from my lungs as I fall backwards, and I gasp to refill them at the same time as pawing my hands at the air in a vain attempt to regain my balance. Someone else’s hands pull me back upright. I’m relieved I’m no longer falling.

But the person I knocked into doesn’t let me go again. I’m being pulled sideways. Dragged. My feet are scrambling, trying to gain traction, but they leave the ground.

A gloved hand across my mouth prevents my scream. Pain shoots through my right temple.

My vision blurs and fades to black.

Chapter Eighty-Two

Amber