Chapters (67)
- Cover
- Dedication
- PROLOGUE
- PART ONE
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- PART TWO
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- PART THREE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- PART FOUR
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- FIFTY-THREE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- EPILOGUE
- Mailing list
- A Letter from Kathryn
- Acknowledgements
- About the Author
- Also by Kathryn Croft
People continue walking past them, heading to wherever they need to be this morning. Nobody could have any idea of the enormity of what these two women are discussing.
Abby doesn’t respond.
‘That means it’s got everything to do with the present. It can’t have been a random attack.’
‘Sienna, I was waiting to tell you this but yesterday I found out that Mark had an email from a hotel in Brighton, which must mean he’s stayed there before. But when I asked him, he said he’d never been there and had no reason to go.’
Sienna stares at her. ‘What are you saying?’
‘I don’t know. It’s probably nothing. It can’t be anything, can it? Mark didn’t know Greg and he wasn’t in my life that night of the dinner party.’
‘The swap. It’s difficult to call it that now, isn’t it?’
‘I need to confront him about it. I just wanted to tell you first, to see what you think.’
‘I think that until the police find out who did this, we can’t trust anyone.’ Not even each other. She won’t say this to Abby, though.
While Sienna clears up after dinner, she can hear Jackson and Rob in the lounge. They’re playing on the PlayStation again, their animated exclamations filling up the house, filling the void. As good a father as he was, Sienna can’t imagine Greg playing computer games with his son; it’s good that Rob brings something different to Jackson’s life. There are three more days until Holly gets back, and Sienna doesn’t want this to end. She might suggest to Holly that Jackson stay here every weekend, but she’s unsure how that offer might be received. This has been good for Rob too, and it’s clear he’s in no rush to leave. He eagerly agreed when Sienna suggested he stay here until his house is sold and he’s bought somewhere new.
The only thing that troubles her about it is Rob’s drinking. It’s subtle, but it’s there – the way he’s constantly grabbing another bottle of beer as soon as he’s finished one, the way the fridge is always stocked with more. She still hasn’t touched any, and even the sight of it turns her stomach. Is she overreacting? Rob’s going through a divorce. He’s bound to need a crutch.
As soon as Jackson heads upstairs to bed, she asks Rob about his day. This was what she’d always used to do with Greg, until he became too distracted, or too rushed, to talk much. She thinks she understands. He had the burden of a young girl’s suicide on his mind, and no amount of time passing was easing his guilt.