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Back The Secret Save as PDF
Chapters (80)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise for Debbie Howells
  3. Readers gave The Vow five stars …
  4. Dedication
  5. Niamh
  6. Chapter One
  7. Niamh
  8. Chapter Two
  9. Niamh
  10. Chapter Three
  11. Chapter Four
  12. Niamh
  13. Chapter Five
  14. Niamh
  15. Chapter Six
  16. Chapter Seven
  17. Chapter Eight
  18. Chapter Nine
  19. Niamh
  20. Chapter Ten
  21. Chapter Eleven
  22. Niamh
  23. Chapter Twelve
  24. Chapter Thirteen
  25. Chapter Fourteen
  26. Chapter Fifteen
  27. Niamh
  28. Chapter Sixteen
  29. Chapter Seventeen
  30. Chapter Eighteen
  31. Niamh
  32. Chapter Nineteen
  33. Chapter Twenty
  34. Chapter Twenty-One
  35. Chapter Twenty-Two
  36. Niamh
  37. Chapter Twenty-Three
  38. Chapter Twenty-Four
  39. Chapter Twenty-Five
  40. Chapter Twenty-Six
  41. Niamh
  42. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  43. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  44. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  45. Niamh
  46. Chapter Thirty
  47. Chapter Thirty-One
  48. Chapter Thirty-Two
  49. Chapter Thirty-Three
  50. Chapter Thirty-Four
  51. Niamh
  52. Chapter Thirty-Five
  53. Chapter Thirty-Six
  54. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  55. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  56. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  57. Chapter Forty
  58. Chapter Forty-One
  59. Niamh
  60. Chapter Forty-Two
  61. Chapter Forty-Three
  62. Niamh
  63. Chapter Forty-Four
  64. Chapter Forty-Five
  65. Chapter Forty-Six
  66. Niamh
  67. Chapter Forty-Seven
  68. Chapter Forty-Eight
  69. Chapter Forty-Nine
  70. Niamh
  71. Chapter Fifty
  72. Niamh
  73. Chapter Fifty-One
  74. Chapter Fifty-Two
  75. Niamh
  76. Keep Reading …
  77. Acknowledgements
  78. About the Author
  79. Also by Debbie Howells
  80. About the Publisher

‘I don’t understand, Niamh. Why wouldn’t you leave here with me?’

Shaking my head, I say nothing. I can’t tell her that as long as he’s alive, we’ll never be free of him. It doesn’t matter where we live. He’ll find us. Nowhere is safe.

There is only one way for everything to be OK and that’s to do what my father wants.

And he knows that.

Chapter Forty-Two

Jo

Something’s niggling at me the next morning, just before we’re scheduled to continue questioning Andrew Buckley.

‘Sir, do we know how long Andrew Buckley’s affair with Stephanie Hampton went on?’

He frowns. ‘I don’t know. Why d’you ask?’

‘It may be nothing. But I want to check something out. I need to talk to James Hampton again.’

*

In the interview room, James Hampton wears the resigned expression of a condemned man.

‘I need to ask you about your wife’s affair with Andrew Buckley, Mr Hampton.’ I watch as his face clouds over. ‘Do you know when it started?’

‘Not for sure, but something changed last summer. She was suddenly out much more. I knew she was busy at work so I put it down to that. She also seemed brighter than she had in a long time. I put that down to her work, too. She loved what she did. Now, I realise she was with him.’

‘Can you narrow it down to a month?’ I watch him closely, knowing that if he says what I think he’s going to say, there are huge implications for Andrew Buckley.

He tries to work it out. ‘My birthday’s the first week in August. Everything was fine, then. The Buckleys even came to my party. I remember catching Stephanie talking to him.’ He says it venomously. ‘It seemed harmless enough at the time and I didn’t think anything more of it. But after that she was different somehow.’

‘Do you have anything more to back up your assumption that the affair started then?’

He nods. Then he frowns. ‘A week later, I was at the pub having a drink with a couple of people. Buckley was one of them. Just before he left, he bought me a pint …’ His laugh is hollow. ‘Then, when I got home, I saw his car was pulling out of our drive. When I went in, Stephanie said he’d called in to drop off some blood test results. I had no reason not to believe her and I had other things on my mind by then …’ His voice trails off as he stares blankly at the table.

*

After leaving Hampton, I make the phone call that will tell me everything I need to know.

*