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Back The Secrets He Kept Save as PDF
Chapters (59)
  1. Cover
  2. Prologue
  3. Chapter One
  4. Chapter Two
  5. Chapter Three
  6. Chapter Four
  7. Chapter Five
  8. Chapter Six
  9. Chapter Seven
  10. Chapter Eight
  11. Chapter Nine
  12. Chapter Ten
  13. Chapter Eleven
  14. Chapter Twelve
  15. Chapter Thirteen
  16. Chapter Fourteen
  17. Chapter Fifteen
  18. Chapter Sixteen
  19. Chapter Seventeen
  20. Chapter Eighteen
  21. Chapter Nineteen
  22. Chapter Twenty
  23. Chapter Twenty-One
  24. Chapter Twenty-Two
  25. Chapter Twenty-Three
  26. Chapter Twenty-Four
  27. Chapter Twenty-Five
  28. Chapter Twenty-Six
  29. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  30. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  31. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  32. Chapter Thirty
  33. Chapter Thirty-One
  34. Chapter Thirty-Two
  35. Chapter Thirty-Three
  36. Chapter Thirty-Four
  37. Chapter Thirty-Five
  38. Chapter Thirty-Six
  39. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  40. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  41. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  42. Chapter Forty
  43. Chapter Forty-One
  44. Chapter Forty-Two
  45. Chapter Forty-Three
  46. Chapter Forty-Four
  47. Chapter Forty-Five
  48. Chapter Forty-Six
  49. Chapter Forty-Seven
  50. Chapter Forty-Eight
  51. Chapter Forty-Nine
  52. Chapter Fifty
  53. Chapter Fifty-One
  54. Chapter Fifty-Two
  55. Two Weeks Earlier
  56. A Letter From Jackie
  57. Acknowledgements
  58. About the Author
  59. Also by Jackie Walsh

I’m too warm. Kicking my legs out from under the cover the thought suddenly crashes into my mind. What if there was no accident, no bicycle, no alcohol testing. What if Tom made it all up to keep me from going berserk on him for not showing up to the birthday party? No, he wouldn’t, would he? Or worse still. What if he killed the woman? It’s not in his nature, I know, he’s not violent. But accidents can happen when knives and angry people hang around in the same space. Maybe he killed her by mistake. Got angry, lifted the knife to enforce his demands. She could have slipped. He could have slipped. We’re all slipping now.

Chapter Twenty-Two

I hear crying. Who’s that? My eyes open and I realize I’m not in my bed. It must be Aaron. He’s on the landing looking for me. His tiny pleas echo down the stairs. Poor kid, he doesn’t know where I am. I rush to the hallway up the stairs and grab him in my arms.

‘It’s okay, baby, Mammy is here.’

Aaron is holding a scraggly teddy bear in his hand and wiping his nose on it. His dark hair is stuck to his head like he’s been rained on and his feet are bare. Lifting him in my arms I hug him gently.

‘Mammy is here, mammy is here.’

His little arm wraps around my neck as he holds me tightly. He’s different to Cian, any break in his routine sets him off. The poor child must have got the fright of his life when he came into the room and I wasn’t there. That’s Tom’s fault.

Warmed by his embrace I lift Aaron down the stairs and sit him on the duvet. His face brightens, he thinks we’re going to play, he doesn’t know his Mammy only slept for about an hour last night and it’s not even 6 a.m. yet.

‘Let’s go back to sleep, Aaron, Mammy’s tired,’ I say, pulling his cosy body close to me.

Within ten minutes I hear the soft pant of his snore and feel his breath brushing off my face. I close my eyes, hoping to get another hour or two sleep but my mind won’t let me. Today is the day. Today we tell Amber.

‘What did I do now?’ Amber is sitting at the kitchen table.

‘You’ve done nothing, Amber,’ I say. ‘Your father and I need to talk to you about something.’ Amber looks at Tom who is taking the seat beside her.