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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

With a fuzzy head, I check myself in the mirror before leaving the staffroom. The sound from the radio, the hairdryers, the chatter, all seems so noisy now, irritating me. The shock of what I thought I saw has me on edge. Was it Tom in that photo? The man I’ve slept beside for the last sixteen years. The man I’ve trusted, the father of my children. There’s no way Tom could have a secret child. That young girl Charlie must have it wrong. She’s mistaken, thinking the man with his arm around the boy is his father. Charlie may never even have met the boy’s father. Tom was probably in that photo because the boy won some player of the year award or something like that. After all, Tom used to coach one of the teams in the club before life got too busy for us. That’s what this is. Tom was just congratulating the boy when the photo was taken. That’s if it even was Tom.

Taking a deep breath, I walk to where Megan is waiting for me at the reception desk.

Megan smiles at me. ‘Okay now, Sal?’

I nod at her, turning the book on the counter and reading from my client list. I’m finding it hard to concentrate. The words blur but eventually come into focus.

I realize I can’t just leave it at that, presume Charlie has it wrong. Why would she say the man in the picture was the boy’s father if she didn’t know? I need to see her again. I need to see that photo again.

Chapter Three

Strong coffee helps. It slows me down when I’m swallowing it and speeds me up when I’m finished. Megan didn’t want me to stay at work. But I didn’t want to go home, so I insisted I was fine and capable of doing my job. Going home without a plan of action would be a bad idea. I’d walk in the front door, attack Tom with all kinds of accusations handing over any advantage I have. Yes, I will have to confront him. I know that. But I want to gather as much information before I do. Surely if Tom has another child there must be some evidence lying around the house.

When Tom heads out for his usual Saturday evening match drinks with the lads – the ones he feels so entitled to after minding his own kids for the day – I’ll search through his things.