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Back The Village Save as PDF
Chapters (62)
  1. TITLE PAGE
  2. COPYRIGHT PAGE
  3. DEDICATION
  4. CONTENTS
  5. START READING
  6. PROLOGUE
  7. CHAPTER ONE
  8. CHAPTER TWO
  9. CHAPTER THREE
  10. CHAPTER FOUR
  11. CHAPTER FIVE
  12. CHAPTER SIX
  13. CHAPTER SEVEN
  14. CHAPTER EIGHT
  15. CHAPTER NINE
  16. CHAPTER TEN
  17. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  18. CHAPTER TWELVE
  19. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  20. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  21. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  22. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  23. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  24. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  25. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  34. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  35. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  42. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  43. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  44. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  45. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  46. CHAPTER FORTY
  47. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  48. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  49. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  50. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  51. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  52. CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
  53. CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
  54. CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
  55. CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
  56. CHAPTER FIFTY
  57. CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
  58. CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
  59. CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
  60. CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
  61. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  62. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

‘I don’t know what’s going on here,’ Naomi said to Lloyd, as she returned. ‘But either you take my stepdaughter’s report, or I speak to your superior.’

‘You sure about that?’ Lloyd replied, slipping his hand into his pocket. ‘Because then I’ll have to tell them about the booze.’

‘Booze?’ She looked to Morgan, who was on the sofa, mouth agape.

‘I . . .’ the young girl said, opening and closing her mouth.

Lloyd produced the empty hip flask, giving it a little shake. ‘Not a drop left.’

‘I only had a sip,’ Morgan said meekly.

‘Sure,’ Lloyd replied. ‘A bit of Dutch courage for your date. Seems like you had more than you thought.’ He handed the flask to Naomi.

‘What date?’ Naomi’s brow creased in a frown. ‘I thought you were meeting Dawn.’

A dry laugh left Lloyd’s lips. ‘Seem you don’t know your stepdaughter as well as you think.’

‘Stop!’ Morgan said. ‘Please!’ Her cheeks were burning now, the antithesis of the way she looked when he found her.

‘She was meeting Dawn,’ Lloyd continued, waiting for the penny to drop.

Monitoring Naomi’s expression, he watched the news sink in.

‘Oh,’ she said, in a quiet voice, the heat of her anger dormant for now.

Lloyd matched her tone. ‘Morgan is over the worst. The storm is getting worse. I don’t recommend driving unless you have to.’ For once, he was met with quiet compliance. He considered the subject dropped. But alcohol had brought clarity. These outsiders would never let things lie. If he wasn’t sure before, he had no doubt now.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Morgan slid on her spare set of glasses. Naomi was pacing the room.

‘The bloody cheek of it!’ she exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. ‘Just wait until your dad gets home. We’re going to have it out with that lot once and for all.’

Her stepmother threw a log on to the fire before giving it a good poke. Judging by the storm raging outside, her dad wouldn’t be walking in the door any time soon. Had internal flights not been cancelled, he would have ditched his four-by-four and flown. It seemed the odds were against him.