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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

As Joanne turned away, Dawn drew Morgan in for a hug. ‘That should buy you some time,’ she whispered in her ear. ‘Please. Ask your stepmum not to call the police. I couldn’t bear it if Dad went to jail. After everything he’s done . . . he doesn’t deserve it.’

As they parted, the bell above the door rang.

It was Naomi, and she did not look happy. She marched up to Morgan and grabbed her arm. ‘C’mon, we’ve got to go. Now.’

CHAPTER FORTY

CHAPTER FORTY

Nighbrook was shrinking in Naomi’s rear-view mirror, but she wouldn’t feel better until she was well away. London was calling. She couldn’t wait to fall back into the anonymity of the city, where nobody knew your business, and nobody cared. She imagined a much younger Lloyd, grinning at his father’s funeral as the coffin was lowered into the ground. Then Charlie, his colleague, who obviously knew too much. Lloyd watched over Nighbrook like a guillotine, ready to drop on the next person who blurted the truth. The man wasn’t just evil – he was insane. Inching her foot on the accelerator, she gripped the steering wheel tight.

‘It’s not safe here,’ she said in response to Morgan’s protests. ‘We’ll go to the cottage and pack a bag, meet your dad in London. We can stay at Connie’s while we sort this out with the police.’

The car jerked in a skid, forcing her to slow. The skies were forbidding, and a herd of ponies made tracks in the snow as they galloped past – even the animals seemed spooked.

There was no place for hope in Nighbrook. No room for forgiveness and no chance of moving on. The village was frozen in time, constructed around the evil events of ten years ago. Nighbrook was a village of spies. She recalled Mrs Stevens, her face pinched tight as she fell through the door when Naomi opened it to leave. Reporters weren’t popular people, but this was more terrifying than anything she’d dealt with. It wasn’t just her in the firing line. Petunia’s revelation came at a price.

‘Once said, this cannot be unsaid,’ she had warned Naomi. ‘It’s not easy to call the police when they are at the heart of it all.’

As Naomi drove to the cottage, she watched for patches of black ice. She couldn’t wait for Ed to return.

‘I’m not going without Dawn.’ Morgan’s voice broke into Naomi’s thoughts. ‘She’s been spying on us to keep them sweet. They have meetings. They—’

‘I know,’ Naomi interrupted. ‘They’re all in on it.’

It sounded like something from a Hitchcock movie, but a family had died, of that she was sure. Naomi didn’t know if Dawn could be trusted, and she needed to get Morgan somewhere safe.