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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

Naomi exhaled the breath she had been holding. Morgan could have escaped, but she’d called Joel away to divert him from hurting her. She cast an eye over the clock on the wall. Ed wasn’t due back for another half an hour. Would he be in time?

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

Morgan didn’t know where she found the strength to stand, let alone act normally in front of Joel. The moment he stepped before her, it all clicked into place. She had always felt his gaze lingering a little too long on her body each time she entered the room. Her mum was too stoned to notice when he started making excuses for the two of them to be alone. Up until now, she’d put her mother’s behaviour down to the side-effects of cannabis, but watching Joel openly snort coke had opened her eyes. Harmony’s moods ranged from being high with confidence to crashing down as paranoia and depression took hold. Joel had always said he dealt in the produce, not taken it. But now she could see him for what he was. His invitation to take Morgan on holiday had not been a selfless act. Fascination like that didn’t simply go away, not in Joel’s drug-fuelled mind where his needs met his justifications each and every time.

Her online relationship with Taz had felt like another level. He’d known so much about her, for a start. He had to be an inside source. Terrified, she packed her rucksack. She didn’t want to go anywhere with him. It was clear what he’d planned for them both. It was also clear from the way he was watching her that he didn’t want to wait. The fact that he was grabbing her here, in her bedroom among such chaos, showed how fragmented his mind had become.

She hastily pulled on her tracksuit bottoms, leaving her urine-stained jeans on the floor. She remembered Joel’s moods well enough to hold a small advantage. Tell him what he wanted to hear, and you might keep him on an even keel. Her dad would be back soon, but that was the very reason they needed to leave. Joel had just killed a man and laughed in the face of it. The thought of him turning his gun on Ed was too much to bear.

‘Gimmie some sugar, babe.’ He repeated the phrase he used to say to Harmony.

It made Morgan’s skin crawl. He playfully squeezed her buttock as she pulled her laptop charger from the wall.

‘Not now.’ She sidestepped, unable to hide her disdain.

‘Oi!’ he said, yanking her hair. ‘How’s about a little respect? I just saved your skin.’