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Back The Woman in the Wood Save as PDF
Chapters (62)
  1. Cover
  2. Also by M.K. Hill
  3. THE WOMAN IN THE WOOD
  4. Copyright
  5. Dedication
  6. Contents
  7. Epigraph
  8. 1
  9. 2
  10. 3
  11. 4
  12. 5
  13. 6
  14. 7
  15. 8
  16. 9
  17. 10
  18. 11
  19. 12
  20. 13
  21. 14
  22. 15
  23. 16
  24. 17
  25. 18
  26. 19
  27. 20
  28. 21
  29. 22
  30. 23
  31. 24
  32. 25
  33. 26
  34. 27
  35. 28
  36. 29
  37. 30
  38. 31
  39. 32
  40. 33
  41. 34
  42. 35
  43. 36
  44. 37
  45. 38
  46. 39
  47. 40
  48. 41
  49. 42
  50. 43
  51. 44
  52. 45
  53. 46
  54. 47
  55. 48
  56. 49
  57. 50
  58. 51
  59. 52
  60. Acknowledgements
  61. About the Author
  62. An Invitation from the Publisher

‘Not a clue.’ Lore’s voice cracked with the bitter emotion of an unloved child. ‘And I really don’t care. I don’t bear Rachel any ill will. I pitied her, I still pity her, wherever she is.’ Her head dropped and when it lifted again just a few moments later, her eyes were blurred with tears. ‘But it still hurts that she never made any attempt to love me the way she did Jez.’

‘I’m very sorry,’ said Sasha, and she stood, keen to drive back to Southend.

Sasha reached into her bag to grab a business card, but Lore already had one. ‘I found it on the floor downstairs.’ She shoved a piece of paper at Sasha. ‘That’s my number. Next time you want to talk, give me a ring instead of turning up out of the blue.’

34

He rang the bell but no one answered, so he banged on the door. ‘Jez, it’s me, open up.’

Abs was about to place his finger on the bell and keep it there when the door opened and the housekeeper stared at him. ‘What’s all the noise?’

‘Is he in, is Jez there?’ Abs rushed inside without being asked.

‘You can’t just—’

‘It’s okay, Pauline,’ Jez told her, tightening the belt of a fluffy white dressing gown around his waist. The initials J.W. were embroidered on his chest in fancy writing. ‘I’ll handle this. Sorry, mate, I was in the shower.’

‘I need to talk to you, bruv,’ Abs told him.

‘Let’s go in here.’ Jez led Abs into the library. As soon as the door closed, Abs began to pace, feeling the walls pressing in around him.

‘I thought you were filming today?’

‘Yeah.’ Abs couldn’t get his thoughts together. ‘I was… I mean, no.’

Jez perched on the edge of the sofa, wrapping the hanging flaps of the dressing gown over his thighs. ‘What’s the matter, mate, something’s wrong.’

‘We made a terrible mistake, Jez.’ Abs paced. ‘We did a terrible thing, and we’ve got to put it right. We’ve got to tell them where Rhiannon is buried.’

‘Wait, slow down.’ Jez pulled his fingers through his wet hair. ‘What’s happened?’

‘I’ve been kidding myself, bruv.’ Abs flung his hands in the air. ‘I thought if I could just get back with Kelsey, I’d be fixed, but I’ve been fooling myself. I thought she still loved me, despite everything, but she never did and never will. And because of that, I did the wrong thing, we did the wrong thing.’

Jez frowned. ‘Aren’t you back on the show?’

‘Course I ain’t.’ Abs thought he was going to cry. ‘They don’t want me back. I was making a cameo, that’s all it was, all it was ever intended to be.’

‘But that appearance could lead to—’