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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

He’d heard Jez talking to someone in the chalet in the wood, and knew he wasn’t speaking on the phone because Jez had left it in the house. It had dawned on him that Jez was keeping his mum there. The hut was the perfect hiding place, because Jez had told Abs nobody ever went there. For whatever mad reason, he was hiding his murderous mother from the police.

Abs wanted to ask Jez what the hell he was playing at. But this time when the housekeeper answered the door at Jez and Bethany’s house, she made sure to stand in his way so that he couldn’t just walk in.

‘I need to see Jez,’ he told her.

‘He’s not in.’

Abs could tell she was lying by the way she glanced over her shoulder. Jez may even have been standing behind the door, telling her what to say.

‘His car is still parked outside.’

‘I don’t know where he’s gone,’ said Pauline. ‘I’m sorry.’

And then she shut the door in his face. Abs thought about knocking again and giving her a piece of his mind – he was in the mood for it – but reasoned it wasn’t her fault. Instead, he walked to the end of the street to phone Jez. The call went straight to voicemail, as he suspected it would. ‘Jez, bruv, give me a ring, I need to talk to you.’

What Abs should do is go home and call his agent to start planning the next phase of his career. He was never going back to Laid in Essex!, that was obvz. Maybe he could become an actor; he’d already done pantomime, Behind you! and all that, and it was easy enough.

He didn’t know how long he stood contemplating his future, but it was beginning to get dark. He was just about to go home when Jez’s front door opened and his friend came out, carrying a bundle in his arms. It looked like something long and thin wrapped in a tarpaulin. Abs was about to call to him, but something about Jez’s demeanour made him hesitate. Jez glanced up and down the road anxiously, and Abs instinctively pressed himself into a doorway so he couldn’t be seen.

Making sure to stay hidden, he peeped around the corner to see Jez place the tarpaulin in the back of his car, and then get in the front. The car roared up the road, then braked hard at the top of the street to wait to edge out into traffic.

Abs raced out of the doorway just as a black cab came down the road. He ran in front of it, forcing it to stop.

Jumping in the back, he pointed up the road just as Jez’s BMW was disappearing around the corner. ‘Follow that car.’

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