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Chapters (70)
  1. Cover
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  3. Map of Rutland
  4. Map of Oakham
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. 20
  25. 21
  26. 22
  27. 23
  28. 24
  29. 25
  30. 26
  31. 27
  32. 28
  33. 29
  34. 30
  35. 31
  36. 32
  37. 33
  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. 40
  45. 41
  46. 42
  47. 43
  48. 44
  49. 45
  50. 46
  51. 47
  52. 48
  53. 49
  54. 50
  55. 51
  56. 52
  57. 53
  58. 54
  59. 55
  60. 56
  61. 57
  62. 58
  63. 59
  64. 60
  65. 61
  66. 62
  67. 63
  68. On Borrowed Time
  69. Acknowledgments
  70. Adam Croft

‘It’s in the fridge.’

‘It’ll keep for tomorrow.’

‘You going in tomorrow?’

‘Course I am. Why wouldn’t I?’

‘Just wondered. Dinner’s nearly ready if you want to sort out the table.’

They ate in almost complete silence. Usually, she’d tell Josh off for playing with his Nintendo Switch at the table, but this time she didn’t care. Archie was clearly cheesed off at something his brother had said or done, and was keeping quiet himself. With Mark offering no attempts at deep conversation, Caroline was secretly quite happy with the peace.

When dinner was finished, Mark cleared away the plates.

‘Boys, do you want to go upstairs for a bit?’ he asked. They didn’t need telling twice, and bounded up to their rooms like puppies.

Caroline didn’t know whether the tension was still left over from Mark’s careless pregnancy remarks the previous morning or if there was something else she’d done wrong, but she didn’t have the energy to challenge him.

‘What’s going on, Caz?’ he asked, eventually.

‘What do you mean?’

‘With you. You’ve changed. What’s wrong?’

‘Nothing. I’m just tired and stressed. There’s a lot going on at work.’

‘How’d you know?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘You didn’t go to work today.’

Caroline blinked. He’d said it with such conviction, there was no point in denying it.

‘Why do you say that?’

‘Because I went to drop off your lunch and they said you had the day off.’

Caroline sighed. ‘No, I was out of town. We’ve got a lead in the case I’m working on. We’ve got to keep our powder dry and there are things we can’t discuss.’ It was wishy-washy enough to be convincing, but Caroline hated lying to Mark.

‘What kind of lead?’

Caroline looked at him for a moment. ‘I can’t tell you that.’

‘Yes you can. You don’t have to be specific. But right now I’m honestly not believing a word of this. Something’s going on, Caz. I know it is. And if you’re not going to tell me what, then I think that says more than anything else.’

‘There’s nothing going on.’ All she wanted to do was sleep.

‘Look me in the eye and tell me everything’s fine. Tell me you’re not hiding anything.’

‘Mark, can we just drop this please? I’m really tired.’

‘Surely you’ve at least got the energy to tell me you’re not keeping things from me?’

She swallowed hard. There was no easy way out of this. She didn’t want to hide things from Mark, but above all else she needed to protect him. She was damned if she did and damned if she didn’t. She raised her head and looked her loving husband in the eye.

‘I’m not hiding anything,’ she said.

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