Back When I Lost You Save as PDF
Chapters (81)
  1. Cover
  2. About the Author
  3. Dedication
  4. Prologue
  5. One
  6. Two
  7. Three
  8. Four
  9. Five
  10. Six
  11. Seven
  12. Eight
  13. Nine
  14. Ten
  15. Eleven
  16. Twelve
  17. Thirteen
  18. Fourteen
  19. Fifteen
  20. Sixteen
  21. Seventeen
  22. Eighteen
  23. Nineteen
  24. Twenty
  25. Twenty-one
  26. Twenty-two
  27. Twenty-three
  28. Twenty-four
  29. Twenty-five
  30. Twenty-six
  31. Twenty-seven
  32. Twenty-eight
  33. Twenty-nine
  34. Thirty
  35. Thirty-one
  36. Thirty-two
  37. Thirty-three
  38. Thirty-four
  39. Thirty-five
  40. Thirty-six
  41. Thirty-seven
  42. Thirty-eight
  43. Thirty-nine
  44. Forty
  45. Forty-one
  46. Forty-two
  47. Forty-three
  48. Forty-four
  49. Forty-five
  50. Forty-six
  51. Forty-seven
  52. Forty-eight
  53. Forty-nine
  54. Fifty
  55. Fifty-one
  56. Fifty-two
  57. Fifty-three
  58. Fifty-four
  59. Fifty-five
  60. Fifty-six
  61. Fifty-seven
  62. Fifty-eight
  63. Fifty-nine
  64. Sixty
  65. Sixty-one
  66. Sixty-two
  67. Sixty-three
  68. Sixty-four
  69. Sixty-five
  70. Sixty-six
  71. Sixty-seven
  72. Epilogue
  73. Acknowledgments
  74. Read More
  75. Prologue
  76. One
  77. Two
  78. Three
  79. Four
  80. Follow Merilyn online
  81. Dedication

‘And did you hear what he said at the end?’ She placed her hands on the desk and leaned back against it. ‘He said, “There is no Mary! Leave Mary out of it.” She looked expectantly at Paul and when he didn’t answer, continued.

‘How does he know there isn’t a Mary? If he knows as little about this case as he’s saying, then how does he know Mary doesn’t exist? And –’ she was animated now, hands gesturing as she spoke, ‘– if he doesn’t think there is a Mary, then why do we need to leave her out of it?’

She had a point. Why would Ian Fowler tell them to leave Mary out of the investigation if she didn’t exist? Which begged another equally obvious question. ‘Why is he so keen for us not to pursue Mary in this investigation?’

Nell pointed at Carla. ‘Exactly. The only reason he wouldn’t want us investigating Mary is if it would harm Joanne. Which means they know who she is – a real person not just a pseudonym for Joanne – and why she is connected to Connor and Eve. Hell,’ she raised her hands in the air, ‘Mary is the link we’ve been looking for all along.’

Carla picked up the phone. If Nell was right, there had to be a trace of Mary somewhere in the phone bills, and if there was one, Carla was damn sure she’d find it.

Thirty-four

Now

I wish my husband had never given me her number. He should have known I would use it to torture myself, that I couldn’t resist calling her. And now they will find the call I made to her, and slowly it’s all going to unravel, just like I want it to.

That’s the part of all this my husband doesn’t understand. Why I am sabotaging my own life to be rid of hers. But it’s more that he doesn’t want to see it. His fear of losing me, of not having me in his life, makes him blind, but even he would acknowledge this is no way to live a life. Constantly fighting to be rid of Eve, to battle every day the demons of our past. No, better to be gone from here, for good this time, than continue as we are.

So I made the call. Right before I killed O’Brian. I feel no guilt for that; the man showed no compassion towards his child, so why should I to him? And I wanted to warn her she might end up the same way if she gets in the way.