Chapters (81)
- Cover
- About the Author
- Dedication
- Prologue
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-one
- Twenty-two
- Twenty-three
- Twenty-four
- Twenty-five
- Twenty-six
- Twenty-seven
- Twenty-eight
- Twenty-nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-one
- Thirty-two
- Thirty-three
- Thirty-four
- Thirty-five
- Thirty-six
- Thirty-seven
- Thirty-eight
- Thirty-nine
- Forty
- Forty-one
- Forty-two
- Forty-three
- Forty-four
- Forty-five
- Forty-six
- Forty-seven
- Forty-eight
- Forty-nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-one
- Fifty-two
- Fifty-three
- Fifty-four
- Fifty-five
- Fifty-six
- Fifty-seven
- Fifty-eight
- Fifty-nine
- Sixty
- Sixty-one
- Sixty-two
- Sixty-three
- Sixty-four
- Sixty-five
- Sixty-six
- Sixty-seven
- Epilogue
- Acknowledgments
- Read More
- Prologue
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Follow Merilyn online
- Dedication
He looks pained. ‘Because since Mary’s come back you’ve been distracted, distant, and I feel like you’re slipping away from me and I don’t know what to do about that.’
He’s right. I have been. But that’s to be expected. It was a shock to hear from her after all this time. It was Joanne’s fault, coming back and bringing Mary with her.
I take his hand and hold it up to my cheek, then kiss it. He smells of soap but tastes of salt after a hot day in the office. I kiss it again.
‘I’m sorry. You’re right. And we need to be together on this one or it’s going to go very wrong. But you can’t seriously think I would kill a man and then go and work the crime scene immediately after?’
Gerry shook his head. ‘No, of course not.’ I see him hesitate and I’m about to get angry when he says, ‘I think they know I called Joanne.’
I let go of his hand. I told him not to contact her. I told him no good would come of it and we needed to cut her out of our lives, not bring her into it.
‘The phone bills?’ I say.
‘Yes. They may have got Joanne’s call data and it would show up. Carla would recognise the number, I’m sure of it.’
‘But she hasn’t said anything to you?’
‘No.’
I relax a little. ‘Well, then. Carla would have told you. She adores you and your friendship would matter more to her. She’d definitely put you first.’ I take a couple of mouthfuls of wine and start to feel better. Maybe this is all going to work out OK. We just need to get rid of Mary first, then deal with Joanne afterwards.
I feel a laugh brewing at the absurdity of it all. Me chasing Mary, who’s chasing Eve, and Joanne chasing all of us. I think I may be drunk. I take another mouthful of wine just to make sure.
‘Anyway,’ I say, ‘the point is, Carla mustn’t know yet that you called Joanne, so what we need to concentrate on is getting rid of Mary.’ I can see he’s still hurt, but we don’t have time for nicey-niceness.
‘Eve,’ he says. I stub out my cigarette.
‘Yes.’
‘Do you think Mary killed Connor?’
And there we have it. He’s finally figured it out.
‘Yes. I do.’
‘Why did she kill him?’ The pain in his expression is almost unbearable.
‘I have no idea. Best you go and ask her that yourself.’
Fifty-five
‘What do you mean, you won’t charge her?’ Nell was standing, hands on the custody sergeant’s desk, wishing she could grab the charge sheet and fill it in herself. The uniformed sergeant stared coolly back at her.