BooksBarbecue
Back When I Lost You
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

Eve,

What is this, my third or fourth letter to you? By now you’ll know what I’m asking before I even write it, but I’m going to keep on writing until you listen. Years ago you saw fit to take my life and dismantle it bit by bit. You hollowed me out and discarded the pieces like scraps of food not even fit for a dog.

I know you understand what it feels like to lose a baby. To be a mother without a child. Why punish others whose experience you share? You will do it again; a mother will be ruined because of you and I can’t stand by and let that happen. Excuse yourself from the O’Brian case. Don’t harm another young mother whose baby died. Try to imagine the pain and fear she feels; imagine the cold metallic panic on your tongue as your mouth goes dry when you realise someone is about to accuse you of killing the most important person to you. The power you wield is such that one word from you can destroy a woman like her.

A courtroom trusts you. I do not.

You have caused a woman to endure years of imprisonment for a crime she did not commit. Please don’t inflict that same nightmare on Kelly-Anne Wilson.

M

Carla watched the pages flutter in the fan’s wind. She wasn’t sure what she had been expecting but it sure as hell wasn’t that.

Her analyst mind kicked into gear, starting to isolate the key points: the author knew about the O’Brian case despite it being less than twenty-four hours old; the author was someone with a knowledge of Eve’s personal life, if the reference to losing a child was to be believed; the author harboured feelings of revenge towards Eve, judging her responsible for a case of wrongful imprisonment.

All big allegations, but the only one that concerned Carla now was the reference to O’Brian. How could the author of the letter know about the death of baby Georgie when she, the analyst, and the DCI had yet to be briefed? No one knew about the baby’s death except the 999 call handler and Bremer’s team, and half of them didn’t even know Eve had been assigned the case until this morning.

The office door banged open, making her jump.

‘Jesus, man, you scared me half to death.’

Paul was carrying a cardboard holder with four takeout coffees. ‘Sorry, had to kick it open.’ He placed the holder on Carla’s desk and pulled off his jacket. ‘This weather is going to be the death of me. What is it, like 9 a.m.? And I’m sweating already.’

‘Nice.’ Carla took a coffee and two of the long white sugars perched precariously between the cups, knocking one on the edge of the table. Paul sank into his chair and wiped sweat from his forehead.