PRAISE FOR CAROLINE MITCHELL
‘For me, this book had everything – an excellent police procedural with tension, pace and a compelling storyline. With the added psychological element, there was nothing more I could have asked for.’
—Angela Marsons
‘Fast-paced, twisty, and chilled me to the bone . . . I loved every minute of it!’
—Robert Bryndza
‘The writer’s conflicted heroine and twisted villain are superb characters.’
—The Sunday Express magazine
‘Heart-thumping moments that left me desperate to read more.’
—The Book Review Café
‘The very definition of a page-turner.’
—John Marrs
‘The tension built up and up . . . I devoured every page.’
—Mel Sherratt
‘With her police officer experience, Caroline Mitchell is a thriller writer who knows how to deliver on plot, character, and most importantly, emotion in any book she writes. I can’t wait to read more.’
—My Weekly magazine
ALSO BY CAROLINE MITCHELL
The DI Amy Winter Series
Truth and Lies
The Secret Child
Left for Dead
Individual Works
Paranormal Intruder
Witness
Silent Victim
The Perfect Mother
The DC Jennifer Knight Series
Don’t Turn Around
Time to Die
The Silent Twin
The Ruby Preston Series
Death Note
Sleep Tight
Murder Game
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Text copyright © 2021 by Caroline Mitchell
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
Published by Thomas & Mercer, Seattle
www.apub.com
Amazon, the Amazon logo, and Thomas & Mercer are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc., or its affiliates.
ISBN-13: 9781542023412
ISBN-10: 1542023416
Cover design by Tom Sanderson
I dedicate this book to the true heroes and lifesavers of the world – our amazing NHS.
CONTENTS
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
CHAPTER FORTY
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
CHAPTER FIFTY
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
PROLOGUE
CARLA
Thursday 22 July
Curled up on the sofa, Carla stared longingly at the television as the fly-on-the-wall police documentary played. Seeing Donovan’s face on-screen breathed life into all the old emotions she had buried when he left her team. She cast a side-eye in her husband’s direction. He had barely moved off the sofa all evening and the crumbs of his chocolate digestives were still resting on his tatty sweatshirt. She quietly sighed to herself. Comparing him to Donovan was completely unfair. Shaun deserved some downtime, and it wasn’t as if she’d stand up next to the brooding Amy Winter, should the tables be turned. Her eyes tracked Donovan’s movements as the camera crew followed them into the briefing room. For a moment she slipped into imagining herself in Amy Winter’s place. But she was jolted from her fantasy as her husband rested his feet on her lap.
‘Bit of a busman’s holiday for you, isn’t it?’ Shaun nodded towards the television. ‘I can turn it over if you like.’
‘No, leave it on,’ Carla said as he picked up the TV remote control. Perhaps watching her old colleague would help because at the moment, she had exhausted every avenue and didn’t know where to turn. It had been lovely, spending the evening with her daughters, but it was because of her girls that she had become so wrapped up in work. Now they were safely tucked up in bed, their teenage years looming like a dark cloud on the horizon. One day they would resent her monitoring their every move. She envied her husband’s ignorance. Used car salesmen were unlikely to come into contact with rapists and murderers in their line of work.
‘You all right?’ he said, watching her intently as the programme progressed.
Nodding, Carla pushed down the fear that had formed as a tight band around her chest. Sometimes it was hard to breathe, knowing what she knew.
‘I’ll make some tea,’ she said, gently placing her husband’s feet to one side. It was late, gone half ten, but she couldn’t go to bed just yet. She was hoping to receive a very important call.
Carla clicked on the kettle and dropped a teabag in a mug. The lilt of canned laughter filtered through from the living room. Shaun had switched the channel before she had walked through the door. He wasn’t interested in policing. He didn’t get her obsession with her job. Some people had affairs in order to feel alive; Carla immersed herself in work. It had been hard, passing up the chance of promotion to raise her family. But now it was her turn to prove her worth.
Her thoughts returned to Donovan and his sidekick, DI Winter. Or was it the other way around? Rank did not seem to come into it, as they treated each other with mutual respect. To think that it could have been her. It made her burn with jealousy to watch their on-screen chemistry. It was hardly any wonder viewers couldn’t get enough of them. Donovan had improved with age. His gangliness had been replaced by lean muscle, his cockiness by maturity. All these years she had held a torch for him, and he had never known. What she would give to work on his team. She wasn’t fooling herself; she knew he’d never look at someone like her. Nor did she want him to. She loved her husband, as you did a steady life companion who would be there to weather any storm.
Just to be near Donovan, though . . . to work with a real sense of purpose. But Donovan never saw her, not like he saw DI Winter. It was obvious
