We carry on walking and Karen is silent for a while longer. Some people assume that if a person has no money, then they must be stupid. Being poor is somehow a choice. Karen isn’t like that – she knows this isn’t the real answer.
‘I think he killed Jade,’ I say.
‘Did you tell the police?’
‘Of course – but things take time. I know he hasn’t confessed to anything. They’re looking into it. I’m sure they’ll get him.’ A beat passes: ‘I hope they get him.’
‘He tried to kill you…’
‘Maybe.’
‘And he punched Billy.’
That gets a little laugh. It’s not that it’s funny, more that a person can commit any amount of heinous crime – but it’s only when an animal is harmed that people really get annoyed. I know it was him bashing Billy that made the red mist descend.
We keep walking, but Billy slows as we take the turn onto the road on which the now infamous house lies. It used to be owned by a Mrs Cheeseman. Everything Ben said was true – she died three years ago and her children have been arguing about what to do with it ever since.
‘How did Ben’s mother take it?’ Karen asks.
‘I don’t know. Probably worse than me. She’s been grieving for him. I saw her at the police station and she was grey. Haunted.’
‘Did she say anything to you?’
‘We sat next to each other for almost half an hour and never spoke. That’s almost an apology for her. I think she always knew the problem was her son and not me. It’s hard to blame someone who was dead, so she put it all on me instead.’
A pause: ‘Are you sure she didn’t know?’
‘It’s possible, but I don’t think she’s a good enough actress to fake it all these years. Ben told the police she didn’t know anything.’
We slow even further until we’re standing outside the house. One of the police officers told me it’s called Tannerman Terrace, which is an oddity considering it stands by itself. Billy stops and sits at my feet as we peer over the gate towards the house beyond. Much of the mystery and spookiness I felt a week ago has gone. It’s just a house. The real evil lies within people, not buildings.
‘I should’ve told you about the money before,’ I say. ‘It was all a bit overwhelming. You have nothing and then it feels like you have everything.’
I stare down at my feet and the shoes bought with Ben’s money. I don’t want to wear them now I know where the cash came from – but I don’t have anything else. It always comes back to money.
‘I think I’d have spent it faster than you,’ Karen says. ‘Do they know where he got his money?’
‘I don’t know. He said he was a day trader, like he used to be, but I suppose it’ll all come out eventually. I’m not sure it matters. A big part of me doesn’t want to know.’
We start moving again and it’s hard not to feel the pull from the house. The park is around the corner and then it’s time to run again. Billy will hopefully get himself a full couple of laps in this time.
‘What now?’ Karen asks.
‘I told you,’ I reply. ‘A new 5K personal best.’
Thirteen years ago Olivia Adams went missing. Now she’s back… or is she? An absorbing and gripping psychological thriller that will have you holding your breath until the final page. Order your copy of THE GIRL WHO CAME BACK today!
The Girl Who Came Back
A totally gripping psychological thriller with a twist you won’t see coming
Thirteen years ago Olivia Adams went missing. Now she’s back… or is she?
When six-year-old Olivia Adams disappeared from her back garden, the small community of Stoneridge was thrown into turmoil. How could a child vanish in the middle of a cosy English village?
Thirteen years on and Olivia is back. Her mother is convinced it’s her but not everyone is sure. If this is the missing girl, then where has she been - and what happened to her on that sunny afternoon?
If she's an imposter, then who would be bold enough to try to fool a child’s own mother – and why?
Then there are those who would rather Olivia stayed missing. The past is the past and some secrets must remain buried.
An absorbing and gripping psychological thriller that will have you holding your breath until the final page.
Get it here!
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Books by Kerry Wilkinson
Standalone novels
Ten Birthdays
Two Sisters
The Girl Who Came Back
Last Night
The Wife’s Secret
The Jessica Daniel series
The Killer Inside
Vigilante
The Woman in Black
Think of the Children
Playing with Fire
The Missing Dead
Behind Closed Doors
Crossing the Line
Scarred for Life
For Richer, For Poorer
Nothing But Trouble
Eye for an Eye
Silent Suspect
The Unlucky Ones
Short Stories
January
February
March
April
The Andrew Hunter series
Something Wicked
Something Hidden
Something Buried
Silver Blackthorn
Reckoning
Renegade
Resurgence
Other
Down Among the Dead Men
No Place Like Home
Watched
A Letter from Kerry
For quite a while, I’ve wanted to write about a character like Lucy. So much media, be it movies, TV, or books, are consumed by a rampant middle-classishness. There’s nothing particularly wrong with that. People create things that reflect the world around them, even if it’s not necessarily about themselves. “Write what you know” doesn’t literally have to be a doctor creating something about being a doctor because, if it was, science fiction and fantasy wouldn’t exist. There aren’t too many sabre-rattling warriors fighting dinosaurs in outer space around who can write stories about sabre-rattling warriors fighting dinosaurs in outer space.
What it does often mean is that, regardless of genre, creators end up writing about people like themselves.
I am definitely guilty of this. I would imagine everyone who has ever written something is.
But there was a time when I worked for minimum wage; when I used to work night shifts, or had to trot off to a factory at 5.30 in the morning. There was a time when I had to budget everything religiously in order to make sure rent was covered and that I had enough left to buy food. When I could go a full month and only buy things I specifically needed, not wanted, and still have nothing left at the end of it all. It was fine. It’s not like I didn’t want for things, or hope for better days… but I wasn’t unhappy. I wasn’t furious with the world because things weren’t how I wanted them.
Within all that, I wanted to write something to reflect that. If a person is short of money, there are obviously times in which it’s hard to feel anything other than helplessness. But, at the same time, life isn’t an endless misery. I really really hate the long parade of TV shows specifically that portray being working-class as some sort of non-stop nightmare in which everyone involved hates themselves. I don’t believe anyone who writes like that has ever actually lived in such a situation. If it isn’t that, then it’s a long parade of books specifically that act as if nobody exists other than middle-class people in middle-class homes with middle-class lives. There is an enormous group of people completely forgotten by writers.
That isn’t me saying I’m above anyone, or that I think this is the greatest work of fiction known to man. It’s simply me sayin
g that I’ve not forgotten how things once were. Admittedly, not everyone has ghosts returning from the past, or a kick-arse dog, but there you go. I hope you enjoyed the read, either way.
As ever, you can find out what’s next from me at kerrywilkinson.com. You can also email me from there, or I drivel on about various things on Twitter (@kerrywk) and the like.
Cheers for reading.
Kerry Wilkinson
www.kerrywilkinson.com
The Wife’s Secret
A gripping psychological thriller with a heart-stopping twist
Charley Willis was thirteen years old when her parents were killed in their family home and she was found hiding in a cupboard upstairs.
Fifteen years later, Charley is marrying Seth Chambers. It should be the happiest day of their lives, a chance for Charley to put her past behind her, but just hours after the ceremony, she is missing.
No one saw her leave. No one knows where she is.
One thing is for certain… Seth is about to discover he doesn’t really know the woman he just married. And his nightmare is only just beginning.
A totally gripping psychological thriller that will keep you reading until the very last jaw-dropping twist.
Get it here!
Last Night
An absolutely gripping psychological thriller with a brilliant twist
It’s the early hours of the morning and Rose Denton wakes up behind the steering wheel of her car. She’s off the road, through a hedge and in a field.
There’s blood on the windscreen and bonnet – but it’s not hers and there’s no sign of anything or anyone she might have hit. The last thing she remembers is being in a hotel on a business trip but now she’s miles away.
Back home and her daughter’s boyfriend is missing. The last thing he did was argue with Rose over money. He left no note, no text, no clue as to his whereabouts.
The police have questions – and so does Rose’s family. But those are little compared to the ones she has for herself.
What happened last night? And, perhaps more importantly, does she really want to know the answer?
A totally addictive psychological thriller which will keep you turning the pages until the final dramatic twist.
Get it here.
Two Sisters
A gripping psychological thriller with a shocking twist
They told us he had been missing for nearly two days, that he probably drowned. They told us a lie.
Megan was ten years old when her older brother, Zac, went missing among the cliffs, caves and beaches that surround the small seaside town of Whitecliff.
A decade later and a car crash has claimed the lives of her parents.
Megan and her younger sister Chloe return to Whitecliff one summer for the first time since their brother’s disappearance. Megan says it’s to get her parents’ affairs in order. There are boxes to pack, junk to clear, a rundown cottage to sell. But that’s not the real reason.
Megan has come to confront her family’s past after receiving a postcard on the day of her parents’ funeral. It had a photograph of Whitecliff on the front and a single letter on the back.
‘Z’ is all it read.
Z for Zac.
A totally gripping psychological thriller that will have fans of Louise Jensen, Sue Fortin and The Silent Child absolutely hooked.
Get it here,
The Death and Life of Eleanor Parker
An absolutely gripping mystery novel
‘I will never forget the night I drowned…’
Seventeen-year-old Eleanor Parker wakes up cold and alone in the river that twists through her quiet village. She remembers a hand on her chest, another on her head, water in her throat, those final gasps for air…
Her brother’s girlfriend was drowned in the same river the summer before, held under the water by an unknown killer.
Determined to unlock the mystery of what really happened that night, Eleanor can't escape the feeling that something terrible links her to the previous summer's murder. But will she discover the shocking truth, before it’s too late?
A gripping and extraordinary coming of age novel that will keep you guessing until the very end.
Get it here.
Ten Birthdays
An emotional, uplifting book about love, loss and hope
There are going to be so many things I wish I could’ve told you in person, Poppy. I won’t get the chance to do that, so perhaps this is my only way…
It’s Poppy Kinsey’s birthday.
She should be blowing out candles and opening presents – but hers falls on the type of heart-wrenching, agonising anniversary she would far rather forget.
The worst day of them all. The day her mother died.
But this year is special because the person she misses most in the world has left her a set of letters, one for each of her next ten birthdays.
As Poppy opens them year by year, she discovers that no matter how tough life gets, her mum will always be by her side, guiding her along the way.
Fans of Cecelia Ahern and S.D. Robertson will love this page turning tear-jerker about making every moment count.
Get it here.
Published by Bookouture in 2019
An imprint of StoryFire Ltd.
Carmelite House
50 Victoria Embankment
London EC4Y 0DZ
www.bookouture.com
Copyright © Kerry Wilkinson, 2019
Kerry Wilkinson has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers.
eBook ISBN: 978-1-78681-763-1
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and events other than those clearly in the public domain, are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
A Face in the Crowd: An absolutely unputdownable psychological thriller Page 26