by Daniel Hurst
“I can’t believe Craig got you to leave London and move up here, just so you wouldn’t get in touch with me,” Megan says, before getting the attention of the passing waiter and asking him for another round.
I don’t object to another drink. I’m only on my lunch hour and have a busy afternoon of work ahead of me, but I need something to get me through this crazy meeting with this poor woman who has been abused by her husband.
“He told me I had to go. And I believed him,” I say, shaking my head at my stupidity. “He made it seem like I was the one in danger, when really it was you. I’m so sorry.”
“Stop it,” Megan says, retaking my hand, but this time much more firmly. “You are not to blame for what he did. Neither am I. He was so clever. Nobody knew what he was really like. Not even me and I was married to him.”
I suddenly feel bad for making Megan give me sympathy. I’m not the one who needs it. It is her.
She’s the one who has lost everything.
“I came here today because you deserved to know the truth,” Megan says. “Also, because I wanted to let you know that if you wanted to go back to London, then it is safe to do so. I’m so sorry that Craig has made you move up here with his lies about me.”
“That’s okay,” I say, even if it isn’t. “It wasn’t that hard to get a transfer up here and Birmingham’s okay, I suppose. Much cheaper than London. I’ll probably stick around for a while.”
“That’s great,” Megan says, and she seems relieved that my life isn’t as screwed up as hers is right now.
“What about you?” I ask. “What will you do?”
Megan takes a while to answer, instead looking out of the window at the passers-by on the street. At that moment, I get a real sense of how alone and lost she must be feeling. A few months ago, she was a happily married woman with a safe and secure future.
Now she has lost it all.
“I’m sorry, you don’t have to answer that,” I interject before Megan can say anything. “I imagine you have a million things to sort out before you can even think about what’s next.”
“That’s okay,” Megan replies, finally turning her attention away from the window and back on to me again. “I have a few ideas. But nothing concrete yet. All I know is that I don’t want to return to that house. I need a change of scene.”
“Birmingham is nice this time of year,” I say jokingly, and Megan laughs.
“Maybe I’ll move here then,” she says, a big smile on her face. “The wine is certainly good.”
I laugh too. She is joking, but it’s amazing that she still has a sense of humour. She won’t move to Birmingham. Why would she? I imagine she’ll go back up north to where she was raised. That would be the logical thing to do. This will be our last ever meeting. It has been highly unexpected, but I’m glad it has happened.
I’m glad that Megan is okay.
Picking up my wine glass, I hold it out towards her.
“To new beginnings,” I say, trying to keep the mood at the table positive now.
“To new beginnings,” Megan repeats, as our glasses clink together.
80
MEGAN
I’ve just said goodbye to Sally and watched her walk back into her office. It was great to see her again and share a glass of wine. The last time we had been together had been so much fun that it would have been a shame not to do it again.
It was also good to make sure that she is doing okay after Craig spoke to her. I hadn’t really believed that he would hurt her. That blood on his sleeve shirt that night must just have come from a papercut in the office. I knew he would have just told her to leave, which is exactly what he had done. He had made her leave London because he didn’t want me to have a new friend. He hated the idea of me having my own life. He tried to keep me shut away on my own forever. But look at me now.
Out in the world, free as a bird, while he is lying in a box six feet underground.
Wheeling my suitcase down the street away from the wine bar, I keep my eyes out for another taxi. As I do, I think about how Sally and I ended our conversation a few moments ago. She wished me well with the future and told me to drop her a message if I was ever in Birmingham again. I wished her the same and told her that I would do that. Then we went our separate ways, her back to her office and me back to the train station.
Except I’m not going to the train station.
I’m not going anywhere.
I plan to check into a hotel in the city centre, where I will unpack the things in my suitcase and enjoy some of the amenities on offer. But I will also be busy.
I will be busy seeing what Sally is doing outside of work.
When Craig told her to leave London and never contact me again, he wasn’t just doing it because he wanted me to be alone. He was doing it to keep Sally safe. He knew that the best thing for the recruitment officer to do was to pack up her things and move so that I would never be able to find her again should I try to do so.
But I got out of that garage, and now I have found her again.
Sally. My best friend.
She can replace Craig.
She can also replace Anna.
A passing taxi pulls up to the kerb in front of me having seen my waving hand in the air, and a few seconds later, I am sitting on the back seat being driven to the nearest hotel. Considering everything that I have been through recently, I am feeling rather happy with myself.
I will stay in Birmingham for the foreseeable future. I will find work and build a new life. But most of all, I will not stop until Sally and I are best friends.
I have to try and play this one cool, though. I can’t come off as strong as I did last time. That didn’t end well. I drove Anna away from me, and in the end, she took her own life because I wouldn’t leave her alone. Even when she screamed at me outside her flat and told me what I was driving her towards, I didn’t leave it.
I didn’t really believe that she would kill herself. I thought she loved me. I thought I was her everything. But I was wrong and I lost her. I can’t let that happen again.
I can’t afford to lose Sally, not after I have just found her.
“Are you staying in Birmingham long?” the driver asks as he drives me towards my hotel.
“As long as it takes,” I reply, smiling to myself.
“As long as it takes to do what?” he says, his eyes looking at me through the rear-view mirror.
“As long as it takes to make her mine,” I tell him, my lips curling into a smile.
81
ANNA
MARCH 11TH 2015
Craig, my darling husband. I love you so much.
But I can’t take this anymore. I can’t live with knowing that she is out there watching me and waiting to get near me again. She is crazy. But it’s not just me that I’m worried about.
It’s you.
You’re coming back from Switzerland today, and I fear that she will do something to hurt you. She doesn’t know that you exist yet. I have still never told her about the fact that I’m married. At first, that was because I was mad at you for leaving me to go and work abroad for a year. I’d stopped wearing my ring, and I’d stopped talking about you. But I’m not mad at you anymore, so I could have told her about you.
But I haven’t.
That’s because I know how dangerous she really is now.
She came into my life when I was feeling low, and she was just what I needed at the time.
A friend.
But now I see that she is anything but. She is sick, twisted and capable of anything. The thought of her seeing me with you fills me with dread because I fear that she will be angry at me for not telling her about you and then she will punish me by going to hurt you.
My darling Craig. You have been working so hard for us both in Switzerland while I have been back here doing nothing. You don’t deserve me, especially after what I did with her.
It was only a kiss. A stupid, drunken kiss. But I have felt so guilty about it ever since.
I can dress it up however I like, but the truth is a simple one. I have cheated on you. It’s the emotional betrayal too. I acted like you didn’t exist. I took my ring off on nights out. I pretended to Megan that I was promiscuous. And I allowed my mind to drift to thoughts of her when it should have been laser-focused on you. Not only have I betrayed our love, but I did it with someone who has turned out to be a psychopath.
Megan Matthews is dangerous.
I tried talking to the police, but they didn’t take me very seriously. They just think it’s a disagreement between two women who have nothing better to do. The problem is that I don’t have any evidence. Megan is careful not to leave any. She follows me, but she doesn’t leave a trail. No phone calls. No text messages. It started when I told her that I didn’t want to see her anymore.
She didn’t like that.
I can’t live like this anymore. I can’t live with the fear of being stalked by Megan. She turns up at my workplace. She turns up when I’m out with friends. She turns up outside the flat. She never leaves me alone. Never.
There is no escaping her.
Unless I end it...
I have the pills. I have the booze. They are next to me on the bed right now. All I have to do is take them, and I will fall asleep. Then the worrying will be over.
Then Megan will have to leave me alone.
Craig, if you are reading this now, then I am dead. I am so sorry. But I couldn’t go on living in fear anymore. Megan has ruined my life while you have been away. I’m a shell of the woman that you used to know. Why do you think I refused to come and visit you? I stopped being mad at you a long time ago, but by then, I had Megan to deal with. I don’t want you seeing me like this. I want you to remember me as I used to be.
I can’t risk letting her ruin your life like she has ruined mine. Be brave, my beautiful man. You have so much still to accomplish in your life. I don’t want her to stop that.
I’ve just taken ten pills. I’ll take ten more in a minute. I just wanted to write one more thing before I go.
Craig. I love you. But be careful. Megan is dangerous, and she may find you.
Unless you find her first.
Stop her doing this to anyone else. Stop her ruining somebody else’s life.
Watch her. Control her. Make it impossible for her to live a normal life.
Do to her what she has done to me.
Or even better...
Kill her for me.
THE END
Coming soon from Daniel Hurst
THE TUTOR
What if you invited a monster into your home?
Amy is a loving wife and mother, to her husband Nick, and her two children, Michael and Bella. It’s that dedication to her family that causes her to seek help for her teenage son when it becomes apparent that he is going to fail his end of school exams.
Enlisting the help of a professional tutor, Amy is certain that she is doing the best thing for her son, and indeed, her family. But when she discovers that there is more to this tutor than meets the eye, it is already too late.
With the rest of her family enamoured by the tutor, Amy is the only one who can see that there is something not quite right about her. But as the tutor becomes more involved in Amy’s family, it’s not just the present that is threatened. Secrets from the past are exposed too, and by the time everything is out in the open, Amy isn’t just worried about her son and his exams anymore.
She is worried for the survival of her entire family.
This will be one lesson they will never forget.
Available January 2021
Join the free mailing list at www.danielhurstbooks.com to receive updates on future books as well as the opportunity to read a free advanced copy of The Tutor.
Would you like a free book?
If you would like to read a free book by this author you can visit www.danielhurstbooks.com and claim your free copy of 20 Minutes On The Tube, the first book in the original 20 Minute psychological thriller series.
Here’s what readers of the series are saying about it so far:
Wonderfully clever. Some stories interlocked, some did not, but the book was gripping from page one. I devoured it in a day and will be starting another immediately!
Amazon reviewer
The psychological insight was fascinating, the stories were absorbing and the characters were 3D. I absolutely loved it.
Amazon reviewer
The books in this series are an incredibly easy read, you become invested in the lives of the characters so easily and I am eager to know more and more. Roll on the next book.
Amazon reviewer
I am loving these books and the ways the characters are linked. Fantastic series.
Facebook comment
The last chapter made me literally go “Yesss!” out loud! Great stuff!
Facebook comment
Learn more about the series here:
UK: www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08C5L33XN
US: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08818FNZR
AUS: www.amazon.com.au/20-Minutes-Tube-Minute-Book-ebook/dp/B084LS1S7X
BOOKS BY DANIEL HURST
THE 20 MINUTES SERIES (in order)
20 MINUTES ON THE TUBE
20 MINUTES LATER
20 MINUTES IN THE PARK
20 MINUTES ON HOLIDAY
20 MINUTES BY THE THAMES
20 MINUTES AT HALLOWEEN
20 MINUTES AROUND THE BONFIRE
INFLUENCING TRILOGY (in order)
INFLUENCE
INFLUENCER
INFLUENCED
Turn the page to learn more about the Influencing Trilogy and read the first two chapters of Influence...
INFLUENCE
Would you kill for a million followers?
Emily Bennett dreams of being a social media influencer, just like her idols Mason Manor & Ivy Lane. But shortly after Ivy’s untimely death she is contacted by a secretive businessman who offers her the chance at the fame and fortune she so desperately craves.
While Emily initially gets to experience the things she has always wanted, it soon becomes clear that her new employer had sinister motives for approaching her and it isn’t long before she discovers that the life of her dreams comes with the kind of conditions that are the stuff of nightmares.
Social media isn’t life or death.
It’s more important than that.
Available now on Amazon and in Kindle Unlimited.
Read on for a sneak peek at the first two chapters...
PhoGlo Trending To Be Most Powerful Platform On The Planet
PhoGlo is the social media website taking the world by storm.
In just three years, PhoGlo, short for Photo Glow, has already become the online sharing platform of choice for almost a billion people who use the popular app each day to send photos to their followers, or ‘glowers’ as some in the community like to call them.
While it is still relatively early days for the company it has already taken its place alongside more established social media platforms and is a big part of the ‘Influencing’ culture that exists online.
The most popular influencer on PhoGlo is currently Mason Manor, a thirty-year-old British woman who has 200 million followers and is paid to promote and advertise to her huge following on a daily basis.
But as the platform continues to grow at a rapid rate, there are several other influencers coming hot on her heels and with the influencing industry as a whole predicted to be worth over $50billion by 2025, you can be sure there will be many other people out there who are aspiring to be a PhoGlo phenomenon.
#GetYourOwnBeach
Ivy Lane
My finger hovers over the Share button. Inches from the screen. But I’m having second thoughts. I know in these situations that it’s best to trust my gut instinct. With that in mind I retreat back through the post I was about to publish to my PhoGlo page and give it another pass.
The photo itself is perfect, I have no doubts about that. Then again, it
’s hard to go wrong with a photo of a beach in the Maldives.
White sand. Turquoise ocean. Deep blue sky. No one could fuck that up. But the photo is only the beginning. Without the filters it’s nothing. Just a mannequin in a shop window without any clothes on. It might still look pretty but it isn’t going to sell anything.
It’s all about the filters. My current choice is Siesta, but I have a nagging feeling I should go with Clairvoyant. The former really highlights the glare of the sun on the water but then the palm tree in the corner looks bomb with the latter.
It’s all a question of what will draw the eye in more. I think the green is stronger. I think we have a winner.
As I make the necessary changes and internally breathe a sigh of relief that I didn’t commit too soon to my previous choice I feel a gentle breeze brushing over me. I look up from the screen for a moment and see the lush foliage that surrounds my accommodation swaying hypnotically in the tropical wind. It really is beautiful here.
I instantly look back down at the screen. I need to get this post up.
The filter is set but I spend a couple of moments in the Edit section, tweaking the Lighting, Colour, Heat and Shade. This is what I call ‘working under the hood’. It’s no good choosing the perfect filter if you haven’t got the levels right beneath it. But like a highly skilled mechanic my fingers know what to do almost before my brain has sent the instruction and within seconds, I have done the necessary.
The photo is banging. This could even be one of my best.
Of course, the colours of this little island in the Indian Ocean are so rich and true that I could potentially get away with not filtering the image at all. But then I would need to qualify it by writing #NoFilter underneath it and I hate to do that.
One, it’s pretentious and two, it always makes me think that if a person has gone to the effort of saying they haven’t filtered it then maybe they actually have and are just trying to pretend they haven’t.