The Secret_An absolutely gripping psychological thriller

by K. L. Slater

  I take a couple of steps closer and peer through the crack.

  For a moment, it feels like I’m still in the game world. Where things aren’t real, where nothing that’s in front of your eyes makes any sense.

  Before I can stop it, my breath catches in his throat. My hand flies up to my mouth but it’s too late. The gasp is already out and I know I have been heard.

  I turns to run, but I hear shouting and I feel a hand on my shoulder.

  ‘I won’t tell,’ I cry out. ‘I promise, I won’t tell.’

  ‘It’s not what you think,’ Mum says. ‘She was in pain and I was just helping her, do you understand?’

  ‘Yes,’ I gasp.

  I try not to look, but my eyes dart past her and I can see Granny lying on her back in the bed. Her eyes are wide open and her arm is hanging over the side. Her thrashing legs are still and the pillow Mum was holding to her face is on the floor.

  Mum crouches down and holds my shoulders tightly. She presses her face close and I can see tiny red veins in the whites of her big round eyes. Her breath smells of coffee.

  ‘They could put me in prison and you’d have to go and live in a children’s home. Do you hear me?’ Her voice sounds shaky and high and she’s pinching my shoulders too tight.

  ‘I know,’ I say. My throat feels sore and swollen, even though I haven’t got a cold. ‘I promise I won’t say anything, Mum.’

  ‘It might have looked like I was hurting her, Archie, but I wasn’t. I was helping her.’ Mum looks behind me in the hallway. ‘Auntie Alice will be back from the shop soon and it’s really important we’re upset about Gran. She must never know. Do you understand?’

  ‘Yes,’ I say. ‘I do.’

  ‘Good boy. This is our secret, OK? Just between you and me.’

  ‘Yes,’ I say, and Mum watches as I swallow the secret down like a big, hard nut.

  CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT

  ALICE

  The flat is up for sale now, and for the time being, until I find something else, I’m living with Louise and Archie. It just feels better to be amongst family.

  I think I’m slowly starting to feel better. Yesterday, I even got my paints and brushes out for the first time in years.

  I’ve learned a lot about myself in recent weeks. That I’m a people-pleaser, that I’ve stayed quiet when I should have spoken up.

  I don’t know how I’m going to deal with what’s coming, but I will. I’ll find a way.

  You see, there were never equal shares for myself and my sister in Mum’s will. Mum left everything to me.

  I was executor of the will, and the day I went to the solicitor’s, Louise was ill and couldn’t attend.

  ‘Don’t worry,’ I told her. ‘I’ll sort everything out.’

  The content of the will was a surprise to me. I gave Louise half of what was in Mum’s bank account, though it wasn’t much.

  ‘She left us half of the flat each, but the will states I am the one who decides when to sell it.’

  ‘So I can’t force you out, you mean.’

  I shrugged. ‘There’s no rush, is there?’

  Her lips sealed together in a tight line, but she didn’t say anything.

  I couldn’t face telling her about the flat that day, couldn’t put up with the drama. I fully intended telling her soon, though. Then time just started racing on. A few weeks passed, a few months… I nearly told her when she started badgering me to sell. But I didn’t. The time still wasn’t right.

  And here we are now, and it’s twenty months after Mum died.

  Darren is in prison, Jenny is serving a suspended sentence and has left the area, and Louise is going to have to sell the house. But even that won’t cover all her debts.

  Louise is not showy with her emotions, but I know that underneath it all she loved Mum. She was devastated when she died.

  And that’s why I’ve decided I will never tell her the painful truth. She will never know that Mum left her nothing at all. I won’t break her heart.

  When the flat is sold, I’ll give half of the proceeds to my sister.

  I smile to myself, enjoying the warm glow that comes when you know you’ve made the right decision.

  ‘Auntie Alice?’

  My nephew peers around the door.

  ‘Come in, Archie, no need to hide back there.’ I pat the seat cushion next to me.

  Archie is staying with me tonight. Louise is leaving early tomorrow to visit Darren in HMP Wakefield. She got in touch with him a few weeks after he wrote to her apologising and professing his undying love.

  I watch with concern as my nephew walks across the room. His face is pale, and although I was concerned about him piling weight on, he looks like he’s lost quite a bit, and quickly. It’s left him looking drawn and insubstantial.

  He sits down next to me on the settee.

  ‘If Mum couldn’t look after me any more, would I have to go and live in a children’s home?’

  ‘What? Where’s that come from?’ I laugh softly and put my arm around him, pulling him closer to me. ‘I don’t know where this is going, but the answer is no, of course not. If there’s some reason your mum couldn’t look after you, you’d come and live with me.’

  ‘Because we’re family.’

  ‘Too right.’ I grin. ‘And after everything we’ve been through, we want no more secrets ever, right?’

  ‘Right,’ Archie says faintly. ‘Even terrible ones.’

  ‘Especially terrible ones.’ I nudge him playfully.

  And then he pulls away from my hug, looks me in the eye and Archie tells me his secret.

  CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE

  I don’t sleep. I sit in bed staring at Mum’s death certificate.

  Cause of death: heart failure.

  Except a death certificate cannot and does not say what happened leading up to a soul’s final breath. And now I know.

  I never suspected a thing. Even though Mum seemed to be stable and appeared to be coping well according to her regular hospital tests, I’d always known the end could be cruelly sudden, as was her first heart attack.

  When I got back from the shops that day, Louise was distraught. The ambulance pulled up at the same time I reached the door of the apartment building. I heard the paramedics say my own apartment number as they grabbed the stretcher and equipment.

  Louise had to attend to Archie, who was vomiting and near hysterical.

  ‘Take him home,’ I told her through tears. ‘I’ll sort everything out here.’

  Good old dependable Alice.

  Stupid, gullible Alice.

  So what do I do?

  Do I go to the police? Expect them to be interested in evidence presented by a child who was six years old at the time of the offence? Would they exhume the body and carry out macabre tests on Mum’s body… Could they even tell if heart failure had been brought on by trauma beforehand?

  If they put Louise in prison too, where would that leave Archie, who is already receiving counselling thanks to ongoing support from Mrs Booth at school?

  I bury my face in my hands for the hundredth time.

  What do I do?

  * * *

  The next morning, I take Archie to school and then text Louise to tell her I need to speak to her urgently. She agrees grudgingly, keen to set off to see Darren.

  ‘What is it?’ she says, glancing at her watch. ‘I’ve got ten minutes max before I have to leave for visiting. The traffic is mad at this time, I—’

  ‘Shut up and listen,’ I say.

  Her mouth falls open and her brows knit together. But she’s not the one in control any more.

  I hand her Mum’s death certificate.

  ‘What’s this for?’ She frowns and shakes her head, and then I see it. The dawning of realisation, the hard swallow and her cheeks draining of colour.

  ‘I know, Louise,’ I tell her. ‘And I can see the truth on your face as if you’ve told me yourself.’

  ‘Archie,’ she whispers.

  ‘T
o do that to Mum… and then burden your son with the knowledge, even trying to get him diagnosed with ADHD to shut him up.’

  ‘I… You don’t understand—’

  ‘I understand perfectly, and you sicken me.’ She opens her mouth to speak and I hold up a hand. ‘I’ve listened to you for years, put up with your criticism and your judgemental attitude. Well that time is over. No more, Louise.’

  ‘I didn’t kill her!’ She shakes the certificate in my face. ‘It says here she died of heart failure.’

  ‘You and I both know that was almost certainly brought on by you trying to suffocate her.’ I snatch the certificate back. ‘This piece of paper might have the final cause of death on it, but you hastened it.’

  ‘It was… a moment of madness. I was tired of seeing her suffering, I—’

  ‘Save it!’ I wipe my wet cheeks with the back of my hand. ‘You didn’t see her suffering, you were never around enough to witness it. You just wanted her money.’

  ‘You don’t know the financial pressure we were under.’ She spits the words out, backing away from me. ‘You’ve never known hardship, pampered by Mum all these years. She’d have bailed you out, but Darren and I… we were left to sort out our problems alone.’

  ‘The problems you had inflicted on yourselves!’ I shake my head, incredulous. ‘And you’ve never learned. I can’t believe you’ve forgiven Darren everything after what he’s done to Archie.’

  ‘Everyone deserves a second chance,’ she states tartly, suddenly recovering from her self-pity. ‘With good behaviour, Darren’s sentence could be halved, and we’ve already discussed what we’ll do. If I file for bankruptcy and put Mum’s inheritance in his name, the creditors won’t be able to get their hands on the money. When he gets out, we’ll have the means to start again.’

  I shake my head. ‘What planet are you on? You do realise, you’re damaged. You need help.’

  She throws back her head and laughs. A coarse, hacking sound that chills me.

  ‘I need help? That’s rich coming from you. The woman without a life.’

  ‘Seeing Dad’s behaviour all those years has had an effect on you, Louise. I’ve always thought you were like him, but underneath you’re as much of a victim as Mum was. You bounce from one controlling relationship to another without even realising it.’

  ‘I’m not that dumb that I’d take relationship advice from you!’

  ‘Fine,’ I say quietly.

  ‘What are you going to do?’ she says after a pause.

  Her first thought, as always, for herself.

  ‘I’m going to tell you something I should have told you nearly two years ago.’

  She waits.

  ‘Mum left you nothing. Your name doesn’t appear in the will. She left every single thing she owned to me.’

  ‘Liar!’ Her cheeks inflame, her eyes wild and dangerous. ‘The will… it says—’

  ‘I told you that because I felt bad, because I was scared of your reaction.’

  ‘I never saw the will,’ she says faintly. ‘I took your word for it.’

  I nod. ‘I intended splitting the proceeds of this place anyway. But now I know what I know, I can assure you that I won’t be giving you… or Darren… a single penny, though I’ll be putting some money in trust for Archie for when he reaches twenty-one.’

  ‘You…’ She takes a step towards me, her fists balled and her face a mask of pure hatred. I don’t budge an inch.

  ‘I want to play a big part in my nephew’s life. If you try and stop me seeing him, I’ll have no hesitation in going to the police about what you did.’

  ‘I’ll deny it!’ Her face lights up. ‘They couldn’t prove anything. Not now.’

  ‘I think you’ll find forensic science has moved on quite a bit, Louise. You’d be surprised what they can tell when they exhume a body.’ Her face pales and I keep my poker face, hoping she swallows my bluster. ‘Besides, you need to ask yourself if you really want a police inquiry on top of all your other problems.’

  She turns then and leaves the flat without another word.

  I lock the front door and return to the living room, sitting down in the chair where Mum used to spend time watching her birds.

  I reach for her photograph from the coffee table.

  ‘I’m so sorry, Mum. I’m sorry I left her in charge that day.’ A fat tear rolls from my cheek onto the glass. ‘But I’ll do right by Archie and I’ll never forget you.’

  I kiss the photograph and replace it on the table.

  Then I stand up and head for the empty packing boxes.

  I’ve a new life to start living, and it begins right now.

  * * *

  If The Secret left you with a shiver down your spine then you'll be chilled to the bone by The Visitor!

  Get it now!

  THE VISITOR

  Order now!

  * * *

  Everyone has a secret in their past.

  * * *

  Everyone pretends to be something they’re not.

  * * *

  But someone is always watching… and that someone is closer than you think.

  * * *

  Holly returns to her home town after some time away – she has been through something terrible and now she needs a safe haven in which to recover, and to plan the rest of her life. She finds a room in a quiet and leafy suburban street, in the home of Cora Barrett.

  * * *

  David lives next door to Cora Barrett and he sees everything that happens on Baker Crescent. David stays at home, and he watches: he likes to feel safe and he doesn’t like to leave the house. He wants to keep his friends and neighbours safe too. So he observes them, and he records every tiny detail of their lives, just in case the information is ever needed.

  * * *

  Both lonely and vulnerable, Holly and David gradually begin to strike up a friendship. But Holly can’t shake the feeling that someone from her past might have tracked her down. And David is always watching… But uncovering the secret that could save his new friend and neighbour could be the one thing that destroys him.

  * * *

  The Visitor is an unputdownable psychological thriller, from the bestselling author of Blink and The Mistake.

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  ALSO BY K.L. SLATER

  The Secret

  The Visitor

  The Mistake

  Liar

  Blink

  Safe With Me

  A LETTER FROM KIM

  I do hope you have enjoyed reading The Secret, my sixth psychological thriller.

  Reviews are massively important to authors. So if you did, and could spare just a few minutes to write a short review to say so, I would really appreciate that. You can also connect with me via my website, on Facebook, Goodreads or Twitter. Please do sign up to my email list below to be sure of getting the very latest news, hot off the press!

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  Sign up here!

  * * *

  I’ve always been fascinated how the truth just has this way of emerging, sometimes after years of remaining hidden. Despite efforts to keep it buried, it manages to rise to the top and show itself.

  People don’t always choose to keep a secret. Sometimes they stumble upon one, and as we know, some things are so dramatic, so shocking, once revealed they simply cannot be unseen.

  Likewise, a chance sighting of a stranger can open doors you might wish had remained closed. Chance can put a fascinating spin on the most pedestrian of lives and lead to excitement – or a nightmare scenario.

  Put a chilling secret and a chance encounter together and you might just have a problem.

  It’s not always easy to do the right thing… It’s not always easy to even decide what the right thing is.

  And
what if a secret isn’t your own? What should you do to help if you see a loved one sinking in a quicksand of guilt and doubt but they won’t or can’t confide in you?

  I tend to briefly outline a book before beginning to write. There might be some key scenes or themes that I have in my head and it helps to get them down and give my editor some idea of how the finished book might turn out. But I usually know much less than I’d like. I just have to start writing and go with it.

  The characters often have this way of misbehaving and turning into people I didn’t expect at all. So it was in The Secret, when the character of little Archie started to develop and he suddenly wanted a bigger storyline!

  The book is set in Nottinghamshire, the place I was born and have lived all my life. Local readers should be aware I sometimes take the liberty of changing street names or geographical details to suit the story.

  As I say goodbye to the characters of The Secret, I say hello to the cast of Book 7, which I’m already excited to write!

  Best wishes,

  Kim x

  * * *

  www.KLSlaterAuthor.com

  THE MISTAKE

  Available now

  * * *

  You think you know the truth about the people you love.

  * * *

  But one discovery can change everything…

  * * *

  Eight-year-old Billy goes missing one day, out flying his kite with his sister Rose. Two days later, he is found dead.