The Night Out

THE NIGHT OUT A NAIL-BITING AND COMPLETELY UNPUTDOWNABLE PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER WENDY CLARKE BOOKS BY WENDY CLARKE The Night Out Childhood Sweetheart Blind Date His Hidden Wife The Bride We Were Sisters What She Saw Available in audio Childhood Sweetheart (Available in the UK and the US) Blind Date (Available in the UK and the US) His Hidden Wife (Available in the UK and the US) The Bride (Available in the UK and the US) We Were Sisters (Available in the UK and the US) What She Saw (Available in the UK and the US) CONTENTS Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Chapter 42 Chapter 43 Chapter 44 Chapter 45 Chapter 46 Chapter 47 Chapter 48 Chapter 49 What She Saw Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Hear More from Wendy Books by Wendy Clarke A Letter from Wendy Childhood Sweetheart Blind Date His Hidden Wife The Bride We Were Sisters Acknowledgements * For Eve (who sowed the seed) PROLOGUE I stand outside your house, my head tipped to the window, watching as you move across the bright room, your baby in your arms. Night has descended and I’m thankful for the darkness that has closed in on me, giving me a cloak of obscurity. There are some people who look as though they are born to be mothers and you are one of them. I misjudged you, but I can’t let that distract me. Deter me. As I watch you with your child, the age Megan was when she was taken from me, I tell myself that I have no choice. Above my head, stars glitter, metallic and distant. You move out of view and the light at the window goes out. The glass now black and empty, forcing me to use my imagination. You’ll be laying the baby in her cot. Kissing her good night. Whispering you love her. The last thing you’ll be thinking, as you turn off the light, is that soon she’ll be taken away from you. Why would you? I didn’t. But life happens. It can be cruel and that’s a lesson some people need to learn. It’s just the way it is. Karma. Behind me, I hear the pulse of the waves as they edge ever closer on the incoming tide. The foam they leave in their wake, froths and fizzes on the smooth stones. The gate is padlocked. It would be easy to pick, but I have no need. There’s a better way. Before my resolve weakens, I step back, my fingers caressing the cold steel of the handcuffs in my pocket. An eye for an eye. These are the words that drive me. The words that brought me to your house. To your window. You don’t know it now, but they are also the words that will bring me back into your life. ONE ELISE Now It’s after eleven and the boardwalk that separates the back of our patio from the stony beach is empty as you would expect. My heel catches in one of the grooves in the wood, and Sean catches my arm. Pulls me to him, laughing. ‘Maybe you shouldn’t have had that final glass of Prosecco.’ He kisses my hair. ‘Can’t take you anywhere.’ I laugh and slip my arm around my husband’s waist. It’s been a good night. A very good night. In fact, I’ve only thought about Kitty a couple of times during the evening. Wondering if Megan has managed to get her to sleep okay. Whether our baby has settled all right without my goodnight kiss. Tonight, the sea is calm. Just a soft whisper in the darkness. Moonlight casts sea diamonds over the water’s surface, and I have to admit it’s wonderfully romantic. ‘Thank you,’ I say, giving Sean a squeeze. ‘What for?’ ‘For suggesting our night out. For persuading me. I didn’t realise I needed it until I had my first mouthful of risotto and it hit me that I could eat the whole thing while it was still hot. That I wouldn’t have to get up halfway through the meal and check on Kitty.’ I close my eyes and remember the taste of it. The cream and garlic. The sweetness of the prawns. Reaching up, I kiss Sean on the lips. He slides a hand into the back pocket of my jeans. Smiles into the darkness. ‘If I knew something as simple as a night out was going to have this effect on you, I’d have suggested it sooner.’ A cloud has slipped over the moon, but I can still see the glint in Sean’s eyes. I laugh and we carry on walking. Our feet taking us ever closer to our house. Somewhere in the distance, a police car’s siren wails and pulses its warning. I try not to think of it, try to block it out, but the rhythm of my feet alters. My body stiffening as the warmth and happiness I’d so recently felt drains away. ‘You all right?’ There’s concern in Sean’s voice. Puzzlement too. ‘Yes, I’m fine. Just a bit cold, that’s all.’ Not wanting to give in to my panic, I take a deep slow breath as I was taught in the meditation classes I used to take. Then two more. Slowly, oh so slowly, my heart rate begins to return to normal. It’s been worse recently, trivial things setting me off, and I don’t know why. Don’t know what makes the small hairs on my arms raise sometimes when I’m not cold, causing me to check and double-check the locks on