The Ones Who Are Buried

THE ONES WHO ARE BURIED A TOTALLY ADDICTIVE MURDER MYSTERY WHITECLIFF BAY BOOK 3 KERRY WILKINSON BOOKS BY KERRY WILKINSON Whitecliff Bay Series The One Who Fell The One Who Was Taken The Ones Who Are Buried The Ones Who Are Hidden Standalone novels The Boyfriend The Party at Number 12 The Perfect Daughter The Child in the Photo The Blame What My Husband Did The Child Across the Street After the Accident Close to You A Face in the Crowd The Wife’s Secret The Death and Life of Eleanor Parker Last Night The Girl Who Came Back Two Sisters Truly, Madly, Amy Ten Birthdays The Jessica Daniel series The Killer Inside (also published as Locked In) Vigilante The Woman in Black Think of the Children Playing With Fire The Missing Dead (also published as Thicker than Water) 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 A Cry in the Night 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 Available in Audio The One Who Fell (Available in the UK and the US) The One Who Was Taken (Available in the UK and the US) The Boyfriend (Available in the UK and the US) The Party at Number 12 (Available in the UK and the US) The Perfect Daughter (Available in the UK and the US) The Child in the Photo (Available in the UK and the US) The Blame (Available in the UK and the US) What My Husband Did (Available in the UK and the US) The Child Across the Street (Available in the UK and the US) After the Accident (Available in the UK and the US) Close to You (Available in the UK and the US) A Face in the Crowd (Available in the UK and the US) The Wife’s Secret (Available in the UK and the US) The Death and Life of Eleanor Parker (Available in the UK and the US) Last Night (Available in the UK and the US) The Girl Who Came Back (Available in the UK and the US) Two Sisters (Available in the UK and the US) CONTENTS 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 The Ones Who Are Hidden Chapter 1 Hear More from Kerry Books by Kerry Wilkinson The One Who Fell The One Who Was Taken The Child in the Photo The Boyfriend The Party at Number 12 The Perfect Daughter The Blame What My Husband Did The Child Across the Street After the Accident Close to You A Face in the Crowd The Wife’s Secret The Death and Life of Eleanor Parker Last Night The Girl Who Came Back Two Sisters Truly, Madly, Amy Ten Birthdays The Killer Inside Kerry Wilkinson Publishing Team ONE DAY ONE Millie Westlake’s foot went through the top of the feathery moss and squelched into the hidden puddle underneath. The muddy water seeped instantly into her supposedly waterproof shoes for the fourth time in barely fifteen minutes. The silt was between her socks and the sole, making her foot slide squishily around within the shoe. The man at Millie’s side slowed a pace to let her catch up. ‘How are the feet?’ he asked. ‘Wet,’ Millie replied. A pause. ‘Aren’t waterproof shoes supposed to be… waterproof?’ She spoke quietly enough that the smaller group of men up ahead wouldn’t hear. ‘I think if the water goes over the top of—’ ‘I was being rhetorical.’ ‘Ah.’ Of the men ahead, four were wearing wellington boots, with murky splash marks pebble-dashed across the rubber. The other was in some sort of plain black shoes, that were likely wetter than hers. The ground was a sponge – and not even a fresh one from the packet. One of those grim, slimy things that live at the back of a draining board, spreading cholera and herpes. Millie slipped her hands deeper into her pockets as the wind howled around the desolate moor. She shrank into her coat, trying to shield her neck and cheeks from the gale that fizzed around them. It wasn’t raining, not yet, but the sky was a gloomy wash, and there was a general sense that it might lash it down at any moment. As well as the five men ahead, there were another two behind. Millie and Guy were holding the middle ground, the odd ones out in their regular day-to-day clothes. Six of the seven were wearing rubbery fishing-style wading trousers. The other man was leading the line. He’d walk for a few minutes, stop, and look into the bleak distance. After a moment or two, he’d slightly change direction, and then walk for a few minutes more. Their odd little group had been on this strange, slow dance for fifteen minutes. ‘What are you doing for Christmas?’ Guy asked. His question came from nowhere, still quiet enough that only Millie could hear. A distraction from whatever grim sight was to appear in the coming minutes. She suspected he was trying to take her mind off such things. ‘I have friends coming over on Christmas Eve,’ Millie replied. ‘Christmas itself should be quiet, then I’ve got Eric from Boxing Day. He’s staying until new year.’ Mentioning his name brought Millie’s eight-year-old son’s little face into her mind. She blinked it away, not wanting his image to be with her here. Not with what they were about