M. Arlidge - Eeny Meeny

‘And don’t you think that I felt guilty for that? Look what you’ve done to me. What you still do to me.’

Helen had ripped off her shirt to reveal the scars on her back. For a moment, Marianne paused, shocked by what she saw.

‘I eat myself up with guilt every minute of every day. Of course I do. But I was thirteen years old. You’d killed two people. Killed my mum and dad in their bed, for God’s sake. You murdered our parents. What was I supposed to do?’

‘You were supposed to protect me. You were supposed to be pleased.’

‘I never asked you to kill them. I never wanted you to kill them. I never wanted any of this. Can’t you see that? You did this all to yourself.’

‘You really believe that? Do you honestly believe that?’

‘Yes, I do.’

‘Then there’s nothing more to say. Goodbye, Jodie.’

Just then Bridges burst through the door and a single shot rang out.

Through the driving rain, Charlie glimpsed two figures. A man leading a woman away from the tower. Charlie had never been a religious woman, but she’d been praying for the last ten minutes, hoping against hope for a miracle. And now she would have her answer.

Pushing the attending paramedic aside, she rushed forward. She only made ten yards before her legs gave way. She fell to her knees on the sodden ground. Shielding her eyes from the rain, she strained to see through the gloom – was Bridges helping the woman or restraining her?

Then suddenly the sun broke through and for a moment the gloom lifted.

It was Helen. She had survived. Already the paramedics were rushing to her, her colleagues surrounding her. But she pushed them away. Charlie called out to her, but Helen walked past without hearing.

Shrugging off Bridges, Detective Inspector Helen Grace walked alone through the rain. It was over. She was alive. But she hadn’t won. Her ordeal was only just beginning. For as Marianne knew only too well, there is no peace for those that shed the blood of those closest to them. It was Helen’s turn to live with that stain now.

M. J. Arlidge has worked in television for the last fifteen years, specializing in high-end drama production. In the last five years Arlidge has produced a number of primetime crime serials for ITV, including Torn , The Little House and, most recently, Undeniable , broadcast in spring 2014. Currently writing for Silent Witness , Arlidge is also piloting original crime series for both UK and US networks. Debut thriller Eeny Meeny , which introduces Detective Inspector Helen Grace , has sold to publishers around the world. The follow-up, Pop Goes the Weasel , is published by Penguin Books in September 2014.