Sam Carrington - The Missing Wife

Published by AVON

A Division of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Publishers 2019

Copyright © Sam Carrington 2019

Cover design © www.blacksheep-uk.com2019

Cover photographs: Face © Marta Bevacqua / Trevillion Images; Candle © Shutterstock

Sam Carrington asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780008312954

Ebook Edition © June 2019 ISBN: 9780008259839

Version: 2019-06-14

‘Expertly written … with plentiful twists and unforgettable characters. An insightful and unnerving read.’

Caroline Mitchell, no.1 bestselling author of Silent Victim

‘A kick-ass page turner … I was knocked senseless by the awesome twist.’

John Marrs, no.1 bestselling author of The One

‘Psychologist Connie Summers is a fascinatingly flesh-and-blood guide through this twisty thriller.’

Louise Candlish, Sunday Times bestselling author of Our House

‘Keeps you guessing right to the end.’

Sue Fortin, no.1 bestselling author of Sister Sister

‘This book is not only gripping, but it explores the mother/daughter relationship perfectly, and ends with a gasp-out-loud twist.’

Closer

‘I devoured this story in one sitting!’

Louise Jensen, no.1 bestselling author of The Sister

‘Sam Carrington has done it again. One Little Lie is a twisty, gripping read. I loved it.’

Cass Green, bestselling author of In a Cottage In a Wood

‘I LOVED Bad Sister . Tense, convincing and complex, it kept me guessing (wrongly!)’

Caz Frear, bestselling author of Sweet Little Lies

‘I read One Little Lie in one greedy gulp. A compelling thriller about the dark side of maternal instinct and love.’

Isabel Ashdown, bestselling author of Beautiful Liars

‘A gripping read which moved at a head-spinning pace … I simply couldn’t put this book down until I reached the dramatic and devastating conclusion.’

Claire Allan, USA Today bestselling author of Her Name Was Rose

‘Utterly original and thought provoking … This cries out to be made into a TV series.’

Amanda Robson, Sunday Times bestselling author of Guilt

‘Engrossing psychological suspense about the effect of a murder on the mother of a teenage killer. Sam Carrington had me hooked!’

Emma Curtis, bestselling author of One Little Mistake

For Danika – my daughter, my friend, my inspiration.

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Praise for Sam Carrington

Dedication

Chapter 1: The Burial

Chapter 2: The Signs

Chapter 3: The Text

Chapter 4: The Friend

Chapter 5: The Request

Chapter 6: The Offer

Chapter 7: The Decoy

Chapter 8: The Guest

Chapter 9: The Party

Chapter 10: The Hangover

Chapter 11: The Return

Chapter 12: The Message

Chapter 13: The Shock

Chapter 14: The Disappearance

Chapter 15: The Chat

Chapter 16: The Past

Chapter 17: The Visit

Chapter 18: The Favour

Chapter 19: The Appeal

Chapter 20: The Photos

Chapter 21: The List

Chapter 22: The Dream

Chapter 23: The Baby-Sitter

Chapter 24: The Drunk

Chapter 25: The Apology

Chapter 26: The Brush-Off

Chapter 27: The Lie

Chapter 28: The Secret

Chapter 29: The Accident

Chapter 30: The Search

Chapter 31: The Photo

Chapter 32: The Gift

Chapter 33: The Questions

Chapter 34: The Mistake

Chapter 35: The Update

Chapter 36: The Drone

Chapter 37: The Discovery

Chapter 38: The Aftershock

Chapter 39: The Gathering

Chapter 40: The Footage

Chapter 41: The Theory

Chapter 42: The House

Chapter 43: The Find

Chapter 44: The Darkness

Chapter 45: The Truth

Chapter 46: The Hypnosis

Chapter 47: The Ghost

Chapter 48: The Revelation

Chapter 49: The Trap

Chapter 50: The Forgiveness

Chapter 51: The Plan

Chapter 52: The Last Time

Chapter 53: The Funeral

The Epilogue

Acknowledgements

Keep Reading …

About the Author

By the Same Author

About the Publisher

I can still feel the mud embedded deep under my fingernails, taste the dirt on my lips. I can still see the eyes: shining like glass, open and staring, deep in their sockets. Dead.

In my mind I watch the earth piling onto the body, slowly blotting out what’s been done. Finally covering those eyes, so they can’t judge anymore.

I’m confident no trace can lead back to me.

Part of me feels regret; a sadness that it came to such a drastic act.

For the moment, my conscience is telling me I’m guilty.

But that can be buried too.

The quiet murmurings that stopped as Louisa walked in the room, the closely guarded messages on his iPhone, the way he flitted about when Tiff was around – those were the little things that gave him away. He’d never been able to keep secrets. It’d been something Louisa had found endearing when she’d first met him on Millennium Eve at the party she shouldn’t have been at. But nineteen years later, his inability to hide anything despite believing he could – and that he was good at it – had lost its appeal.

Noah screamed in her left ear. She shifted the small bundle from one shoulder to the other, dragging the damp, sickly-smelling muslin square along with him, and bounced him in a vain attempt to console his colicky cries. He’d been howling for three days straight, Louisa was certain. As certain as she could be in her ‘new mum’ catatonic state, where each day rolled into the next with no real context, no definition or concept of time. Instead of faffing about secretively on his phone, Brian would be better served taking Noah and giving her five minutes to herself. Even going to the loo was a luxury these days.

She wondered if Emily had been like this, but Emily’s early years were a blur now. The teenage issues had long replaced any other bad memories of her infancy. Louisa shouldn’t be dealing with a baby. In just over two weeks she was going to be forty. As far as she’d been concerned, Emily was their one and only. Becoming pregnant was neither planned, nor particularly welcomed.