Stephen Edger: Till Death Do Us Part

A division of HarperCollins Publishers

www.harpercollins.co.uk

KillerReads

an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 2019

Copyright © Stephen Edger 2019

Cover design © HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 2019

cover photographs © Shutterstock.com

Stephen Edger 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 e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, 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.

Ebook Edition © May 2019 ISBN: 9780008320621

Version: 2019-04-02

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page Till Death Do Us Part STEPHEN EDGER A division of HarperCollins Publishers www.harpercollins.co.uk

Copyright KillerReads an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF www.harpercollins.co.uk First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 2019 Copyright © Stephen Edger 2019 Cover design © HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 2019 cover photographs © Shutterstock.com Stephen Edger 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 e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, 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. Ebook Edition © May 2019 ISBN: 9780008320621 Version: 2019-04-02

Dedication For my wife (for not killing me after all our years together) xxx

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter Thirty-Two

Chapter Thirty-Three

Chapter Thirty-Four

Chapter Thirty-Five

Chapter Thirty-Six

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Chapter Forty

Chapter Forty-One

Chapter Forty-Two

Chapter Forty-Three

Chapter Forty-Four

Chapter Forty-Five

Chapter Forty-Six

Chapter Forty-Seven

Chapter Forty-Eight

Chapter Forty-Nine

Chapter Fifty

Chapter Fifty-One

Chapter Fifty-Two

Chapter Fifty-Three

Chapter Fifty-Four

Chapter Fifty-Five

Chapter Fifty-Six

Chapter Fifty-Seven

Chapter Fifty-Eight

Chapter Fifty-Nine

Chapter Sixty

Chapter Sixty-One

Chapter Sixty-Two

Keep Reading …

A Message from Stephen

Acknowledgements

Also by Stephen Edger

About the Author

About the Publisher

For my wife (for not killing me after all our years together) xxx

She’d learned many years ago that people will do just about anything for money, it was just a question of negotiating the right price. Reaching for the towel, she wiped the remains of the cream from her breasts, before refastening the straps of her bra and shoving the wad of notes into her cleavage. Straightening, she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the crusty mirror on the wall, and ran her fingers through her long blonde hair, before tying it into a ponytail.

There were plenty of other ways she could earn the rent for the flat, but no other job could pay what she earned per hour with these strip gigs. Who was she kidding? She enjoyed dancing to the music and watching as men gawped lustfully, each thinking they could satisfy her, none realizing that the last thing she wanted was to have sex with any of them. There was only one special man in her life, and he was thankfully tucked up at home in bed. Pressing her locket to her lips, she kissed his tiny photograph, reminding herself that he was why she took these gigs. She’d never told him what she did for a living, and if she had her way, she’d never have to.

Zipping up her knee-length boots, she pulled on her miniskirt and leather jacket, and collected the iPod and speaker, dropping them in her bag. The stop for the night bus was a ten minute walk, and she’d already mapped the route in her mind. It was tempting to call a taxi, but it would probably take longer to arrive and drop her home than the walk and bus ride, so what was the point.

Lighting a fresh cigarette, she pushed the fire doors open, and stepped into the cool night air. Despite the lampposts lining the streets, there wasn’t a great deal of light on the road as she made her way out to the pavement and turned right. How she wished she’d brought something warmer to change into. That would have meant an extra bag, though, and she hadn’t needed the stress earlier.

Condensation billowed from her mouth as she took a fresh drag on the cigarette and wrapped her jacket tighter around her middle. A set of car headlights passed, briefly lighting the path ahead of her before disappearing into the black void. If she could squeeze in some extra gigs, she’d have enough to buy a car – nothing fancy, but a little runabout that could get her to and from these gigs with the minimum of fuss.

A sudden rush of footsteps approaching from behind put her on edge. Reaching into her handbag, she rustled around for her penknife, and, clasping it, she paused and spun on her heel, ready to thrust it at any potential attacker. She gripped it tighter as she recognized his face.

‘Help you with something, pal?’ she said, trying to keep the fear from her voice.

His shirt flapped in the breeze. She couldn’t deny he was attractive, in a goofy kind of way. Not her type by any means, but certainly someone who would receive plenty of female attention.