R. J. Parker - The Dinner Party

One More Chapter

an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published in Great Britain in ebook format by HarperCollins Publishers 2019

Copyright © R. J. Parker 2019

Cover design by Andrew Davis © HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 2019

Cover photograph © Shutterstock.com

R. J. Parker 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 © October 2019 ISBN: 9780008358914

Version: 2019-09-02

To Carole and Dave Whiteley, who know how to throw a dinner party.

Thanks for the support, guys!

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page The Dinner Party R. J. PARKER

Copyright One More Chapter an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF www.harpercollins.co.uk First published in Great Britain in ebook format by HarperCollins Publishers 2019 Copyright © R. J. Parker 2019 Cover design by Andrew Davis © HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 2019 Cover photograph © Shutterstock.com R. J. Parker 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 © October 2019 ISBN: 9780008358914 Version: 2019-09-02

Dedication To Carole and Dave Whiteley, who know how to throw a dinner party. Thanks for the support, guys!

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

Chapter Sixty-Three

Chapter Sixty-Four

Chapter Sixty-Five

Chapter Sixty-Six

Chapter Sixty-Seven

Chapter Sixty-Eight

Chapter Sixty-Nine

Chapter Seventy

Acknowledgements

About the Author

About the Publisher

Ted awoke and felt like he’d been in a deep sleep. But as the bare leg he was clinging to slithered away from his sticky bloody fingers, the events that had left him sprawled on the kitchen floor crashed in. He’d blacked out for precious seconds and couldn’t afford to again.

‘Let go!’ the owner of the leg spat.

He gripped the limb harder, dug his nails into their warm calf and skated forward on his front through the smeared blood on the granite tiles. If he relinquished the leg, he knew what would happen.

Their bodies thrashed around on the floor and noisily scattered metallic utensils. He tried to rise, but the object stuck in his back wouldn’t allow him. It was a long stainless-steel prong, the type with a digital thermometer attached for testing the temperature of cooked meat. The acute pain along his spine severed his breath.

How deeply had it been planted in him? Was he paralyzed? He could still move his arms.

A scream.

It tugged his eyes open again. Consciousness was as slippery as his grasp on the leg, which jerked from under him as a bare foot caught him full in the face. The harsh impact deadened his hearing, warm blood filled his left nostril and darkness closed on his thoughts like a snare.

Wake up!

But his internal voice scarcely penetrated the barrier his brain was erecting against the assault.

Wake up.

No urgency in the muffled command now. He was withdrawing, leaving physical sensations far behind. Oblivion beckoned.

‘Ted!’

His eyelids shot open. The return to the kitchen was as painful as the injuries to his body.

His hand was empty. They’d got free. The consequences of that rushed into him as fast as the room.

‘Ted!’

‘Ted!’

Ted was halfway up the stairs when the doorbell went.

‘That’ll be Evie and Jakob!’ Juliette yelled from the bathroom.

The couple were always half an hour early. He and Juliette – after nightmare train journeys home – hadn’t been in for longer than ten minutes. Ted descended the stairs and trotted up the hallway to the front door. Behind its frosted pane two figures stood in the dark. He switched on the outside light.

‘Do you want us to drive around the block?’ Evie apologized as soon as he opened up.

Ted could only see the middle of their faces in their scarves and hats. ‘Come in before you freeze to the doorstep.’ He gestured them in and lightly kissed Evie’s cheek.

‘The traffic was surprisingly clear for a Friday night,’ Jakob mitigated. He’d lived in the UK since his mid-teens, but his Norwegian accent had never been watered down. He rubbed his palms as he entered.