Till Death Do Us Part
STEPHEN EDGER
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.
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