Sam Carrington - Bad Sister - ‘Tense, convincing… kept me guessing’ Caz Frear, bestselling author of Sweet Little Lies

Published by Avon an imprint of

HarperCollins Publishers

1 London Bridge Street,

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Publishers 2017

Copyright © Sam Carrington 2017

Cover photographs © Shutterstock

Cover design © Stuart Bache, Books Covered Ltd 2017

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 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.

Source ISBN: 9780008200213

Ebook Edition © October 2017 ISBN: 9780008200206

Version 2017-09-13

For my sister, Celia – who is not bad at all.

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Prologue: Then

Chapter One: Connie

Chapter Two: Di Wade

Chapter Three: Connie

Chapter Four: Connie

Chapter Five: Then

Chapter Six: Connie

Chapter Seven: Di Wade

Chapter Eight: Connie

Chapter Nine: Connie

Chapter Ten: Then

Chapter Eleven: Connie

Chapter Twelve: Di Wade

Chapter Thirteen: Connie

Chapter Fourteen: Then

Chapter Fifteen: Connie

Chapter Sixteen: Connie

Chapter Seventeen: Di Wade

Chapter Eighteen: Connie

Chapter Nineteen: Then

Chapter Twenty: Connie

Chapter Twenty-One: Connie

Chapter Twenty-Two: Di Wade

Chapter Twenty-Three: Connie

Chapter Twenty-Four: Then

Chapter Twenty-Five: Connie

Chapter Twenty-Six: Connie

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Di Wade

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Connie

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Then

Chapter Thirty: Connie

Chapter Thirty-One: Connie

Chapter Thirty-Two: Di Wade

Chapter Thirty-Three: Connie

Chapter Thirty-Four: Then

Chapter Thirty-Five: Connie

Chapter Thirty-Six: Connie

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Di Wade

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Connie

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Then

Chapter Forty: Connie

Chapter Forty-One

Chapter Forty-Two: Connie

Chapter Forty-Three: Di Wade

Chapter Forty-Four: Connie

Chapter Forty-Five: Then

Chapter Forty-Six: Connie

Chapter Forty-Seven: Connie

Chapter Forty-Eight: Di Wade

Chapter Forty-Nine

Chapter Fifty: Connie

Chapter Fifty-One: Connie

Chapter Fifty-Two: Di Wade

Chapter Fifty-Three: Connie

Chapter Fifty-Four: Then

Chapter Fifty-Five: Connie

Chapter Fifty-Six: Connie

Chapter Fifty-Seven: Di Wade

Chapter Fifty-Eight

Chapter Fifty-Nine: Connie

Chapter Sixty: Connie

Chapter Sixty-One: Di Wade

Chapter Sixty-Two: Connie

Chapter Sixty-Three: Brett

Chapter Sixty-Four: Connie

Chapter Sixty-Five: Connie

Chapter Sixty-Six: Then

Chapter Sixty-Seven: Connie

Chapter Sixty-Eight: Di Wade

Chapter Sixty-Nine: Connie

Chapter Seventy: Connie

Chapter Seventy-One: Brett

Chapter Seventy-Two: Connie

Chapter Seventy-Three: Connie

Chapter Seventy-Four: Connie

Chapter Seventy-Five: Di Wade

Chapter Seventy-Six: Connie

Chapter Seventy-Seven: Connie

Chapter Seventy-Eight: Di Wade

Chapter Seventy-Nine: Connie

Chapter Eighty: Connie

Chapter Eighty-One

Chapter Eighty-Two: Connie

Chapter Eighty-Three: Di Wade

Chapter Eighty-Four: Connie

Chapter Eighty-Five: Connie

Chapter Eighty-Six: Connie

Chapter Eighty-Seven: Then

Chapter Eighty-Eight: Connie

Chapter Eighty-Nine: Di Wade

Chapter Ninety: Connie

Chapter Ninety-One: Connie

Chapter Ninety-Two: Connie

Chapter Ninety-Three: Connie

Epilogue

Author’s Note

Acknowledgements

Keep Reading …

About the Author

By the Same Author

About the Publisher

The heat pressed against her face.

On it. In it. Her cheeks felt like they were burning inside as well as out.

The little boy stood motionless beside her, his scorched pyjama bottoms trailing the pavement. His dark unblinking eyes stared up at the leaping flames erupting from the upper floor, then his attention turned to the bedroom window.

At the man screaming there.

She watched too, unable to drag her gaze away.

The man’s face seemed oddly distorted; like the famous painting she’d seen once: The Scream , wasn’t it? He banged against the windowpane, his mouth opening in a large O shape. The howl coming from the dark hole didn’t sound human. His hands were either side of his dripping face. Was it melting?

He disappeared from view.

The boy’s small hand slipped into hers. She snatched it away, and finally turned from the burning scene to look down at him.

‘What have you done ?’

Monday 5 June

‘All right, Miss. Didn’t think I’d bump into you on the outside.’

Connie froze, the voice behind her instantly cooling the blood in her veins, despite the morning’s warmth. Her head dropped involuntarily, her bobbed, black hair falling forwards, creating a curtain on either side of her blanched face. She could pretend she hadn’t heard, carry on walking, but if she ignored him he might follow her. Slowly, she turned to face him.

The man – wiry, thin from heroin addiction – leant against the wall adjacent to the train station entrance, cigarette in mouth, his eyes squinting through a cloud of smoke.

A thin wisp of air expelled from Connie’s lungs and pushed its way through her pursed lips. Her shoulders relaxed a little. It was only Jonesy. She could cope with him.

‘Oh, hello, Jonesy. How are you doing?’ Connie instantly regretted the open question. She gave an exaggerated look at her watch, then smiled, hoping he’d get the message that she was in a rush.

‘Well, you know how it is, Miss. It ain’t easy, they got me on a short leash, like – but it’s better than being in that shithole I s’pose.’

Connie raised her eyebrows. She was inclined to agree with the last part.

‘What you doing with yourself now you’ve left, Miss?’

She hadn’t expected that question. How did he know?

‘Oh, well … I’ve gone for a change in direction.’ She turned away from him, her attention shifting to the small group of people heading into Coleton station, the low hum of their early morning conversation drifting on the air. She wished she could slide in step with them, get away from Jonesy quickly. She didn’t want to give him any details about her new job, or get into an awkward conversation. He might have done his time, but someone who’d been convicted of aggravated burglary wasn’t a person she particularly wished to converse with right now. She checked her watch again. ‘I’ve got to go; I’m going to miss the train. Sorry.’