Sam Carrington - One Little Lie

Published by AVON

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www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Publishers 2018

Copyright © Sam Carrington 2018

Cover design © www.blacksheep-uk.com2018

Cover photograph © Arcangel

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: 9780008300814

Ebook Edition © July 2018 ISBN: 9780008328689

Version: 2018-09-20

For my sons, Louis and Nathaniel. You make me proud every day.

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Prologue: 19th March 2014 – Exeter Crown Court

Part One

Chapter One: Alice

Chapter Two: Connie

Chapter Three: Connie

Chapter Four: Alice

Chapter Five: Connie

Chapter Six: Alice

Chapter Seven: Connie

Chapter Eight: Deborah

Chapter Nine: Connie

Chapter Ten: Alice

Chapter Eleven: Connie

Chapter Twelve: Deborah

Chapter Thirteen: Connie

Chapter Fourteen: Alice

Chapter Fifteen: Deborah

Chapter Sixteen: Connie

Chapter Seventeen: Connie

Chapter Eighteen: Deborah

Chapter Nineteen: Alice

Chapter Twenty: Connie

Chapter Twenty-One: Connie

Chapter Twenty-Two: Tom

Chapter Twenty-Three: Deborah

Chapter Twenty-Four: Alice

Chapter Twenty-Five: Connie

Chapter Twenty-Six: Alice

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Tom

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Connie

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Deborah

Chapter Thirty: Alice

Chapter Thirty-One: Connie

Chapter Thirty-Two: Connie

Chapter Thirty-Three: Alice

Chapter Thirty-Four: Tom

Chapter Thirty-Five: Deborah

Chapter Thirty-Six: Connie

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Connie

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Alice

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Deborah

Chapter Forty: Connie

Chapter Forty-One: Connie

Chapter Forty-Two: Tom

Chapter Forty-Three: Connie

Chapter Forty-Four: Connie

Chapter Forty-Five: Connie

Chapter Forty-Six: Deborah

Chapter Forty-Seven: Connie

Chapter Forty-Eight: Tom

Part Two

Chapter Forty-Nine: Angela

Chapter Fifty: Connie

Chapter Fifty-One: Deborah

Chapter Fifty-Two: Angela

Chapter Fifty-Three: Connie

Chapter Fifty-Four: Connie

Chapter Fifty-Five: Deborah

Chapter Fifty-Six: Tom

Chapter Fifty-Seven: Connie

Chapter Fifty-Eight: Angela

Chapter Fifty-Nine: Connie

Chapter Sixty: Tom

Chapter Sixty-One: Connie

Chapter Sixty-Two: Deborah

Chapter Sixty-Three: Angela

Chapter Sixty-Four: Connie

Chapter Sixty-Five: Tom

Chapter Sixty-Six: Deborah

Chapter Sixty-Seven: Angela

Chapter Sixty-Eight: Connie

Chapter Sixty-Nine: Connie

Chapter Seventy: Tom

Chapter Seventy-One: Deborah

Chapter Seventy-Two: Angela

Chapter Seventy-Three: Tom

Chapter Seventy-Four: Connie

Chapter Seventy-Five: Connie

Chapter Seventy-Six: Angela

Chapter Seventy-Seven: Deborah

Chapter Seventy-Eight: Connie

Chapter Seventy-Nine: Connie

Chapter Eighty: Tom

Chapter Eighty-One: Angela

Chapter Eighty-Two: Deborah

Chapter Eighty-Three: Connie

Chapter Eighty-Four: Angela

Chapter Eighty-Five: Connie

Chapter Eighty-Six: Deborah

Chapter Eighty-Seven: Tom

Chapter Eighty-Eight: Deborah

Chapter Eighty-Nine: Connie

Chapter Ninety: Angela

Chapter Ninety-One: Deborah

Chapter Ninety-Two: Tom

Chapter Ninety-Three: Connie

Chapter Ninety-Four: Connie

Chapter Ninety-Five: Deborah

Chapter Ninety-Six: Angela

Chapter Ninety-Seven: Connie

Chapter Ninety-Eight: Connie

Chapter Ninety-Nine: Tom

Chapter One Hundred: Connie

Chapter One Hundred and One: Deborah

Chapter One Hundred and Two: Connie

Chapter One Hundred and Three: Connie

Chapter One Hundred and Four: Deborah

Chapter One Hundred and Five: Angela

Chapter One Hundred and Six: Deborah

Chapter One Hundred and Seven: Angela

Chapter One Hundred and Eight: Connie

Chapter One Hundred and Nine: Connie

Chapter One Hundred and Ten: Angela

Chapter One Hundred and Eleven: Connie

Chapter One Hundred and Twelve: Alice

Chapter One Hundred and Thirteen: Connie

Chapter One Hundred and Fourteen: Deborah

Epilogue: Monday 6th August 2018

Author’s Note

Acknowledgements

Keep Reading …

About the Author

By the Same Author

About the Publisher

‘It took approximately eight hours for Sean Taylor to die.’

She listened as the man spoke, her heart beating a little faster, her eyes blinking a little more than necessary. She shifted in her seat. Her bottom was numb, her legs heavy. She didn’t want to hear the details. She needed to. Her gaze fixed on the coroner; she couldn’t move her limbs and escape the courtroom, couldn’t close her ears to the words.

She had to know.

‘The stab wound to the back of his neck entered between cervical C5 and C6, causing complete severance of the spinal cord. Not immediately fatal, but it would’ve paralysed him.’

A tight band constricted her chest wall, threatening to squash her heart. Still, she listened.

‘He lay, unable to move, in his own blood for hours. It wasn’t until the tide came in fully that his life was finally taken.’

‘So, cause of death was drowning?’

The man’s left eye twitched. It was visible even from her seat in the gallery. ‘Well, officially, yes – suffocation from water was the decisive factor. But, clearly, the stab which caused—’

‘That will be all, Doctor Varsey. No further questions.’

The young man in the dock was standing very still – like a shop dummy, frozen in position by the person who put it there. Unmoved by proceedings. His mop of blond hair fell in loose curls, covering his eyes. Blocking his guilt from view. How could this unremarkable eighteen-year-old have caused so much devastation?

She swallowed.

He deserved what was coming to him. Didn’t he? A lifetime in prison.

A life for a life.

But he wasn’t the only one who needed to be punished.