The car sped up, plummeting towards the tall oak tree in front of us. And with seconds to spare, I put my hand out and unclipped Mark’s seat belt. Slamming my foot down on the accelerator, hard.
And it would have worked. I’m convinced of it. I would have hit the tree nearest to him and killed him instantly. But we hit something else beforehand.
Someone else, I now know.
The car veered off. Sailing through the air, Jessica screaming in the back.
There was a piercing screech, and then an eerie silence, a deathly quiet that went on to haunt my dreams for years to come.
I knew she was dead. That I’d killed her.
So I did whatever I could to get away. To save myself. I crawled from the wreckage and I never looked back.
It was the only way I’d have any chance of survival. I had to block it all out. Pretend it had never happened. Pretend I didn’t kill Jessica. Pretend it wasn’t me.
Because I was going to become someone new. Someone different. Someone good.
And Jamie Dawson had been that chance… until he’d betrayed me too.
Chapter Forty-Eight
He’s still breathing, but shallowly, his chest heaving as he chokes back the blood that bubbles in his throat.
Jamie is splayed out on the floor, next to Mark’s dead body, the two of them side by side in one thick puddle of pooling blood.
Jamie raises a hand to me. Holding it up, in a plea for help, unable to find his voice.
I crouch at his side, now that I’ve cut the ties from my ankles, and stare deeply into his eyes.
I see the flicker of confusion there at my lack of urgency to call for an ambulance, a silent plea in his eyes for me to help him.
Instead, I just look down at him.
He sees me then, finally, for the very first time. The real me.
And he knows then, too late, that everything Mark had said about me was true. I wasn’t some victim of domestic abuse. I wasn’t hiding from Mark.
I was hiding from myself.
From what I’d done.
Damaged and dysfunctional me, doing what I’ve always had to do in order to survive.
‘You took Ella from me,’ my voice is a whisper and my words are filled with sadness as I shake my head. ‘Don’t you know that the most dangerous place you can ever stand is between a mother and her child.’
He’s listening. I can see his eyes flickering with fear as he takes in my every word.
And he knows. In that one sentence, that one statement, that I can’t let him live.
Because he knows all my secrets, he knows all about me now.
And if he’s taken Ella once, I know he’s capable of doing it again.
Only this time she’ll be taken from me for good.
And I recognise the look of terror on his face when I withdraw the knife from his stomach and hear that final gasp of breath that leaves his body, as the knife plunges back down into his chest, the blood bubbling inside his throat.
And it’s this second stab wound that kills him.
I watch him take his final breath before I place the knife in Mark’s hand.
I burn the letter Mark forced me to write. I let it sit in the vase that was now on the floor, surrounded by the debris of the broken coffee table. I watch as it turns to ash, all the while praying that the police will believe my story.
The poor, distraught, grieving wife.
I feel my body shutting down. Slumping to the floor, my eyes close.
The sound of hammering on the front door sounds so faint, so way off in the distance.
Officer Blythe is anything but stupid, and once he finds the emails Jamie was sent from Mark about the car crash, he’ll start digging for me.
He’ll figure out that my hospital records never went missing, and that I used a forged copy of a birth certificate for the wedding.
He’ll find out that Rebecca Dawson doesn’t exist. That she never existed.
So, I can’t risk staying any longer than I have already.
My only regret will be leaving Lisa behind.
Because she was like the sister I once had. Loyal to me to the very end.
She had been real.
I know I’ll miss her forever.
But I need to make sure Ella is safe and that no one can take her from me.
And as I drive away from my old, pretend life, I know that finally I’m free.
Acknowledgements
Many thanks to my fantastic (Fairy-God) editor Keshini Naidoo for her amazing editorial skills. I truly value all of your advice, support, and friendship. It’s been an absolute pleasure to work alongside you on MINE. Huge thanks also to the brilliant Emma Mitchell over at Creating Perfection for your publishing services and proof reading. You did a fantastic job! Special thanks for all the sweary notes that made me chuckle whilst doing the final read through. And to Stuart Bache at Books Covered for the fantastic cover art.
A big shout out to everyone who’s kept me sane on this crazy writing journey. To all of those at the scene of the crime, you know who you are!
Special shout out to some of my fantastic writerly friends, whose friendship and support is more appreciated than they could ever know. Emma Tallon, Emma Kennedy, Noelle Holten, Kerry Barnes, Dreda Say Mitchell, Mel Sherratt, Louise Ross, and Pete Sortwell. (Pete, Frank says hi!).
HUGE thanks to YOU! All the fantastic readers and book bloggers who choose to read my books, and an extra special thanks to those of you who take the time to leave a review. I read and appreciate every single one! Reviews really are the best gift to leave for an author.
I love receiving your emails and messages, so please do keep them coming!
Some days, they literally are the very thing that keeps me going while I’m slogging away over my keyboard!
As always, I’d like to thank my extremely supportive friends and family for all the encouragement that they give me along the way.
The Coopers, The Ellis, and The Kellehers.
All my fab girlies. Special mention as always to Lucy! Who waited so patiently to read the very first copy of MINE before devouring it in record time as always. And to the ‘Girls Gone Wild’ ladies who might spot a few familiar names in this book!!
Finally, a big thank you to my husband, Danny for your endless support and encouragement. You are my absolute rock and I could not do any of this without you!
Last but never least, our three sons, Ben, Danny, and Kyle.
And Sassy and Miska – the best little writer’s assistants ever!