To protect the identities of individuals involved in Sarah’s story some details, including names, places and dates, have been changed.
HarperElement
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First published by HarperElement 2015
FIRST EDITION
© Geraldine McKelvie and Sarah Wilson 2015
Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2015
Cover photographs © Jon Gibbs/Getty Images (posed by model); News Syndication (The Sun); Mirrorpix (The Mirror)
Geraldine McKelvie and Sarah Wilson asserts the moral
right to be identified as the author of this work
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Source ISBN: 9780008141264
Ebook Edition © July 2015 ISBN: 9780008141271
Version: 2015-06-23
Contents
Chapter Four: The Nightmare Begins
Chapter Nine: The Razaq Brothers
Chapter Ten: Does Anyone Care?
Chapter Thirteen: Building Bridges
Chapter Fifteen: Love Triangle
Chapter Seventeen: A Fatal Decision
Chapter Eighteen: Where’s Laura?
Chapter Nineteen: The Worst News
Chapter Twenty: Abusers in the Dock
Chapter Twenty-One: Murder Trials
Chapter Twenty-Two: A New Life
Chapter Twenty-Three: Truth at Last
Chapter Twenty-Four: Building a Future
My eyes fixed on a cobweb in the corner of the room as I heard footsteps on the stairs. The door creaked open and I shifted on the lumpy mattress on the floor. They’d left me there a few hours earlier and now it was dark, so dark. If I strained really hard, though, I could still see the outline of the cobweb. It gave me something to focus on, to distract me from what was going on in the cold darkness of that room.
A figure appeared in the doorway, but he was just a silhouette, the latest in the line of faceless men who’d come to me that night. Was he the sixth or the seventh? I’d lost count. I didn’t meet his gaze; I couldn’t bear it. I kept looking at the cobweb as I felt him place his weight on top of me. The smell of his sweat and cheap soap filled my nostrils.
He