Читать онлайн «Undertow»
Автор Элизабет Хиткот
They said her death was a tragic accident. And I believed them... until now.
Carmen is happily married to Tom, although she knows she’ll always live in the shadow of another woman—the mistress who ended his first marriage: Zena. Mercurial, mesmerizing, manipulative Zena—a woman who, Carmen begins to discover, had the potential to incite the darkest of emotions. Zena, who drowned in the sea late one night.
Zena seems ever-more present, even in death, and when Carmen unknowingly stumbles on evidence that her husband has not been telling her the whole truth, she can’t shake her unease. As she uncovers documents and photographs, a very different tale than the one Tom has led her to believe begins to unfold, and she finds herself increasingly isolated and paranoid. As the twisted events of that night begin to come to light, Carmen must ask herself if it’s really a truth worth knowing... even if it destroys her and the lives of the people she loves most.
ELIZABETH
HEATHCOTE
To Nev, Ben and Franny
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
Reader’s Guide
Questions for Discussion
A Conversation with Elizabeth Heathcote
PAULA HAD EVERY light on in the kitchen. It was nearly June but gloomy, raining and cold, miserable weather even for England. She would have been happy to stay indoors all day, but the dog was getting restless and he’d have to be walked. She pulled on her boots and rain jacket and went back to the cloakroom for a scarf.
It was the school holidays and the children were watching TV, still in their pajamas at twelve. Paula’s dad was upstairs fixing the light in Cheyenne’s bedroom. She shouted up to let him know that she was going and then put her head round the living room door. “I’m taking the dog out,” she said.
“Granddad’s upstairs. ”The children were side by side on the settee, a blanket pulled over their knees, their bodies barely touching. They didn’t look up.
“Hello?” she said.
“Shh!” said Charlie, her boy, his eyes fixed on the screen.
“Did you hear me? I’m taking the dog out and—”
“Mum! I heard. ”
She tutted and closed the door, her lips spelling out what she’d like to have said as she searched for her keys in the pile of scarves and gloves and school books by the front door. Then she heard a shout. “Wait, Mum, I’m coming!”
Cheyenne, her little girl, came running through.
“You want to? It’s raining. ”
“I know, Mummy, I want to come with you. ”
“Get dressed quickly then. ”
Cheyenne scrambled upstairs, still climbing on hands and knees at four. Paula smiled after her and picked up the dog’s lead without thinking, and of course Roxy heard and went wild, bounding into the hall and jumping up at her over and over again, barking and snapping with excitement. The next few minutes were chaos, trying to calm him and to hurry Cheyenne, to get her shoes and coat and hat on with the dog jumping round them. By the time Paula opened the front door she felt frazzled.
