The Lodger

Valerie Keogh

Description

The brilliant new psychological thriller from bestseller Valerie Keogh.

'A wonderful book, I can’t rate this one highly enough. If only there were ten stars, it’s that good. Valerie Keogh is a master story-teller, and this is a masterful performance.' Bestselling author Anita Waller.

She’s in your home…

Leigh Simon can’t say for sure what made her do it. A moment of madness, perhaps, but when the young, loud and gorgeous waitress at her favorite coffee shop reveals she is homeless, Leigh offers her the empty room in her house.

In your head…

Gina is the perfect lodger; Leigh, lonely and frustrated with her life, becomes infatuated with the woman – her boldness, her zeal. If only Leigh could be more like Gina…

And missing without trace.

So when Leigh returns from a work trip she’s shocked to find Gina missing. Where could the young woman have gone…and why?

Leigh fears that something terrible has happened - why else would Gina leave her?

But as she sets out to find her missing lodger, what Leigh discovers changes everything she knows about Gina….and her own life, too.

Don't miss the brand new thriller by Valerie Keogh! Perfect for fans of Sue Watson, Shalini Boland and K.L. Slater.

Sujets

• Policier & Thriller
• Policier
• Thriller
• Mashups
• Psychological
• Women Sleuths
• Hard-Boiled
• Amateur Sleuth
• Thrillers
• Women
• Suspenso
• Friendship
• Psychological thriller
• Domestic
• Woman
• Psychology
• The Women
• Crime
• Family Life
• Suspense
• Fiction

Informations

• Publié par: Boldwood Books
• Date de parution: 01 août 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781804154472
• Langue: English

Extrait

THE LODGER


VALERIE KEOGH
For my nephew, Stephen Doyle, with love.
CONTENTS



Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Chapter 47

Chapter 48

Chapter 49

Chapter 50

Chapter 51

Chapter 52

Chapter 53

Chapter 54

Chapter 55

Chapter 56

Chapter 57

Chapter 58

Chapter 59

Chapter 60

Chapter 61

Chapter 62

Chapter 63

Chapter 64

Chapter 65

Chapter 66

Chapter 67


More From Valerie Keogh

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Also by Valerie Keogh

The Murder List

About Boldwood Books
1

Mostly, a decision we make has few consequences, and often we can do a three-sixty, reversing it with a shrug and a smile. Sometimes, though, that decision is irreversible, and we must live with what we’ve done.
We can look back and analyse what led to our choice. The path we took. The very moment we turned the corner, put a foot on that slippery slope and were swept away. For years, Leigh had wondered exactly which point had been the one of no return, when she’d lost her balance and went careering towards a destination she’d never, ever, ever contemplated.
Finally, after going over and over every word of every conversation she could remember, or thought she could remember, she’d chosen… not the moment she’d lost control and lashed out at her manager… but a rare spontaneous act of kindness to a young woman who’d said she was in need. Such a simple thing to have led to such a catastrophic outcome. To this day, five years later, Leigh couldn’t remember it without a feeling of despair.
Perhaps if she could have spoken about what she’d done… and why… it might not eat away at her and colour every day in shades of darkness. But she couldn’t talk about it. Ever .
Only one other person knew the truth.
And Leigh didn’t know who she was.
2
FIVE YEARS EARLIER

Leigh Simon pushed open the door of the café that sat halfway between King’s Cross station and her office on Harrison Street. A cappuccino was an essential part of her morning routine. Usually, she took it to go and drank it as she speed-walked the rest of the way to work. That morning, having woken at the ungodly hour of four, she’d time to spare.
The usual barista was behind the counter. Leigh, a slim five foot six, always felt like a giant beside the petite woman whose heavy, pale foundation was a canvas for implausibly thick eyebrows and bright red lips. Her auburn hair, striking on its own, was streaked with pink and twisted into two thick plaits that hung down her back almost to her waist. It was hard to tell if she was beautiful or even attractive under all the make-up, but she was undoubtably striking and made the classically good-looking Leigh, and probably every other female who frequented the café, pale into insignificance.
Leigh was too tired to feel the usual glimmer of envy. ‘Morning, Gina. I’ll have the usual, but I’ll have it here and can you add an extra shot, please. I’m going to need more caffeine today.’
‘Sure thing.’
It was an unusually subdued reply from a woman whose manner generally reflected her appearance. Words of concern hung unsaid on Leigh’s lips. She wanted to get her coffee, sit at the window to watch the world rush by, and wait for the caffeine to reach the parts that hadn’t quite managed to wake up that morning. But although the excellent coffee was one of the reasons she frequented the café, the other was Gina’s smile and friendly effervescent enthusiasm.
‘Is everything okay?’ Leigh finally asked.
‘I’ve been better.’ Gina put the brimming cup of coffee on the counter with a smile so forced it immediately wobbled and died. ‘You don’t need to hear my woes.’
Leigh didn’t; she’d troubles of her own. And she was tired. But she was also a pushover for a sad face. She waved to a table near the window. ‘Why don’t you leave Isobel to manage for a while and take a break with me? A trouble shared is a trouble halved and all that, eh?’ Leigh took her coffee to the table and sat with a sigh. It was shaping up to be a long tiresome day. She looked up with what she hoped was a welcoming expression and not a grimace when Gina sank onto the chair opposite.
‘This is kind of you.’
‘It’s little repayment for the cheery smile and welcome you give me every time I come in. Honestly, you’re as good as a tonic.’ Leigh wondered if that made her sound pathetic… a sad and lonely overworked professional. She used to think she had it all, but recently she wasn’t so sure. Her fingers tightened around the coffee cup. Gina was speaking; Leigh needed to focus.
‘The friend I’m living with is getting married. She hasn’t said as much, not yet anyway, but I know she’s hoping I’ll find something else and move out.’ She huffed a laugh. ‘On a barista’s wage, around here, that isn’t happening. I did think about looking for something further out, but commuting would be an expensive nightmare. Plus, you know the hours I work.’
Leigh did. They’d often had a collective moan about their long hours when she called in for a coffee on her way home from work in the evening. It would be a shame if Gina left. Sometimes her cheerful enthusiasm reminded Leigh of the woman she used to be, before the stress of her job and the passing of years had chipped away at the softer edges, a time when she was kinder, nicer. She smoothed a hand over the lapel of her sensible navy M&S suit jacket. Sensible, suitable and incredibly dull. She used to be more colourful, more spontaneous, up for anything. That woman had vanished with age and responsibility. But she missed her. It was this thought that made her open her mouth without thinking. ‘I have a spare room. You could move in with me.’
She caught the flicker of surprised disbelief on Gina’s face and hurried to add, ‘At the same rent you’re paying your friend.’
There was no hesitation. With a squeal loud enough to draw every eye in the café, Gina jumped to her feet, rushed around the table and wrapped both arms around Leigh. ‘Thank you, thank you!’
‘I can’t breathe!’
‘Sorry!’ Gina released her. ‘You’ve no idea! What a relief!’ With her breasts and bottom jiggling in the tight-fitting café uniform, she danced across the café, negotiated tables and chairs and hopped over extended legs and dropped bags, her face glowing with pleasure.
Her antics drew a smile from most of the other customers. Leigh kept hers in place with difficulty. Too late, she wondered what Matt was going to say.
Matt, her Friday evening to Sunday afternoon boyfriend. They’d been together a year and the longest they’d spent together was a two-week holiday in Portugal earlier that summer. He was a teacher in a school in Salisbury where the incumbent principal was expected to retire soon. Matt had his eye on the position, so wasn’t interested in moving to London despite there being equally good schools with similar opportunities.
As a commodity trader, Leigh’s work was always going to be in the capital, and with her long hours, commuting was out of the question. Recently, she’d felt more stressed and tired but whether this was due to the job she’d started almost three months before, which was proving more difficult than she’d expected, or worry about how long this relationship could last when neither seemed able to compromise, she wasn’t sure.
Gina danced back and dropped noisily onto the chair opposite, dragging Leigh back to the present. ‘You don’t know how much this means to me.’ The barista clasped her hands together. ‘How soon can I move in?’
It was impossible not to be infected by her excitement. ‘As soon as you like. I keep the room ready for visitors so there’s nothing I need to do, apart from moving a few clothes from the wardrobe.’
‘Brilliant! I’ll finish early and be over tonight then, if that’s okay?’
That night! Leigh picked up her cup to hide the doubt shivering through her. What had she done?
3

When Leigh arrived home that evening, tiredness weighing her down and stooping her shoulders, Gina was sitting on her doorstep surrounded by her belongings. Leigh wanted to cry. The day had been hellish, her manager, Bernard Ledbetter, more obnoxious than usual. One of these days she’d have to do something about the lecherous misogynist. But the pale-skinned man with the strawberry-blond hair and skinny caterpillar-like moustache creeping along his top lip was sneaky and careful. She didn’t think anyone noticed his behaviour towards her: the slight brushes against her, the leering looks, the ever-so-slightly unacceptable words he used when he spoke to her.
Wanting to cry, to tell Gina she hadn’t meant it and knowing she couldn’t, Leigh pushed the corners of her mouth up into some semblance of a smile. ‘Hi!’
‘This is so exciting.’ Gina jumped to her feet. ‘Your house is amazing!’
Inside, some of Leigh’s tiredness and bad mood lifted as she showed Gina around.
‘Amazing!’ Gina enthused of everything, even the main bathroom she’d be using with its dated avocado green suite and bizarre green and brown wall and floor tiles.
‘I use my en suite so you’ll have this to yourself. Mostly anyway. Matt likes to have a bath now and then when he’s here at the weekend.’ Leigh saw the quizzical raised eyebrow. ‘Matt, my partner; he lives in Salisbury but stays here most weekends.’ She opened the shower door. ‘Despite looking like something the eighties