The Fear: The sensational new thriller from the Sunday Times bestseller that you need to read in 2018

‘Fuck off!’ Chloe shouts without looking back. ‘Just fuck off.’

Misty Engles giggles. ‘Who was that?’

‘Just some freak. I think she fancies me.’

Chloe’s laughter lasts all of thirty seconds, then her phone bleeps with a text from her dad. She’s been sacked from the garden centre. They know about the thefts. And so does he.

Chapter 10 (#ulink_a757b129-f43a-5307-ba04-a9d3662746d7)

Wendy (#ulink_a757b129-f43a-5307-ba04-a9d3662746d7)

It’s six minutes past nine. Wendy’s irritation at being late is reflected back at her in the bathroom mirror, along with a face of carefully, if heavily, applied make-up.

‘Warpaint,’ Wendy says to her reflection, then sighs heavily. Monty, the springer spaniel at her feet, nudges her leg with his nose and she reaches down to rub him behind the ears.

She’s being ridiculous, she knows she is. Wearing a faceful of make-up isn’t going to impress Lou Wandsworth. Nor will it give her the upper hand. In fact the only message it’ll give Lou is that Wendy needs to get down to Boots for a new mascara because the clumpy eyelash look isn’t fetching on catwalk models, never mind on fifty-nine-year-old women. She reaches for a make-up wipe and roughly scrubs at her cheeks, lips and eyes. She doesn’t need make-up for what she’s about to do.

She walks into the office with her shoulders back, her chin tipped up and an uncomfortable prickling sensation under her arms. After she dropped Monty off at her sister’s house she had to put her foot down to compensate for the ridiculous amount of time she’d spent applying, and then removing, her make-up, but she parked up outside Consol eLearning right on time. And with a minute to spare too.

‘Good morning,’ she says merrily to the matronly- looking receptionist. ‘My name is Wendy Harrison. I’m here to see Louise Wandsworth.’

‘She’s expecting you. I’ll just ring through. Would you like a coffee or tea?’

‘A cup of tea would be lovely. Milk no sugar.’

There’s something very pleasing about people making a fuss of you, Wendy thinks as she sits back in her chair and sips at her tea. Ever since she arrived at Consol eLearning ten minutes ago, she’s been greeted with warm smiles and firm handshakes. She was even given a plate of nice Marks and Spencer biscuits as she was shown into the meeting room by Lou and a rather balding man who introduced himself as Gary Lambley, head of sales. Wendy felt a wave of disappointment as he thrust a sweaty hand at her. She’d assumed her meeting would be with Lou and Lou alone, but actually the presence of someone else in the room has meant that she can study the other woman without being too obvious.

‘Well, that’s pretty much everything about us and what we do,’ Gary says as his presentation finally draws to a close. ‘Do you have any questions?’

‘No, I think you’ve covered pretty much everything.’ Most of the presentation went over Wendy’s head but she’s not about to admit that.

Lou gets up from her seat and switches on the lights. She smiles warmly at Wendy as she sits back down. ‘As I mentioned on the phone, I am quite new here, but I’ve got over seven years’ experience in managing eLearning projects and I’d be your first port of call.’

‘It sounds as though I’ll be in very safe hands.’

‘You would. Absolutely. So, now we’ve told you all about us perhaps you’d like to share a bit more about the training you’d like us to develop. You said on the phone that …’ her hair falls over her face as she glances down at her notebook ‘… the nursing faculty at the University of Worcester are considering adding some eLearning to the bachelor’s degree?’

‘That’s right yes.’ Words tumble out of Wendy’s mouth like stones from a bucket. Her nursing degree is over thirty years old but she can still recall the fundamentals of her training. And besides, she practised for this question when she was out walking Monty yesterday. When she’d come up with the idea of finding out a little bit more about Lou Wandsworth by masquerading as a new customer, she’d worried that there was a flaw in her plan – that Lou might ask for a landline contact number in addition to the mobile number she’d provided, or the details of someone more senior at the university. She hadn’t. She’d taken Wendy completely at her word.

It’s astonishing how gullible and naïve some people are, Wendy thinks as Lou nods and smiles at everything she says. They’re traits you’d associate with the weak and vulnerable – children and the elderly – and yet here is a woman that’s neither of those things. Is she really that gullible? Or – Wendy sits up a little higher in her chair and looks towards the door – it could be a trap. She’d assumed that Lou wouldn’t know who she was when she walked into the office. Why would she? They’d never met before; Lou hadn’t even glanced at her when she was behind her in the queue at the café. They’d never spoken other than Wendy’s initial enquiry about a meeting and there are no photos of her on the internet for Lou to google but there’s still a small chance she might know who she is.

‘That all sounds great, Dr Harrison,’ Lou says and Wendy suppresses a smile. It was a bit of silliness, deciding to award herself a doctorate seconds before she picked up the phone to ring Consol eLearning, but she has to admit that she quite likes the sound of it.

‘Wendy, please.’

‘Do you have any questions for us?’

The male voice makes Wendy twitch. She’d been so focussed on Lou – on the muddy green hue of her irises, the enlarged pores on either side of her nose, the visible tendons in her neck and the sharp collarbones beneath them – that she’d quite forgotten they weren’t alone in the room.

‘I’d love another cup of tea please.’ She smiles tightly as she pushes her saucer in his direction.

Lou moves to get up from her seat. ‘I’ll get one for you.’

‘No, no.’ Wendy flashes her eyebrows at Gary. ‘I’m sure he wouldn’t mind, would you Gary? I’ve got a few questions for Lou. If that’s okay?’

‘That’s fine. No problem at all.’

Wendy registers a fleeting glance between Lou and her colleague as he leaves the room, but the second the door closes behind him, Lou is all smiles again. Wendy reaches down beside her and pulls her handbag onto her lap. I could have a knife in here, she thinks as she unclips the fastener and reaches in for her Laura Ashley glasses case, and no one would ever know. I could plunge it into her chest and make it back out onto the street, before anyone realised anything was wrong.

Gosh, she thinks as the case opens with a satisfying pop and she takes out her glasses. That was a bit of a dark thought.I don’t know where that came from. I’m just here to find out a little bit more about Lou Wandsworth. That’s not a crime, is it? I could have introduced myself to her in the café instead but social situations are so awkward. She could have excused herself and walked away. Office protocol means she’s got no choice but to sit here and talk to me. Whether she likes it or not.

‘So,’ she says as she hooks her glasses over her ears and pushes them up the bridge of her nose. ‘Tell me a bit about you, Lou.’

The other woman shuffles awkwardly in her chair. ‘Well, um, as I said, I’ve got seven years’ experience—’

‘No, no. Not all that corporate stuff. You as a person. If we’re going to be working together for a while it makes sense to get to know each other a little better. Doesn’t it?’

‘Oh, um. Sure. What … er … what sort of thing do you want to know?’

‘Anything you want to tell me!’

Wendy’s chest tightens as the younger woman glances towards the door. She’s overdoing it. Her convivial tone sounds forced and she’s making Lou feel ill at ease.

‘Me for example,’ she says quickly as she picks up her pen, ‘I’m fifty-nine, no children, live alone with my little dog Monty. I’m a big fan of gardening, crosswords and crime dramas.’ She laughs lightly but the pen in her hands is strained to breaking point. If the other woman notices, she doesn’t let on. ‘How about you?’

Lou shrugs. ‘There’s not much to tell you really. I’m thirty-two and er … I live just outside Malvern.’

‘Oh yes. Whereabouts?’

‘Near Bromyard.’

‘Oh, out in the sticks.’

‘Yes. It is a bit.’

‘And do you live there with your husband?’ Wendy’s gaze flicks towards the naked ring finger of Lou’s left hand.

‘I live alone.’

‘That’s something we have in common then.’

And it’s not the only thing.

‘Woah!’ Lou jerks back in her seat and raises her hands to her face as something flies across the desk towards her. ‘Your … your pen.’

‘My what?’ Wendy is genuinely surprised to look down and see two halves of a biro in her hands. She’s snapped it clean in two.

‘Tea!’ Gary walks backwards into the room, carrying a tea tray in his hands. ‘What did I miss?’ He looks at Lou as she stands up. ‘Bloody hell. What happened to you?’