Groomed: Danger lies closer than you think

Groomed: Danger lies closer than you think
Casey Watson

It’s late on Friday night when Casey’s mobile starts to ring. She is expecting it to be her daughter Riley. But it isn’t Riley. It’s a woman from the Emergency Duty Team. So begins Casey and Mike’s latest fostering challenge – a fifteen-year-old girl called Keeley who’s run away from her long-term foster home 25 miles away.The Jonathan Ross Show has just started when Casey gets the call. She thinks it will be Riley – telling her that her favourite actor is going to be on TV. But it’s something far more urgent: a fifteen-year-old girl who has run away from her foster family and accused her foster father of sexual abuse. The family deny in vehemently, but such an allegation can never be taken lightly, so a new home must be found for Keeley.Keeley is polite, but she’s sharp, and she has all the hallmarks of a child who has been in the system a long time, and knows how to play it. Whether the allegation is true or not, Casey knows there will be no winners here. If it is true, then a young girl’s life has been torn asunder. If not, then the heartache for the family will only be surpassed by the bleak outlook for Keeley.In the short term, it’s a case of providing a safe, supportive home for a vulnerable child. But with the dangerous world of the internet at her disposal, it seems this strong-minded youngster has her own ideas of where that safe place should be…

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Copyright (#u589aecc6-9912-5100-bdc3-9a62eeb44f69)

This book is a work of non-fiction based on the author’s experiences. In order to protect privacy, names, identifying characteristics, dialogue and details have been changed or reconstructed.

HarperElement

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First published by HarperElement 2017

FIRST EDITION

© Casey Watson 2017

A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library

Cover image © Jan Bickerton (posed by model)

Cover layout © HarperCollinsPublishers 2017

Casey Watson asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

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Source ISBN: 9780008127600

Ebook Edition © October 2017 ISBN: 9780008217617

Version: 2017-08-24

Contents

Cover (#u3b0a0c1a-bac7-5bf7-b053-90796ff7ea07)

Title Page (#uae844119-aa96-511a-a543-c68c1230f08f)

Copyright (#u0394c741-630f-5177-acf6-e4dd508690ca)

Dedication (#u3514d75f-62c7-576d-9ff2-9598476fecd1)

Acknowledgements (#u704f81e7-6f5e-5a67-86b8-1222c0670501)

Chapter 1 (#ud75582d6-8510-5270-9fc2-c76b31a1bbbd)

Chapter 2 (#u93586dd0-e29e-5258-9427-8b7b689bb388)

Chapter 3 (#u9e63973b-f3a4-5294-a28b-525591643513)

Chapter 4 (#udf031e31-45f2-513f-98d0-197f677fda9f)

Chapter 5 (#u2faeea3d-743d-596d-b628-1c2185747ce2)

Chapter 6 (#ub8649340-cb41-5567-aa75-b8abefe1fbdc)

Chapter 7 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 8 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 9 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 10 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 11 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 12 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 13 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 14 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 15 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 16 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 17 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 18 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 19 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 20 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 21 (#litres_trial_promo)