She acted on impulse. Erica was walking alone, on the side of a dark road. There was no one around. Stephanie found herself gripping the steering wheel, flooring the accelerator, all her rage trained on the lone figure in front of her. She never meant to hit Erica, only to scare her away, but it was a close call – in her fury, Stephanie had almost not veered away in time.

She’d driven home, shaking all the way, shocked at herself, at her almost fatal loss of control. But what she’d done had the opposite effect from what she intended. Erica went straight to the coroner.

But at least Stephanie now knows the truth about Patrick. And she is grateful, really. Just like Erica said she would be. Better to know.

The twins smile and gurgle back at her. But Erica has become a problem again.

Stephanie will figure something out. She has to.

CHAPTER SIXTY

ERICA DRIVES BACK to Newburgh, rather pleased with herself and with how things have turned out. She couldn’t have predicted this turn of events, but she knows how to roll with the punches. She goes where the opportunities are.

Patrick had never meant anything to her. They slept together, that’s it. She’d never cared for him in the least, and he’d never cared about her. It was purely physical, the selfish satisfaction of needs, for both of them. But when Lindsey died … that had surprised her, and made her think. She thought about how convenient Lindsey’s death was for Patrick. She thought it might have been the perfect murder.

There had been no look of triumph, no silent glance between the two of them at the scene of the accident that day. But she’d watched him and wondered. She thought he was acting a part. He’d never told her he was unhappy with his wife, but she’d deduced it on her own. If he was so happy with his wife, why was he sleeping with her? And why did he seem so unenthusiastic about the baby? It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure it out.

She didn’t know for sure, but as soon as she suspected that he might have killed his wife deliberately, she decided to snub him and keep it in her back pocket for the future when he would have money. Patrick was smart and ambitious, and she knew that one day he would be successful. That he happened to marry a rich woman was simply a bonus. She shouldn’t have been surprised – he wasn’t that different from her. He was every bit as much of an opportunist as she is. He just had better luck. Well, until his luck ran out.

She’d bided her time until Stephanie had come into her money. And then she executed her plan. It didn’t go as expected, because Stephanie had been stubborn and unwilling to pay.

But it can all still work out nicely, Erica tells herself, now that Stephanie has killed Patrick. She has no doubts about that at all.

In the meantime, she has other things on the go. Niall has been avoiding her calls. He’s proved more slippery than she expected. But she’ll talk to him eventually, and when she does, he’s not going to like what she has to say.

And she’s got the Mannings wrapped around her little finger. They’ll do anything to protect that boy from the truth.

Nancy stares out her living-room window, hiding behind the curtains. She and Niall are freaking out.

Erica has tried to call Niall again; she even showed up at the office, but Kerri was instructed to say that he was out. It worked, but only because he’s stopped driving his Tesla to work, so Erica can’t tell when he’s there. Niall’s using Uber a lot these days. But it’s a short-term solution.

Erica has them living in fear, and they hate it; in this they are united.

Nancy is aware that keeping Erica from Niall at work makes them more of a target at home. Erica knows where they live. She’s already been here. It’s just a matter of time before she shows up again. Nancy spends much of her day watching out the window like this.

The only upside – Nancy doesn’t think her husband will be straying again anytime soon.

They both perceive Erica’s hovering presence as a serious threat. They can’t live in fear for ever. Something must be done.

Gary Manning sits quietly in his car – a leased Lexus – in the underground parking lot beneath the office tower in downtown Denver where he works. It’s already dark out. He’s putting off going home. It will be another late night of tears and histrionics in the basement and he doesn’t know how much more he can take.

He loves Cheryl and he loves Devin. He’s their boy. He’s a fine boy, and they’re not going to let his birth mother fuck him up by telling him things he doesn’t need to hear.

Gary thinks about watching Devin on the soccer field the other day – how proud he made him feel. He couldn’t be more proud of him even if Devin was his own flesh and blood.

And now this godawful mess. Erica demanding more money to keep her mouth shut. He’d like to go to the police, but he can’t. Imagine the effect of the publicity on his business. They paid her a hundred grand to get Devin. They’d made a deal with the devil all those years ago. Erica knows they’re not going to go to the police.

Gary hates to see Cheryl so upset all the time, but he understands it. She’s terrified that they will lose Devin, that contact with his birth mother – and learning the truth about his birth parents – will traumatize him. It might even turn him against them. She’s probably not wrong. Gary can’t bear to lose the little family that took them so much time and effort to build. And Devin knows something’s up; yesterday he’d asked him why everyone’s acting so weird lately. He’s a smart kid.

Gary’s had trouble getting the money together. He can do it, it will just be difficult. But his family comes first.

If only Erica Voss were dead, all his problems would be solved.

Epilogue

The Aylesford Record,

November 9, 2018

Authorities have determined the identity of a woman whose body was pulled from the Hudson River early this morning. The deceased woman is 31-year-old Erica Voss, of Newburgh, New York.

Orange County police recovered the body earlier today near the Newburgh–Beacon Bridge, after receiving a call just before 7 a.m. from a jogger who noticed the body floating in the river.

Ms Voss was in the news recently when she gave evidence at the inquest into the death of Lindsey Kilgour, in Colorado in 2009.

The cause of death has not yet been determined.