Aftermath (Dividing Line #6) (34 page)

The corners of Jules’s mouth curled into a grim smile at how low she’d brought Leighton Parker.

“Hello Daddy. Did you miss me?”

After the telling off Ryan had given the site manager the house was almost ready to move into a week ahead of schedule. Work on the visitor’s annex had already begun and Ryan and Rachel watched the plot being excavated from the kitchen window. The back garden would be off limits to the kids for a few weeks but they didn’t care, all they wanted was to come home.

“Do you like your new home?” Ryan asked her.

“I love it. It’ll be a relief to get settled again, especially after everything that’s gone on. The kids need stability.”

“Especially Leah, I’m worried about her. She’s been so quiet lately.”

“I know. I’m sure she’ll improve when she’s home again and she can bring Sophia back.” Sophia was Leah’s beloved pony. The neighbouring farm had kindly stabled her all these months while their home was rebuilt. “Everything’s finally getting back to normal,” she said, leaning into him. “What a relief.”

A shout from outside drew their attention to the window and they saw the foreman frantically waving at the man controlling the digger excavating the earth to stop.

“What’s going on?” frowned Rachel.

“Let’s find out,” said Ryan.

They both donned hard hats before hurrying out to the site, the foreman rushing to meet them. “Stay back Mrs Law, you really don’t want to see this,” he said, blocking her path while indicating for Ryan to take a look at the excavated ground.

“Don’t be so bloody soft,” she said, stomping round him, standing beside Ryan who was staring into the pit with dismay.

The rest of the workers gathered round them, talking quietly, afraid to raise their voices above a whisper.

“Jesus H Christ, I don’t fucking believe this,” exploded Ryan, making them all jump. “Just when everything’s going our way this happens.”

Rachel nodded sadly. They wouldn’t be moving into their new home any time soon, not now. The decaying skeletal hand sticking out of the muddy pit, cocked in a macabre wave, taunted them.

THE END

Many thanks for reading, I really hope you enjoyed it. There are plenty more adventures for the Laws and Maguires to come. If you’ve read the entire Dividing Line series I have many other books available on Amazon Kindle.

Once again, thank you. Heather Atkinson.