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Keep Your Friends Close: A gripping psychological thriller full of shocking twists you won’t see coming
June Taylor
Keep your friends close and your enemies closer…An addictive and shocking psychological thriller, full of twists you won’t see coming, perfect for fans of FRIEND REQUEST by Laura Marshall.A friend who won’t let you escape.When Karin is taken on a romantic break by her loving partner Aaron, she can’t wait for him to propose. But her surprise weekend quickly becomes a nightmare from which she may never escape.Who wants everything you have.They are staying by the beach at the Midland – a grand hotel where Karin used to work. And where Karin’s dangerous and obsessive ex, whom she has been trying to leave behind for years, is waiting patiently for her to return.Who won’t stop until your life is in ruins.Now all of Karin’s darkest secrets are being dragged into the light and her friends are turning against her. When one of them is murdered, Karin begins to realise just how treacherous relationships can be…
Keep Your Friends Close
JUNE TAYLOR
A division of HarperCollinsPublishers
www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)
Copyright (#uf5a91d18-0759-5d5a-b83f-16c62b9ec757)
KillerReads
an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)
First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 2018
Copyright © June Taylor 2018
Cover design by Holly MacDonald © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2018
Cover photograph © Shutterstock.com (https://www.shutterstock.com)
June Taylor asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
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Ebook Edition © October 2018 ISBN: 9780008318109
Version: 2018-08-14
for Juice and Lemon
Table of Contents
Cover (#u006c44cf-6ac0-5c8e-bb5b-2dbf134afc9f)
Title Page (#u2d722e37-1cdd-5a95-8c4a-ec64096dbb18)
Copyright (#u89ef9cf5-db8c-5d99-88bb-ac94f45e9da3)
Dedication (#u7ee89f72-29cd-5ab9-bad2-de17e6bec50c)
Chapter 1: Karin (#u08081449-75ca-5306-99c0-61944141e0f7)
Chapter 2: Mel (#u361915d1-e4be-5bff-b36d-bc1ef9b0f238)
Chapter 3: Mel (#u78a07b64-ac56-5356-a7d1-78712d094709)
Chapter 4: Karin (#uc7343137-6064-5d46-8c89-2f61d3e4a389)
Chapter 5: Karin (#u8917f63f-c408-5260-8711-cbcf322704f4)
Chapter 6: Mel (#u2262d609-c914-55ce-8e90-354bedb1c63c)
Chapter 7: Karin (#u595a9df0-87c9-588b-b006-a51b85cf4de6)
Chapter 8: Louie (#u5c344bb3-bbec-56c1-963c-74b400dc3247)
Chapter 9: Karin (#ub33d7a7a-190c-50ad-9b06-455fb4266c37)
Chapter 10: Mel (#u0cae2f42-d9d5-537f-9339-7d7a127d4fa5)
Chapter 11: Louie (#ud1730c91-6815-57c8-ba22-487456533c8c)
Chapter 12: Karin (#u539e4d7c-2250-50fd-9d0f-8db4e1cbcc7a)
Chapter 13: Karin (#u6d8bf56e-b780-53d1-b2f7-ab9929bf6997)
Chapter 14: Louie (#ufb8d1c21-362a-5173-9fca-4d85692891f8)
Chapter 15: Mel (#u95865e23-4585-5f27-9c54-a10358c36559)
Chapter 16: Karin (#ua66fd9fa-1840-5a29-8240-f3a16b7911e5)
Chapter 17: Karin (#ua70a1b22-803e-5874-9815-941468863105)
Chapter 18: Mel (#u7463fdd8-f828-5ff9-b530-6d71d3868f07)
Chapter 19: Louie (#u33ab3a3e-d76a-5c77-af64-668e83fd7093)
Chapter 20: Mel (#u746fdab0-0bfb-5705-a982-17231e20c8e6)
Chapter 21: Karin (#u16091e4f-f0eb-5dea-80eb-daa52bf63244)
Chapter 22: Mel (#ua48a0b56-19a3-5b0b-8114-9fd563e84bd2)
Chapter 23: Louie (#u21415c10-0938-5b3a-b931-b21ba397cb66)
Chapter 24: Karin (#ud222a3b5-e241-5848-9429-ad86a0d1cc89)
Chapter 25: Mel (#u8be6e6a5-d041-5dc5-b65c-1d2d9a163068)
Chapter 26: Karin (#u16c0cb8a-4737-59b7-9bb1-3637080b3cea)
Chapter 27: Louie (#ua44dc188-35c2-5033-81e0-d0843b99a25d)
Chapter 28: Karin (#uf1d509f6-54c4-5ed9-9540-fce5cfd9c08c)
Chapter 29: Louie (#u63c9329b-a6e0-57fb-bf91-ca22ab515f09)
Chapter 30: Karin (#u2ea8f488-b2e3-56a1-8690-e6e1eaca72cc)
Chapter 31: Mel (#u2cd6f019-e04e-5815-bb67-58987fa403b4)
Chapter 32: Karin (#u9df705bf-2d97-5600-99d9-749f884e2622)
Chapter 33: Louie (#u7460b0ad-4684-53ef-b369-ae0bcf11fd4b)
Chapter 34: Karin (#u46868fc7-6c8b-587f-8396-2bfbbcbb9319)
Chapter 35: Mel (#u883d3432-1ede-506b-a5b2-20a8241b91a4)
Chapter 36: Karin (#ud18862c6-7c28-50d3-8f6a-f01b83be5c54)
Chapter 37: Karin (#u737c0dbd-4f6c-5e07-a131-0a01748e24e6)
Chapter 38: Louie (#u0ed8c364-15c4-51a4-8fce-61846e8d2fcd)
Chapter 39: Karin (#u71f21290-ccee-575c-9f46-71d62bbeb250)
Chapter 40: Louie (#ub72fb433-ad13-50ca-b63d-8c61a5a73e0c)
Chapter 41: Mel (#u45df7643-5506-5f65-af7b-2089f466cd91)
Chapter 42: Karin (#uc24b2df4-739c-521c-8cd5-2ee81b692bad)
Chapter 43: Louie (#u8c188a30-dccd-5ff4-b8b5-29bf1b0f4f6e)
Chapter 44: Karin (#ua3d6c632-90b1-564c-81e4-96053144321b)
Chapter 45: Mel (#u507b3734-957a-5493-b30b-7c3d827bf1e3)
Chapter 46: Karin (#ue6af23d3-bddd-5f7c-a1fe-e93da0fdbcdc)
Chapter 47: Karin (#udaf114ce-11a8-5c6e-82e6-ef3728044d97)
Chapter 48: Mel (#u419bd031-c0c0-5f54-abc4-6c5d0a90dbc1)
Chapter 49: Karin (#ueba833ac-6ac8-532d-9fb7-f05761640bca)
Chapter 50: Mel (#ua213eb18-a9ae-5e9a-a1a2-588b3b0f4fc7)
Chapter 51: Karin (#ud52cfa46-8c2e-5568-8379-d3011d54a4b0)
Chapter 52: Karin (#ud9d41204-789a-5027-86d5-997f294a9118)
Chapter 53: Karin (#u231716ad-0e09-596b-b447-98de8f003b4a)
Chapter 54: Louie (#u5223fb4a-1039-56d1-879e-33b3d48dc64a)
Chapter 55: Karin (#u4a8d1e3d-c94f-5d33-9037-dde34717802d)
Chapter 56: Louie (#u5e759ea9-b3f3-5e2d-97d6-6e79a63f04ff)
Chapter 57: Karin (#uff387a58-4d6b-5f25-8f41-0bfdad294dae)
Chapter 58: Karin (#u01601667-5333-5a26-b2cd-cf5b1121ef5c)
Chapter 59: Karin (#u609e81aa-6ddd-54da-9b96-f341c23455b3)
Acknowledgements (#u1fc00d9a-25cc-5c3b-9d9d-47f3b6481f2c)
Keep Reading… (#u99a55c41-104a-5fd4-99ed-7e91d71d64b8)
About the Author (#u8e587ad6-2bf3-547a-960a-fc19c9deeffd)
About the Publisher (#ufd91b8ed-6ebf-564b-bc54-c63469066983)
1 (#uf5a91d18-0759-5d5a-b83f-16c62b9ec757)
Karin (#uf5a91d18-0759-5d5a-b83f-16c62b9ec757)
Red hair, red dress.
Karin looked at the image of herself in the mirror. She liked the clash of red against red. A clashy confidence. It seemed appropriate today, her birthday. And not just any birthday; she had made it to twenty-two. At one point, she didn’t think she would.
She wished her mother could see the woman she had grown into. Not just see, but know. The bundle of letters, tossed onto the bed earlier, reflected in the mirror. Still tied with the same string from five years ago. Her mother, Birgitta, had sent them all back, of course, and Karin wasn’t sure why she was still hanging onto them. For several reasons, she ought to get rid. There had been no birthday card this morning. She had known there wouldn’t be, there never was, but Karin had still searched through the pile of post to check. Birgitta had no idea where in the world Karin was and didn’t care. But the money had gone into her account, as promised. Karin had logged in at work to check. Always true to her word. That was the scariest thing of all about her mother.
Someone at work had asked if Karin was okay. Wasn’t she feeling well? Had she received some bad news? She felt dizzy and the pain had come quickly after that. Scurrying down the corridor, avoiding her colleagues, she had burst into Will’s room and quickly shut the door. It shocked Will; he was busy painting the walls, but broke off from his task to sit with her. Because Will understood. He had read every word that she and Birgitta had ever written to each other, and Karin was grateful for this place of sanctuary.
She could feel it coming on again now as she stared at her reflection in the mirror, the cycle repeating itself, and the sight of those letters only added to her distress. It was as if a sharpened icicle was being pushed into her head, boring a hole between the eyes. That’s how it always came, and she couldn’t stop it no matter what she did. Hands over her head to form a tight-fitting lid, as she was doing now; or elbows at right angles, squeezing against her ears to shut out the screams. Sometimes she scrunched up into a tight ball on the floor.
All this so she can never forget.
Even with her eyes closed she is still able to see his legs swinging. Side to side. A human pendulum. She runs down the garden and finds him there. In her log cabin. The steps kicked over, lying on their side. Minutes later she hears Birgitta screaming. Karin has never heard her mother scream like that before. It wasn’t what she did. Normally so cool and composed, this sound is primal and raw, yelling at Karin to help get him down.
