One Mistake: A totally unputdownable gripping psychological thriller

by Rona Halsall

  ‘I’m not listening to any more of your lies,’ he snapped, uncurling her fingers from the table leg where she’d tried to anchor herself. Chairs toppled as she kicked out, desperately seeking something to grasp on to. But he was a man possessed – his strength reinforced by fury – and he shoved her out of the back door, leaving her shocked and shivering in the cool of the night. She heard the lock turn, knew he was beyond the point of reasoning.

  A few minutes later, the door opened and her handbag flew out, followed shortly after by her car keys, thrown with such force, they smacked against her face, leaving a throbbing pain that matched the ache in her heart.

  ‘Matt. Please listen to me, please.’ She scrambled to her feet, desperate to explain. To tell him she had no idea who the man was or how the video had been taken.

  ‘You slag! How could you?’ He stood in the doorway, sobbing with rage, chest heaving, face contorted and wet with tears. She lunged forward, trying to get back inside, but the door slammed in her face. The lock turned again and she heard the bolt slide home.

  She slapped at the door in disbelief, body shaking with shock. Only a few hours ago, she’d come home believing this to be her sanctuary, her safe place, happy to be back at the heart of the family, full of laughter and smiles. And now this. Expelled.

  A cool breeze brought goose bumps to her skin. Wearing only a T-shirt and jeans, her feet bare, she started to shiver, and rubbed her arms to try and get warm as she stared at the house. There was no point knocking. No point begging. Not until he’d calmed down. She trudged down the driveway to her car and got in. There was only one place she could go: Hailey’s.

  She reversed out of the drive, the pedals cold against her feet, reminding her of the time she’d had to leave home in nothing but her nightclothes, Hailey tugging her along, urging her to go faster when she was still half asleep.

  ‘Come on,’ her sister had pleaded. ‘He’ll start belting you too if we’re not quick.’

  Sara had dug her heels in, staring back over her shoulder towards the little terraced house they’d moved into only a few months before. ‘We can’t leave Mum,’ she’d whimpered, but Hailey’s hand pulled harder and she wasn’t strong enough to resist.

  ‘We’ve got to go and get help. Come on,’ Hailey had urged, leading her to the end house of the row, where she’d started banging on the door, all the time glancing back the way they had come, frightened they’d been followed.

  Luckily, Mrs Greenwood had been in that night. It had all worked out, after a fashion, although it had been weeks before their mother was out of hospital, and months before Sara saw her again.

  She shook the thoughts away, concentrated on the road ahead of her.

  Hailey might be able to talk to him, she thought as she drove. The two of them seemed to be getting on better these days. It hadn’t always been the case, but Matt appeared to have become more palatable to Hailey once he’d lost his job and she’d seen the vulnerable side to him. Hailey liked vulnerable. She hated cocky men, alpha males, and Matt generally fitted in that category. She’d told Sara a few times over the years that she thought he was too dominant, but Sara hadn’t wanted to listen. She knew marriage was a compromise, knew Matt had a soft side and his need to be in control came from childhood insecurities, but she couldn’t explain it all to Hailey. It was Matt’s business and it had taken long enough for him to talk to Sara, his wife, about it, so she wasn’t going to gossip to her sister.

  Compromise was not a word Hailey was very familiar with in her own relationships with men. She was not going to be dominated by anyone and was probably oversensitive to any signs of control. It was the reason why her marriage had fallen apart after nine years, and why she’d been on her own ever since. Given their past, it wasn’t surprising.

  Being four years older than Sara, Hailey could remember more about their chaotic home life, her mother’s ragtag boyfriends and their associates. Rare conversations about their childhood – usually after they’d drunk too much wine and Hailey had dropped her guard – had also revealed a dark side to one of her foster placements. A man with wandering hands. Hailey hadn’t gone into detail, and Sara could only guess at what might have happened. They certainly avoided the subject these days; now their mother was dead, it was like that part of their past had died with her.

  When she pulled up outside Hailey’s house, she was glad to see the lights still on. It wasn’t late, just before ten, but Hailey went to bed early and got up early; an off-for-a-run-before-breakfast sort of person. She was slow to answer the door, opening it a crack, the security chain on as she peered out, suspicion written all over her face. She frowned when she saw it was Sara, clearly puzzled.

  ‘What are you doing here?’

  ‘Matt’s thrown me out,’ Sara said, before the words made it real and the tears started to fall. ‘Can I come in?’

  She could hear Hailey muttering as she undid the security chain, scanning the street as if she was expecting trouble, before closing the door and locking it again as soon as Sara was inside. Bolts top and bottom, as well as the chain and the lock. A bit over-the-top, Sara had always thought, but Hailey’s work had repercussions at times, and a few years ago she’d been attacked in her home by a disgruntled father who’d decided it was her fault that his son had pressed charges for assault. It was that sort of clientele she was dealing with. Damaged and vulnerable children from dysfunctional families. She was passionate about it – above and beyond what was expected – and Sara always felt it was more her sister’s vocation than her job.

  Sara followed her into the kitchen, where Hailey flicked on the kettle and grabbed a couple of mugs from the drainer; tea being her answer to every problem. Sara sank into a chair at the kitchen table, her head in her hands, body shaking from head to toe. How has it come to this? She still couldn’t comprehend what she’d seen in the video. After a minute, she pulled her phone from her pocket, hesitating before she tapped in her PIN to bring it to life, not sure if she could bring herself to look again.

  Hailey came over with the tea. ‘Come on then. Tell me what’s going on.’

  Sara let out a heavy sigh that seemed to come all the way from her toes. I’m going to have to tell her, she thought, holding her phone a little tighter.

  ‘I’m in a mess,’ she said to the table, shame burning her cheeks. ‘I thought I was helping. It seemed like the right thing to do at the time. But everything I’ve done has been flipped on its head, and now…’ She looked up at her sister, her voice hardly more than a whisper. ‘Matt thinks I’m having an affair.’

  Hailey’s eyes widened and she froze on the spot, hands on the back of the chair she’d pulled out to sit on. ‘And are you?’

  Sara’s mouth dropped open, appalled that Hailey would think her capable of such a thing. ‘No! Of course I’m not. I wouldn’t do that. You know I wouldn’t do anything to break up my family.’

  Hailey frowned as she sat down, her eyes on Sara’s face. ‘Why does Matt think you are, then?’

  ‘Someone sent him a video. Of me and a man.’ Hailey’s eyebrows shot up and she froze, her mug of tea halfway to her mouth. ‘And I’ve no idea where it’s come from or how it can even exist.’ Desperation filled Sara’s voice; she knew how improbable it sounded. ‘I haven’t been with another man. Not ever. I’ve only been with Matt.’

  Hailey put her mug back on the table, clearly shocked. ‘You’ll have to stop right there, back up a bit, because I’m not following this at all.’

  Sara took a deep breath and started from the beginning, frowning as she tried to make sense of it herself, her finger tracing a pattern on the wooden table. ‘Everything was fine when I got home. Then we started talking about money and this contract he’s just finished.’ She sighed. ‘But that’s another story altogether. Anyway, he got annoyed with me – all defensive, you know what he’s like – and went out to his office. A bit later on, he came storming into the kitchen with this video on his phone. Me and a man I don’t even know.’ She cl
osed her eyes, hands rubbing at her forehead as if to erase the images. ‘All hell broke loose. I have never seen him so mad. Honestly, Hailey, I was so scared. He just went wild, accused me of having an affair, started smashing things, then dragged me outside and locked me out.’

  Hailey remained silent. Sara gulped. I’ll have to show her.

  Heart racing, she swiped through her phone to find the video she’d sent to herself. She pressed play, but couldn’t look, her face on fire as she passed the phone across. Her hands fidgeted, twisting her wedding ring round and round her finger as she waited for her sister’s response.

  Hailey was quiet for a while before she finally spoke. ‘Bloody hell, Sara. Who is this guy?’

  ‘I told you, I’ve no idea. It’s cleverly filmed, isn’t it? You don’t get to see his face, just what… what he’s doing to me.’ She buried her hands in her hair, revolted at the thought of a stranger molesting her.

  Hailey grimaced and put the phone face down on the table. ‘Have you watched it all?’

  Sara shook her head. ‘There’s fifty-five minutes of it.’ She swallowed a sob. ‘I don’t even know…’ She covered her face with her hands.

  ‘Did you have sex with him?’ Hailey’s question hung in the air.

  ‘I don’t know,’ Sara muttered into her palms, unable to look at her sister. That was the worst thing about the whole episode. Was I raped?

  ‘You don’t remember?’ Hailey sounded incredulous, and Sara would have to admit it sounded improbable. But it was true. She lowered her hands and looked at her sister as tears trickled down her face.

  ‘As far as I’m aware, I haven’t had sex with anyone except Matt.’ She caught Hailey’s expression, saw the way her eyes had narrowed, assessing. ‘You’ve got to believe me,’ she insisted, hands pressed together.

  ‘And you don’t know where Matt got the video from?’

  Sara shook her head, swiping the tears from her cheeks.

  Hailey glanced at the phone, still face down on the table. ‘Well, you can’t blame him for the way he reacted, can you? I mean, what does it look like to you?’

  Sara was startled by her sister’s tone. She’d expected sympathy but instead she felt an element of judgement. Their eyes locked.

  ‘What?’ Hailey snapped. ‘There’s a video of you with a man sucking your nipples. What’s your husband supposed to think’s happening?’

  Something clicked in Sara’s mind, a detail that had been niggling away. She picked up the phone, studied the image carefully, ignoring the naked figures but checking the surroundings. Yes, there it was. Her dress draped over the back of a chair.

  ‘Oh my God,’ she gasped. ‘It was this weekend. See that dress? James bought—’ She clamped her mouth shut. I’ve said too much.

  Hailey’s eyes widened, her mouth gaping. ‘You were with James this weekend? So you weren’t at a hen party?’ Her expression hardened. ‘You know, I sort of had a feeling that something was off.’ Her finger jabbed the air. ‘You lied to me!’

  ‘It’s not what you think,’ Sara gasped. ‘It isn’t.’

  ‘Bloody hell! What am I supposed to think?’ Hailey glared at her, a look full of questions and doubt and anger. ‘I’m not even sure I want you here. You know I can’t stand liars and cheats.’ She forced her words through gritted teeth. ‘After everything we went through together, the promises we made each other, and you just…’ She stood and grabbed hold of Sara’s arm, pulling her to her feet. ‘I’m too angry to listen,’ she said as she marched her to the door. ‘You had everything you could possibly want, and you’ve thrown it all away. For what? A bit of casual sex?’ Her fingers dug into Sara’s flesh as she tried to undo the bolt at the top of the door.

  Christ, she’s going to throw me out too! I’ve got to make her listen.

  Sara squirmed out of her sister’s grasp and ran up the stairs. The bathroom was straight ahead and she dashed inside, locking the door behind her.

  With her heart pounding, she leant against the door, listening to the footsteps thundering up the stairs. If Hailey wouldn’t let her stay, she had nowhere else to go. Her chest heaved. What am I going to do?

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Sara’s entire body rattled as Hailey pounded on the door.

  ‘Come out of there, Sara! I don’t want you in my house. I thought you were better than this.’

  ‘You need to listen to me!’ Sara had to shout to make herself heard over the thudding of Hailey’s fists. ‘Just let me tell you the whole story and then you can judge me.’

  ‘You can’t stay in the bathroom. Why don’t you come out, then I can hear you?’

  Sara huffed. ‘I’m staying here.’ She slid to the floor, adrenaline pumping round her body, the sound of her pulse whooshing in her ears. ‘But you’ve got to let me speak.’

  Silence.

  ‘Okay,’ Hailey said eventually, a weariness in her voice. ‘Don’t you go lying to me, though. I want the truth.’

  Sara took a deep breath and told her sister everything. About losing her inheritance, stealing the money to help Matt start his business, being found out, feeling cornered into accepting James’s offer, her debt and everything that had happened since.

  When she’d finished, she felt spent, her stupidity, her bad choices so apparent now she’d laid it all out. It was a while before Hailey finally spoke.

  ‘Well, you need to talk to James, don’t you? He’s obviously the one behind everything. He took you to that place.’

  ‘But that’s not him in the picture. That’s the part that doesn’t make sense.’

  ‘Doesn’t mean he didn’t set it up. Do you think he drugged you?’

  Sara thought about their evenings together, how quickly she’d seemed to get drunk, how fast she’d fallen asleep, the way her clothes were so neatly tidied away that first night with no recollection of taking them off. A cold chill of realisation brought goose bumps to her skin.

  ‘I think maybe he did.’ Sudden tears caught in her throat, sobs heaving in her chest. ‘Oh Hailey, what have I done?’

  ‘It’s not your fault you were drugged and bloody molested.’ Hailey sounded indignant now, finally understanding that Sara was telling the truth. ‘Look, open the door. Then we can talk properly.’

  Sara reached up and turned the lock, then hauled herself to her feet. When she opened the door, Hailey held out her arms for a hug and Sara clung to her as she cried, Hailey rubbing her back until the tears finally stopped. She let go of her sister, accepting the toilet roll Hailey grabbed for her to blow her nose and wipe her face, feeling completely spent.

  ‘You can have the spare room,’ Hailey said as she led Sara down the landing. ‘I haven’t changed the bed since Ezra was in here.’

  Sara picked up a pillow and breathed in the scent of her son as she sank onto the bed. The prospect of being separated from her children hit her then, a pain so raw it ripped through her heart.

  ‘You’ve got to help me, Hailey. Matt won’t let me back home. I know he won’t. He’s so black-and-white about everything and you can’t argue with that video on the face of it. He won’t let me explain. And if he knows about James, well… he’s not going to believe our relationship is innocent, is he?’

  Hailey sat next to her on the bed. ‘Maybe James isn’t innocent, though. You haven’t watched the whole video, have you?’

  Sara clutched the pillow to her chest, eyes wide at the thought. ‘You think there might have been more than one man?’

  Hailey put an arm round her shoulder, dipped her head so she could look Sara in the eye. ‘We’re going to have to watch the whole thing, so we know exactly what happened to you. Then tomorrow we go to the police.’

  Sara pulled away, horrified at the thought. ‘I can’t do that! Don’t you understand? If the police are involved, everything will come out about me stealing the money. I’ll end up in prison.’

  Hailey grimaced. ‘Oh God, I hadn’t thought of that. What a bloody mess!’

  ‘And th
ere’s more.’

  Hailey looked worried. ‘What more can there possibly be?’

  Sara squeezed the pillow harder. ‘I think this contract of Matt’s involves something illegal. He says it’s to do with writing code, and what his client does with that isn’t his business.’

  Hailey puffed out her cheeks. ‘I suppose he could be right there. Technically. If he says he doesn’t know what they want it for.’

  ‘But you understand I can’t have the police sniffing round our business for any number of reasons. I’ve got to sort this out myself.’

  Hailey nodded, thoughtful. ‘Okay, I see your point, but I’m not sure I agree. You know there are mitigating circumstances. The money you took hasn’t technically gone anywhere, so the community centre hasn’t lost out.’ She shrugged. ‘Has a crime been committed?’ She was quiet for a moment, thinking. ‘I’m not sure how they would view it, to be honest. But filming people without their consent is definitely a crime. Drugging and molesting women is definitely a crime. And who knows what else happened to you?’

  Sara thought back to her weekend, her body trembling at the thought of someone having sex with her while she was unconscious. Her stomach lurched, bile shooting up her throat, acrid on the back of her tongue. She closed her eyes, pushed the images away. ‘I don’t… I don’t think I was raped.’ She turned to her sister. ‘You’d know, wouldn’t you?’ She sounded uncertain, her voice wavering as she thought about how grubby she’d felt when she woke up. Sweaty and sticky and… She shuddered and wrapped her arms round her chest, hugging herself tight.