One Mistake: A totally unputdownable gripping psychological thriller

by Rona Halsall

  The accusation of theft against Sara had been dropped after she had called Julia and been open and honest about the situation. Julia – who’d quickly stepped into the role of chairperson at the community centre – had assured the police that no money had been stolen. Yes, there had been an admin error, but it had been put right straight away and no harm had been done. The accusation was just Fiona being malicious, she’d said. James had backed her up and had also reiterated his job offer to Sara, but she had declined. Her debt to him was well and truly paid, and she wanted to put a bit of distance between them so she could start to forget what had happened.

  With the whole terrible experience at an end, Sara vowed to make sure nobody could ever manipulate her like that again. She understood the value of information and had made it her mission to find out as much as she could about Fiona. Maurice had been very forthcoming.

  It seemed Fiona had a chequered past. When Maurice had met her, she was homeless, having just been declared bankrupt and evicted from her property, narrowly escaping a conviction for fraud. With his help, she’d reinvented herself and become queen bee in the small Yorkshire world she inhabited.

  Now that she’d been charged, she was not allowed to contact Sara or her family, but if she ever became a threat to them in the future, Sara would ensure the secrets of her past were spread far and wide.

  But she knew that Fiona wasn’t the real worry. The person she really needed to protect herself and her family from was Matt.

  She couldn’t forget the way he’d lied to protect himself, nor the physical violence he had shown to her and Hailey and the verbal abuse he’d inflicted on Ezra. Not to mention his disregard for all the women who would suffer, often unknowingly, because of the website he’d designed, the business venture he’d entered into.

  But most of all, she could never forgive him for causing the video of Milly in the shower to be distributed. Who knew how that experience would affect her daughter going forwards? He wasn’t the man she’d thought she knew; he was someone else entirely. And he’d shown himself to be a danger both physically and mentally. But it was a difficult situation, and a decision as to the way forward didn’t come easily. Her priority was protecting her kids from any harm and creating a safe and happy home for them. That was the touchstone she kept coming back to.

  The girls were old enough to know a bit about the case, and with social media being what it was, there was no way she could protect them from the news reports and local gossip. However, she had managed to keep secret from them Matt’s involvement in circulating the video of Milly. That was something they could never know.

  Once charged, Matt had been allowed out on bail, and was staying with a friend in Otley, only a few miles away down the valley. It felt uncomfortably close. Sara didn’t want him near her family, but he was the children’s father and they missed him. It broke her heart to see their upset and confusion, and she was more than a little confused herself. How much to tell them? That was the real conundrum. And how much access to allow Matt?

  After managing to fob off both the children and Matt with excuses as to why they couldn’t see each other, she knew she was running out of time. It was important for everyone to be clear about contact arrangements and what part he was going to play in their lives. Face to face was the only way she would be able to get her message across. So she arranged a meeting, something Matt readily agreed to.

  It was Saturday, and Hailey had offered to take the kids out for the day. They were going to visit Cassie in Lancaster, where she was studying, and the children were all excited about seeing their cousin and having a look round the university and the city. It was not too much of a drive, but far enough away to be an interesting day out, and it had done the job of distracting them from everything that had been happening at home.

  Sara had insisted that the meeting with Matt should be somewhere public, where he wouldn’t be tempted to shout at her or bully her into anything. This was going to be on her terms and hers alone. They’d finally agreed on a coffee shop in Otley.

  She arrived first and got herself a coffee. She was nervous about anyone ordering for her these days, a hangover from her experience. You never knew, did you? It was a habit she thought she’d probably keep and pass on to the girls. Better safe than sorry, she’d decided, even if she did come across as overprotective and fussy.

  She gazed out of the window, across the square, watching people coming and going.

  ‘Hi there,’ Matt said, his familiar voice making her jump. She hadn’t seen him come in, and he was standing behind her, smiling. She took in his appearance, the chinos and summer shirt, short-sleeved and brightly patterned, and wondered how he could look so normal. How what he’d done wasn’t etched on his face. But there was no apology in his eyes, no indication of regret. Her resolve hardened, setting like concrete in her heart. He didn’t understand – would never understand – what he’d done to her. How his actions had torn her to shreds.

  She watched him sit on the other side of the table, saw how he frowned when he noticed she’d already ordered. He stood. ‘I’ll get myself a drink then, shall I?’

  Still she couldn’t speak; just let him go off to the counter while her mind organised her thoughts, picking the words she needed to say.

  He came back with a coffee and two slices of cake.

  ‘I got you chocolate fudge cake. I know it’s your favourite.’ He took the plate off the tray and slid it in front of her. She didn’t even glance at it, keeping her eyes on his face as she finished her drink.

  ‘I’ll keep this short,’ she said, putting her cup back on its saucer. ‘You have to stay away from the children.’ His eyebrows shot up to his hairline, but she didn’t wait for his response, didn’t want to hear his protests. ‘Obviously the girls know some of the details of the case, and I’ve encouraged them to talk to me about it. Just so they’re clear about what’s true and what’s gossip.’

  ‘What happened to innocent until proved guilty?’ Matt said, all the bonhomie evaporating, to be replaced by a scowl. ‘It’s not been to court yet and my lawyer is pressing for psychological assessment. You know I acted under duress. You know I was stressed out with work.’ His eyes pleaded with her. ‘I wasn’t myself. It was totally out of character.’

  ‘Whatever,’ she scoffed. ‘I know you’ll try and wriggle out of it. But I know that you punched both me and Hailey, and I can’t let a man who is capable of that violence near my kids.’ She wiped her mouth with her napkin, screwed it into a ball in her fist. ‘We both know you’re guilty, whatever the legal system decides and however clever your lawyer is. You were happy to see women being abused. You didn’t care. You were even willing to let a video of your daughter be posted on the internet! What sort of father does that?’

  ‘Hold on a minute. I didn’t know that video had been posted. If I had, I wouldn’t have—’

  She held up a hand to stop him from speaking. ‘I’m going now. But this is the deal.’ She ran her tongue round her lips, took a deep breath. ‘Milly doesn’t know your business relates in any way to the video of her being posted online. It would kill her to realise the father she adores had any involvement in that. And it would hurt Sophia just as much. You know how those two feel each other’s pain. I’m not going to tell them, and there’s no reason to suspect they will find out the truth from any other source. I’m willing to keep that secret, but in return, you don’t get to be with them. You don’t go anywhere near them or Ezra.’

  His face paled. His mouth hung open.

  ‘When they’re eighteen, it will be up to them to decide what sort of relationship they want with you, but until then, any contact will be at their request and supervised by me. I think we can do FaceTime once a week. Just so they know you haven’t deserted them because of anything they have done.’ She tapped the table with a finger to emphasise her point. ‘But you start blaming me for anything, anything at all, then contact will stop completely, and I will tell the girls every little detail of what y
ou did. You hear me? And then you will lose them forever.’

  Matt reached over the table and grabbed her hand. ‘No, love, no. Don’t be hasty. Don’t go yet.’ He gave her a plaintive look, the one that always used to make her feel guilty. ‘Let’s just discuss this, shall we?’

  She shook his hand off as if it was a leech about to suck her blood, then stood and pushed her chair under the table, holding onto the back of it so he wouldn’t see her hands shaking. ‘Those are my terms. There’s no negotiation. And if the children don’t want to speak to you, then you have to respect their decision.’

  ‘But they’re my kids as much as yours.’

  Anger was rising in his voice, and she could feel the distress flowing off him in waves. She wondered for a moment if she was being too harsh. Memories of how they used to be filled her mind. Happy days out. Laughter, all the little in-jokes that only they understood. Family cuddles on the sofa. All that had gone. Her voice cracked. ‘You did this to yourself, Matt.’ A sob hitched in her throat. ‘Why didn’t you think of the consequences for your family before you agreed to that contract? We could have worked something else out. I know I made mistakes, but ultimately they only put me in danger. Never our children. Never anyone innocent.’

  His eyes gleamed, his bottom lip wobbled.

  ‘Okay. Here’s something to think about. If you tell them everything you’ve done – no lies, no spurious justifications – and they still want contact with you, then I’ll reconsider.’

  His face paled even more and she could see his mouth working, grasping for words.

  She nodded. ‘That’s right. I think my first suggestion is going to be easier on all of us, don’t you?’

  With as much dignity as she could muster, she turned and walked away, sure in her heart that she’d done the right thing. Keeping that information from her children had been a hard decision, but she couldn’t cause them any more hurt. It would make Matt keep his distance and ensure he never took whatever contact she allowed for granted.

  She thought of their new living arrangement with Hailey, who’d moved in with them, the easy way they’d all come together as a different sort of family, and knew there was no going back. She had her happy home now – even if it wasn’t the one she’d expected – and she would do whatever it took to protect it. To keep her children safe, she had to be the one in control.

  Information is power, she thought as she walked away. And everyone needs an insurance policy, don’t they?

  Chapter Forty-One

  Seven months later

  Sara walked out of the courtroom, blinking in the bright sunlight. It was an imposing building, but she supposed that was the point. You weren’t meant to feel at ease in these places. You were meant to feel small, at the mercy of bigger powers.

  After months of waiting, it had been a challenging week, listening to evidence, seeing the videos, but the end result had undoubtedly been the right one. Fiona and Matt had both been convicted of facilitating sexual assault, voyeurism and hiding revenue. They would be sentenced in a few days’ time, but Sara’s solicitor estimated that Matt would probably serve five years with parole, and Fiona a little more. It didn’t seem long enough for the emotional damage and shame they’d caused, all for the sake of money.

  After months of counselling for herself and the family, Sara was managing to find ways to come to terms with what had happened to her. That episode in her life had been compartmentalised in her mind, and even though she knew the pictures of her would be circulating forever, she was finding ways to address the anxiety, shame and guilt that were her constant companions. Trust would always be an issue, she knew, but at least she had her sister’s support and the family were closer now than ever before.

  Julia had approached her just before the trial had started to see if she’d like to take on a new role at the community centre now that James had left to run the family business full-time. Sara had arrived feeling nervous, and had perched on the edge of her chair, hoping the meeting would be brief. The community centre no longer felt benign, the shadows of the past lurking in every corner.

  ‘Thank you so much for coming in,’ Julia had said, swinging gently from side to side in the office chair behind the desk. ‘I have a little proposition for you and thought it would be better to do it in person.’ She smiled. ‘I do hate the way everything is done by message these days. So much room for misunderstandings, don’t you think?’

  Sara’s body tensed, echoes of previous conversations held in this very office reverberating in her mind. Julia carried on speaking, but Sara could only sit and stare, her hands clutching the edge of the seat as she waited to propel herself into an upright position and walk out of the door the moment the opportunity arose.

  ‘You’d be doing me an enormous favour,’ Julia said with a wink once she’d outlined her proposal.

  Sara’s heart fluttered, and she wondered if she’d got herself trapped all over again, because if it wasn’t for Julia, she’d certainly be facing charges of theft. Julia laughed when she saw her horrified expression.

  ‘Sorry, it was a joke. Fiona did like her favours, didn’t she?’ She gave a satisfied smile. ‘I have to admit you’ve done us the biggest favour – by getting Fiona out of the way. She was getting far too big for her boots, lording it over everyone.’ She tutted. ‘I can’t see her coming back here, can you? Not since her arrest was splashed all over the news. I hear Maurice is selling the house. He told me Chelsea won’t have anything to do with her mother, and I do think a fresh start in London will be the best thing for the child. Goodness knows what the future holds for Fiona, but I think we can assume a prison sentence will feature in there.’

  Sara understood now why Julia had been so helpful. With Fiona out of the way, there were empty shoes to be filled, and Julia was all about raising her profile. She was ambitious, had her eye on becoming the local MP. Yes, it had all worked out perfectly as far as she was concerned.

  ‘I’m done with favours,’ Sara said. Julia’s sense of humour certainly took a bit of getting used to. Had it really been a joke?

  ‘Sure I can’t tempt you? Maybe a pay rise? Obviously, the role no longer involves the finances. That’s been contracted out, so you don’t have to worry on that score. But we could do with your enthusiasm and your fund-raising ideas.’

  Sara shook her head. ‘No, I’m sorry, I can’t come back here. We’re moving to Skipton anyway. My house has been sold and I’m buying a place with my sister; that way we can afford something with enough room for all of us and share the costs. It’ll be easier with childcare. Better all round really, especially as the girls didn’t want to go back to school in Ilkley after what happened.’ She managed a smile. ‘It’ll be a fresh start.’

  ‘Oh, well that’s a shame,’ Julia said. ‘But if you’re looking for a new job, I can put a word in for you at a few places.’

  Sara shook her head. She hoped she didn’t seem ungrateful, but she was determined never to be indebted to anyone ever again. ‘That’s a very kind offer, but I’ve already got myself a job; just part-time as a home carer. It’ll keep the money coming in while I retrain.’

  Julia raised an eyebrow.

  ‘I’m doing a community development course with the Open University,’ she added, somehow feeling the need to justify her plans. ‘And I have to get the kids settled before I think about my career. They’ve got to be my priority.’

  Julia gazed at her. ‘Well, you’ve got my number if you change your mind.’

  Sara nodded and made a mental note to delete the number as soon as she left the office. Although Julia had been extremely supportive, she wasn’t sure she trusted her. She was part of Fiona’s network after all, and Sara shuddered at the thought of being pulled back into that web of deceit.

  She was free now. All debts paid, all favours returned. And that was how it was going to stay.

  If you loved One Mistake, don't miss Love You Gone, a gripping psychological thriller about a woman who discovers her husband and
children are missing… but all is not what it seems.

  Love You Gone

  Get it here!

  ‘Hello? Police? My husband and our children… they’re gone.’

  When Mel arrives at the holiday cottage in the Lake District, she expects to find the heating on and her husband Luke and the two children waiting for her. Maybe a bottle of wine open…

  Instead, there is just a note on the side, saying they’ve gone out for a walk.

  But they aren’t back several hours later, and Mel knows something is wrong. Really wrong. When a search doesn’t find them, she has to confess to the police that her marriage isn’t all that it seems.

  Even if that risks her own secrets being revealed…

  An absolutely incredible, page-turning psychological thriller with a twist you won’t see coming, for fans of Gone Girl, Behind Closed Doors and Ruth Ware.

  Order now!

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  I want to say a huge thank you for choosing to read One Mistake. If you enjoyed it, and want to keep up to date with all my latest releases, just sign up at the following link. Your email address will never be shared, and you can unsubscribe at any time.