Jail Bird

by Jessie Keane

  Everyone who was anyone was there.

  And she was the star of the evening. Lily King. No longer the jail bird. Accepted again. Back in business.

  She took a breath and said: ‘Hi, everyone.’

  Then she thought again of what Si had told her. She swallowed, hesitated. Pushed it once again to the back of her mind. She was going to forget he ever said it. One day soon, she would. She’d forget. She promised herself that she would. She took a quick gulp of champagne and went on, her voice growing stronger with every word.

  ‘Hi! Nice to be with you all again. Thanks for coming. We’ll be leaving this house soon, I think quite a few of you already know that. Once this was a great family home, but now I guess it’s time we all moved on, put some of the past behind us. I’ve got a new grandchild.’ Lily smiled across at Oli and baby Leo, and a faint cheer went up from the crowds. ‘So we’ve got a lot to look forward to. And now I’m going to blow out this bloody candle, and make a wish.’

  Everyone clapped and cheered. Lily blew out the candle.

  ‘What did you wish for?’ asked Nick in her ear.

  ‘A new life,’ said Lily.

  ‘Oh, I think we can manage that,’ said Nick with a smile. He held up his glass. ‘A toast!’ he said loudly. ‘To Lily King!’

  And they drank to her, all her enemies; now–at last–her friends.

  Acknowledgments

  To everyone at HarperCollins for the hard work and creativity involved in making Jail Bird the stunning book it is, and to all my friends for their endless kindness and encouragement.

  About the Author

  JAIL BIRD

  Jessie Keane is the bestselling author of Dirty Game and Black Widow. Her most recent novel, Scarlet Women, the third in the Annie Carter trilogy, shot straight into the Sunday Times bestseller list. Jessie lives in Hampshire.

  Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

  Also by Jessie Keane

  Dirty Game

  Black Widow

  Scarlet Women

  Copyright

  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.

  Harper

  An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 77–85 Fulham Palace Road, Hammersmith, London W6 8JB

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  A Paperback Original 2010

  first edition

  Copyright © Jessie Keane 2010

  Jessie Keane asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

  A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  EPub Edition © JUNE 2010 ISBN: 978-0-007-33289-2

  This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

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