Don’t Tell Teacher: A gripping psychological thriller with a shocking twist, from the #1 bestselling author
School should have been the safest place…For Lizzie Riley, switching her six-year-old son Tom to the local academy school marks a fresh start, post-divorce. With its excellent reputation, Lizzie knows it’ll be a safe space away from home.But there's something strange happening at school. Parents are forbidden from entering the grounds, and there are bars across the classroom windows.Why is Tom coming home exhausted, unable to remember his day? What are the strange marks on his arm? And why do the children seem afraid to talk?Lizzie is descending into every parent’s worst nightmare: her little boy is in danger. But will she be able to protect him before it’s too late?***If you loved Behind Closed Doors, Sometimes I Lie and The Couple Next Door, you won’t be able to put down the chilling new psychological thriller from Suzy K Quinn. Don’t Tell Teacher will have you hooked from the very first page!
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From SUZY:
Every page in this book is a connection between us – author and reader.
I am so grateful you have chosen to make that connection.
I love talking to readers, so feel free to get in touch:
Email:[email protected]
Facebook.com/suzykquinn (You can friend request me. I like friends.)
Twitter:@suzykquinn
Website:www.suzykquinn.com
Don’t Tell Teacher
Suzy K Quinn
ONE PLACE. MANY STORIES
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2019
Copyright © Suzy K Quinn 2019
Suzy K Quinn 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.
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.
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.
Ebook Edition © March 2019 ISBN: 9780008323165
Version: 2019-02-21
For my little girls, Lexi and Laya – sorry this isn’t a bedtime
story. You can read it when you’re older :) xx
Contents
Lizzie
Kate
Lizzie
Lizzie
Kate
Lizzie
Lizzie
Ruth
Lizzie
Lizzie
Lizzie
Lizzie
Kate
Lizzie
Lizzie
Kate
Lizzie
Lizzie
Kate
Lizzie
Kate
Lizzie
Lizzie
Kate
Lizzie
Kate
Lizzie
Kate
Lizzie
Lizzie
Lizzie
Lizzie
Kate
Lizzie
Ruth
Kate
Lizzie
Lizzie
Kate
Lizzie
Lizzie
Kate
Lizzie
Kate
Lizzie
Lizzie
Kate
Lizzie
Kate
Lizzie
Kate
Lizzie
Kate
Lizzie
Kate
Lizzie
Kate
Ruth
Lizzie
Lizzie
Kate
Lizzie
Kate
Lizzie
Kate
Lizzie
Kate
Ruth
Lizzie
Olly
Lizzie
Kate
Lizzie
Kate
Lizzie
Kate
Lizzie
Kate
Lizzie
Lizzie
Kate
Lizzie
Olly
Kate
Olly
Acknowledgements
About the Publisher
We’re running. Along wide, tree-lined pavements, over the zebra crossing and into the park.
‘Quick, Tom.’
Tom struggles to keep up, tired little legs bobbing up and down on trimmed grass. He gasps for breath.
My ribs throb, lighting up in pain.
A Victorian bandstand and a rainbow of flowerbeds flash past. Dimly, I notice wicker picnic hampers, Prosecco, Pimm’s in plastic glasses.
No one notices us. The frightened mother with straight, brown hair, wearing her husband’s choice of clothes. The little boy in tears.
That’s the thing about the city. Nobody notices.
There’s a giant privet hedge by the railings, big enough to hide in.
Tom cries harder. I cuddle him in my arms. ‘Don’t make a sound,’ I whisper, heart racing. ‘Don’t make a sound.’
Tom nods rapidly.
We both clutch each other, terrified. I shiver, even though it’s a warm summer’s day.
Tom gives a choked sob. ‘Will he find us, Mum?’
‘Shush,’ I say, crouching in my flat leather sandals, summer dress flowing over my knees. ‘Please, Tom. We have to be quiet.’
‘I’m scared.’ Tom clasps my bare arm.
‘I know, sweetheart,’ I whisper, holding his head against my shoulder. ‘We’re going away. Far away from him.’
‘What if he gets me at school?’
‘We’ll find a new school. One he doesn’t know about. Okay?’
Tom’s chest is against mine, his breathing fast.
He understands that we can’t be found.
Olly is capable of anything.
Monday. School starts. It won’t be like the last place, Tom knows that. It will be hard, being the new kid.
‘Come on, Tommo,’ I call up the stairs. ‘Let’s go go go. We don’t want to be late on our first day.’
I pack Tom’s school bag, then give my hair a few quick brushes, checking my reflection in the hallway mirror.
A pale, worried face stares back at me. Pointy little features, a heart-shaped chin, brown hair, long and ruler-straight.
