Page 1 of His Dark Purpose

Part One

Impasse

Prologue

The Woman She Was

Amy Kendal

Years before Kyle

“Graham, I’m home.”

Shaking the rain from her sodden umbrella, Amy threw the wet brolly onto the mat as she stepped into the house. She turned, expecting to see her husband in the hallway, but closing the front door, there was no one to welcome her.

“Welcome home, Darling.” She muttered the words under her breath as she shuffled out of her damp coat. “It’s lovely to see you.”

She didn’t know why she was surprised. The absent greeting had become the norm in recent months. Even when she and Graham were home at the same time, they scarcely talked to one another.

“Mum.”

Her eldest son, Seth, appeared on the upstairs landing, his expression serious. It had equally been too long since she’d had any time with him. Between his school, her work, and his hectic social life, she barely saw him anymore.

“Hi, Seth.”

The dark light in his eyes simmered anxiety in her belly. She’d seen that look before and didn’t always like where it led.

“Are you okay?” Holding her breath, she waited as he descended the stairs toward her.

“I hate to ask, but…” His gaze fell to the worn carpet.

“You need money.” She finished the sentence for him.

Well, of course, he does.

It was always money. When did one of themnotneed money?

“Right.” He sighed, towering over her even when he reached the bottom step. Her little boy was almost a man. “I didn’t want to ask Dad. He seems so stressed.”

Unlike me, you mean?

She forced a smile, hoping the gesture hid the response dancing in her head. “What do you need money for?”

She braced for his answer. Seth had refused to get a part-time job to pay for his growing alcohol habit, and she certainly wasn’t facilitating his underaged addiction. Amy had been young once, too, and she’d made mistakes, but Seth seemed to have a propensity for repeating his.

“The school is running the Duke of Edinburgh scheme.” His lips tugged. “And I’d love to join.”

“The Duke of Edinburgh scheme?”

She’d heard about the system designed to engage young people with expeditions and volunteering, but she’d never have thought Seth would be interested in taking part. It seemed such a long way from the types of behavior he considered fun.

“Yes.” He grinned. “Apparently, it’s good for teamworking and building life skills.”

“Youwant to join the scheme?”

After so many years of Seth being in and out of trouble with the school, she struggled to believe what she was hearing, but she desperately wanted to believe it.

Seth had always been her bad boy, but he was still her baby.

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