The Family Man – T J Lebbon : Blog Tour Extract

The Family Man by T J Lebbon was published in ebook and paperback by Avon on 11th August.  This looks a real rollercoaster of a story and I’m looking forward to reading it.  In the meantime, for my turn on the blog tour, I have an extract.  The Family Man is currently available to download from Amazon for £1.99

You take one risk. Now, those you love must pay …

Dom Turner is a dependable husband, a loving father. A man you can rely on. But it only takes one day to destroy a seemingly perfect life.

Emma thought she could trust her husband, Dom. She thought he would always look after her and their daughter Daisy….

Then one reckless act ends in two innocent deaths – and Dom’s family becomes the target of a terrifying enemy.

There’s nowhere to hide. They’re on the run for their lives. And if Dom makes one more wrong move, he won’t have a family left to protect.

Chapter Twelve

Nothing Would Happen

Passing through the centre of town, Emma swung a left into the car park. It was hidden away behind the main street. ‘Mum? Aren’t we going to Mandy’s?’

‘Hang on,’ Emma said. She parked in the far corner in the shade of some trees, reversing into a space so that she could see the rest of the car park. She was holding the steering wheel hard, knuckles white, fingers cramped.

‘Mum,’ Daisy said softly. She touched Emma’s shoulder, and that simple contact broke a damof emotion. Emma sobbed loudly, once and tearless, pressing her hands to her face.

‘I’m okay,’ she said quickly. She rubbed at her eyes, ran her hands through her hair and checked herself in the mirror. Every few seconds she scanned the car park. No white Jeeps. Plenty of people on their way home from work, picking up a bottle of wine for an evening in the garden or a bag of groceries. A flock of old women walked across the expanse of tarmac, all white hair and backpacks, finishing an after- noon hike with a coffee and cake in the museum cafe. No wild-haired men. No dog killers.

Emma had to be strong, for herself and for Daisy. Jazz had been part of the family, but her immediate fear was for them- selves. Daisy’s grief was plain and direct. Emma’s was contoured with complexities. The family should be together now, not pulled apart by Andy and whatever he thought he could do to help them. And why would he? Was he really so guilty that he’d expose himself to such danger? She liked to think so but . . . she didn’t really know Andy that well at all.

What she did know indicated that he was probably a bastard.

Dom had been terrified. She’d seen truth behind his eyes that craved release, but Andy had guided their conversation. She’d seen fear, too. He’d loved Jazz as much as the rest of them, but the terror she’d witnessed in him had transcended what had occurred, and she hated seeing such fear in the man she loved.

Dom might have been quiet, content without adventure in his life, but she had never considered him a coward. In business he stood up for himself, and he was not afraid to fight for what was right. Sometimes he even surprised her. Two years ago his company van had been stolen from outside a house he was working on. By lucky coincidence, their friend Mostyn had seen it parked outside a country pub a couple of miles outside Usk, and he’d driven Dom out there to confront the two young thieves. She still remembered Mostyn’s delighted expression as he’d told her about

Dom approaching the beer garden table were they sat, crowbar swinging casually from his hand.

Today, a different Dom had faced her across that park bench.

‘We should bury Jazz,’ Daisy said. ‘She’s just lying there and . . . there are flies. It’s hot. What if the neighbours see her? What if they see the blood and that message?’