A Dark Secret: Part 1 of 3
Casey Watson
Part 1 of 3Just when Casey thinks her foster care duties are done, she’s asked to look after Sam, a troubled nine-year-old with a violent streak who drove his previous guardians to release him of their care. It soon unfolds, however, that this is no simple case.Determined to get to the root of Sam’s behaviour, Casey is committed to uncover his mysterious past only to find out something far darker than she ever imagined…Having recently said goodbye to their last foster child, Miller, the Watson family are taking a bit of a break. But it’s while Casey is having fun catching up with her friends that she receives a call from her new link worker. Social services are desperately trying to find a settled home for nine-year-old Sam, who has Autism and some serious behavioural problems.Removed from his mother less than a week ago, Sam has been staying with respite carers. But with two young children of their own, they now find themselves unable to hold on to the little boy as he is bullying them relentlessly. It’s not an isolated situation, either. Apparently Sam’s own siblings begged not to be placed with their older brother – they were both adamant that they were too afraid of him.The Watsons agree to accommodate Sam, who, despite his tiny stature, turns out to be quite the whirlwind – destroying anything and everything in his path. In addition to the outward behaviours, it quickly becomes evident that there is a much darker past that has blighted the boy’s life. As Casey tries to get to the bottom of it, she discovers there are no files on Sam; only the testament of his previous neighbour. Thankfully, Mrs Gallagher is only too happy to help. And to talk. But it soon transpires that there is a great deal more to Sam’s secret history…
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Copyright (#u71adbf17-e4ac-5ae6-8d4b-f42204178f4d)
This book is a work of non-fiction based on the author’s experiences. In order to protect privacy, names, identifying characteristics, dialogue and details have been changed or reconstructed.
HarperElement
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First published by HarperElement 2019
FIRST EDITION
© Casey Watson 2019
A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library
Cover image © Clive Nolan/Trigger Image (posed by model)
Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers 2019
Casey Watson asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
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Source ISBN: 9780008298616
Ebook Edition © May 2019 ISBN: 9780008298647
Version: 2019-03-28
Contents
1 Cover (#ua15bcc14-0a93-55ff-9c86-5a76fb19353d)
2 Title Page
3 Copyright
4 Contents (#u71adbf17-e4ac-5ae6-8d4b-f42204178f4d)
5 Dedication
6 Acknowledgements
7 Chapter 1
8 Chapter 2
9 Chapter 3
10 Chapter 4
11 Chapter 5
12 Chapter 6
13 Chapter 7
14 Chapter 8
15 Moving Memoirs eNewsletter (#u66da3ce4-ae88-541e-9f07-6e34bd060731)
16 About the Publisher
LandmarksCover (#ua15bcc14-0a93-55ff-9c86-5a76fb19353d)FrontmatterStart of Content
List of Pagesiii (#ulink_82423f45-fb19-500d-85da-79d12be4c388)iv (#ulink_cc260a25-d9d8-5c58-ba57-bbb03f64cb31)v (#ulink_2f33c3d7-26eb-5526-8279-5154f823a81f)vii (#ulink_445a8db9-5722-5af2-888b-1b27545cec46)1 (#ulink_d7129872-1432-5180-b12d-e87ee2d8ee4b)2 (#ulink_63ad410f-86ec-5a9f-b705-63e231f7aa3b)3 (#ulink_9b342687-842a-5477-a390-5b1603c15fad)4 (#ulink_e9efb245-1faf-5537-be54-9a93533f4a44)5 (#ulink_b9df4735-490e-50e7-b1e9-ebec0e5441e8)6 (#ulink_f1e0fd7d-3333-5fda-85f3-200a2a1ded95)7891011 (#ulink_ebf30cd1-f177-50a5-83a8-42922d7a11b7)1213141516171819202122232425 (#ulink_5f8fee00-db1c-5305-8355-54f296c214ea)2627282930313233343536 (#ulink_c343750e-e3a0-52aa-8500-452ea403136f)373839404142434445 (#ulink_16ab55dd-a97e-5af9-9ac6-f04595f381e4)46474849505152535455 (#ulink_e5d6f29a-1fd4-5f23-bbdf-422ca2624fd3)565758596061626364656667 (#ulink_f999be5f-658c-534b-a4c8-a68731d5f36a)68697071727374757677 (#ulink_16a847b1-3239-589c-b37a-1690295ce179)787980818283848586878889
Dedication (#u71adbf17-e4ac-5ae6-8d4b-f42204178f4d)
This book is dedicated to the army of passionate foster carers out there, each doing their bit to ensure that our children are kept as safe as possible in such a changing and often scary world. As technology is reinvented and becomes ever more complicated for those of us who were not brought up amid such advances, we can only try to keep up, in the hope that we continue to learn alongside our young people.
Acknowledgements (#u71adbf17-e4ac-5ae6-8d4b-f42204178f4d)
I remain endlessly grateful to my team at HarperCollins for their continuing support, and I’m especially excited to see the return of my editor, the very lovely Vicky Eribo, and look forward to sharing my new stories with her. As always, nothing would be possible without my wonderful agent, Andrew Lownie, the very best agent in the world in my opinion, and my grateful thanks also to the lovely Lynne, my friend and mentor forever.
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