On an ordinary Friday afternoon, popular teacher Mrs Walker and her eight-year-old son leave the school playground. But they never make it home… Being called in as a substitute teacher to replace a missing teacher – and mother – is the hardest job I’ve ever done. Cate Walker should still be here, in the role she loves. Her son Archie should be sitting in class with his friends. But instead they've disappeared and nobody has heard from them since…At drop-off and pick-up, the other parents are hunched together anxiously. I can see the confusion in their children’s faces. The whole village is full of whispered rumours: that Archie and Cate will never be found, that someone else will soon be next… and that Cate's charismatic husband, Oliver – our headteacher – is involved.After the chilling way Oliver looked at me on my first morning, the thought makes my blood turn to ice. I'm determined to uncover what’s really happened to Cate and Archie, especially after I find photos in Cate’s classroom cupboard that change everything…Then an anonymous note turns up threatening me. My home is broken into while I sleep. I know the longer I stay at this school, the more danger I’m in.But whoever’s trying to scare me doesn’t know who I am – or why I’m really here.Or just how far I’ll go to expose the truth…
