Why was she doing this? “I feel sympathy for your situation. I know what it’s like to have your privacy invaded. And I know what it’s like to feel alone. I want you to know you’re not alone.” Joanna wasn’t sure that was the whole reason, but it was enough for now. The moment she’d seen Ashley’s face on the TV she’d known that they were going to have to somehow disappear. Even if it was only temporary, and she was realistic about their chances of evading the press for long, then it would at least give them time to breathe, think and plan.

Ashley wriggled, trying to get comfortable. “You’re nothing like I thought you’d be. Did you really climb over the wall at the back of your house?”

“Yes.” It was past midnight and she wasn’t in her own car, but still Joanna checked her mirror. Traffic out of the city was heavy, even in the early hours of the morning, but it didn’t seem that anyone was following her. She allowed herself a fleeting moment of triumph. This time she’d beaten them. The knowledge made her feel a little more in control.

Joanna silently thanked Nessa and her mechanic brother for their generosity. Hiring a car would have created a trail. Borrowing one from Nessa’s brother seemed like the best option.

“No hurry to return it,” Nessa had said as she’d handed over the keys. “But I want to hear from you regularly, otherwise I’ll worry.”

Joanna planned to speak to her frequently. She still had a job to do, but for the foreseeable future she’d be doing it remotely.

“So you borrowed a car from a colleague and parked it away from your house so no one saw it, dressed all in black, climbed over a wall, left the lights burning in your house so they’d think you were still in it and then you sneaked through the woods behind your house with just a flashlight. This is like being in an action movie.”

“Not really.” It was her life. Her life. How had she been reduced to climbing over walls and hiding? “I almost broke my ankle twice trying to navigate my way through the trees in the dark.”

“Weren’t you scared?”

“A little.” Should she admit that the alternative, staying, had scared her more?

“But you did it, anyway. That’s brave. Doing all that in the dark on your own. You’re like—like—an assassin or something.”

It sounded so ridiculous Joanna almost smiled. “Are you always this dramatic?”