Sharon was looking forward to being married to Jez – he was the best – but somehow the pressure of it all, the finality, maybe even the predictability, had got to her, and she had persuaded her friends to meet at the club in town. Jez had gone out too, staying with his brother for the night, so there was no one to rush home to.

She had expected to be dancing until dawn with her friends, but when Sharon went to get a drink there was a good-looking bloke she had never seen before leaning against the bar, watching her, and there was no denying that the attention felt good. Usually she would have told him to get lost, but tonight everything seemed different. The music was loud, the beat making her body throb, and the flashing multicoloured lights made the most mundane seem extraordinary. Maybe it was the thought of doing something that she knew was wrong, but she had felt a pulse of excitement as the man’s hand rested on her lower back, hidden from view, and then slowly started to move south.

When she turned to face him he had such hot eyes, asking her an unspoken question. It got a bit heavy – and public – as he moved his head towards hers, his hand behind her neck. But instead of kissing her, he whispered in her ear that they should get away from prying eyes, drive somewhere they could be alone, and a thrill shivered up and down her spine. Sharon agreed, suggesting a local beauty spot – Pennington Flash. There would be no one there at this time of night, and if they went separately nobody need ever know.

There had been weather warnings all day about significant snow overnight followed by a period of sub-zero temperatures. But it hadn’t started yet, so Sharon wasn’t worried as she fumbled around in her bag for her car keys. She had intended to have only a couple of drinks – that was why she had taken the car. Maybe she had gone over a bit, but it would be fine. She felt okay.

On the third attempt Sharon got her key into the ignition, starting the car with a roar, her foot too hard on the accelerator.

I’ll drive slowly, she thought.

Sharon had been on family outings to the Flash throughout her childhood and knew the way backwards, so almost as if on autopilot she managed to negotiate the streets until finally turning off the main road towards the entrance. The first car park would be closed by now, but the main one by the lake didn’t have a gate, and that’s where they had agreed to meet.