Jez raised his eyebrows, his face registering his shock. ‘What are you talking about? What’s going to change apart from your surname? It’s you and me, same house, same jobs, same car, same irritating families. What the hell do you mean?’

Oh God, what had she got herself into?

‘I know all that. But it will feel different. Anyway, whatever the reason, I decided I’d pootle about a bit – go to some of the places I went as a kid, or you and I went to when we first met. So that’s what I did.’

‘And?’

‘I thought I was being followed. I took some odd turns and there was this car. It was always behind me, no matter which way I went. I was scared.’

‘So – I repeat – why the hell didn’t you tell me about this?’

Sharon looked at his concerned face and felt sick at what she was doing. ‘I didn’t want to worry you.’

‘Shit, Shaz, that’s not good enough. We’re getting married. You should tell me everything!’

Sharon dropped her head and said nothing. She didn’t want to make this worse.

‘How did you lose him, then?’ Jez asked.

‘I pulled into a twenty-four-hour petrol station. I was going to talk to the cashier through the speaker and ask him to call the police. The car pulled in but parked on the edge of the forecourt. I looked over and I saw the driver writing something. I thought it might be my number plate. Then he drove off.’

Jez pulled her close and stroked the back of her hair. ‘That must have been bloody awful for you. I wish you’d told me. Have you seen him since?’

‘No, but it seems that somehow he’s traced me, and I’m scared, Jez. Really scared.’

That was no lie. She knew the man must have been involved in the death of that woman at the Flash. And now he was coming for her.

CHAPTER 16

16

It is over for another night. I was subjected to nothing more than an hour of words, but such powerful words. Words chosen intentionally to confuse me.

They must know I’m not eating the food they give me. I pick at it and push it around my plate, trying to look as if I have lost my appetite. I feel ungrateful because they say they only want to help me. But I don’t understand what is happening to me.

All I know is that I have done something terrible, something that defies belief. Worse, though, I don’t remember a thing about it, and that keeps coming back at me time and time again, hitting me with a force that almost knocks me down. Could I really have done what they tell me I have?