‘I needed to be away from Morganville,’ she told him then, ‘and I needed to be sure what it was I really wanted. Do I want what I had back there, for a little while? That normal life? It was nice, Shane, but … but it’s not me. Not any more. It’s too late for me to live that life. But not too late for us to live our life together. If you still want—’

‘Yes,’ he said. ‘Yes, I want. If you don’t believe me, untie the rest of the knot.’

She laughed a little, and moved into his arms. The kiss started soft, turned urgent and sweet and damp, and then he walked her back to the feathery hotel bed and stretched her out on the duvet. Everything seemed warm, and in its comfort, in his comfort, she floated.

No. In his comfort, in his warmth, in his passion, she flew.

And when she floated back to earth, he was still there, warm and safe, holding her.

Before she drifted off to sleep, he kissed her hand. No, the ring that he’d given her, that promise of a someday-life together.

After all the grief, all the guilt, all the horror of the night and the day … he was the one thing that held it back.

He was the thing that would always give her that safe, warm space that made it possible to breathe.

In the morning, they started for Morganville.

It took another two solid days of driving, day and night, with brief stops at motels for showers and naps, but finally, they rolled past the familiar, antique faded glory of the WELCOME TO MORGANVILLE billboard. And they were greeted by the flashing lights of a police car, coming toward them at high speed.

Shane pulled over, and Jesse nosed her SUV in behind him on the side of the road. Shane stretched and yawned and said, ‘Damn, I never actually thought I’d be happy to see this place again, but I am seriously missing my bed.’ Michael, behind them, leant over the seat to slap Shane on the shoulder.

‘Me too, man,’ he said. ‘If I have to spend another day in this car wearing hats and tarps to keep the sun off, I think I’m going to need some kind of tranquilliser.’

‘Hey, we had fun,’ Eve said, and pinched his earlobe. ‘In the sense of next to none at all, I mean. Next time, can we at least stop at a mall? Maybe see a movie? Avoid the mass murders of our enemies, maybe?’

‘Promise,’ Michael agreed, but it was an absent kind of comment, and he leant forward to peer out through the dark windows. ‘Is that Sheriff Moses?’