‘OK.’ She holds her hands up in a gesture of surrender. ‘If you’re definitely sure that you don’t want to do it, I’ll let her know and she can get one of the PCs to play you. It’s fine. Honestly.’ She gives a little shrug and picks up the tray of tea things to carry through into the living room. I settle back on to the chair, my heart rate returning to normal. There’s no way I can appear on national television, not after all the lengths I’ve gone to, to make sure that no one knows I’m here. Not even if it means it’ll help to find Laurel.

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 10

‘How are you feeling?’ Jessika appears beside me as I stand shivering on the edge of the field, waiting for the reconstruction to start. She snakes her arm through mine, giving it a little reassuring squeeze, and I feel guilty for blanking her at the lake that day. My breath comes out in smoky plumes, drifting up and away to join the bitter bonfire smoke that rises up into the clear evening sky, like it did that Saturday evening, a little over a week ago. People bustle about, making sure everyone is placed exactly so, right down to the BBQ area and the PTA stand at the entrance to the field.

I see Ruth standing by the gate, taking direction from someone with an earpiece, and remembering what she said about being at drama school with Fran, I realise with a tiny twinge of distaste that she must be playing herself in the reconstruction. My stomach flips as the first firework bursts overhead and I see the woman playing me turn to ‘Laurel’ and usher her off towards where ‘Fran’ walks toward the portaloos, the cameras trained on her tiny frame.

‘I don’t know,’ I say, wrapping my arms across my body. ‘It feels weird, you know? Seeing her. Watching it all happen again.’ The little girl they have chosen to play Laurel is a perfect match, and they’ve even managed to find the exact bobble hat I thrust on to her head that night to keep her warm.

‘This will help, though, you know that?’ Jess eyes me closely, her brows knitted together with concern.

‘Let’s hope so,’ I say, glancing over to where Fran and Dominic stand stony-faced together, with Kelly in between them. I wasn’t sure that any of us would be allowed to be there – having not had any experience with this kind of thing before, I didn’t know what to expect – and at first Fran was adamant that she wasn’t coming.