Then I see the dark shape of the two policemen rushing onto the balcony. Tara is grabbed by one of the men while the other one struggles with Andriu before pulling him to the floor. They have him. They have her. I collapse to the ground with relief and put my head into my hands. Someone sits down beside me and puts their arm around me. The stench of body odour assaults my senses. But I welcome it; someone is holding on to me. I cling to the stranger’s arm, tears soaking the sleeve of their hairy jacket. My body is shaking. Out of somewhere a coat is put over me. I can’t look up anymore. It’s over. There is nothing left in me to give.

The barman has joined the commotion, bending down to apologise to me for not taking me seriously, but I shake my tortured head and smile at him. It’s not his fault. He didn’t know, how could he know? He can only judge from his experience and to him I look like one of the druggies that he has to throw out of his bar on a regular basis.

‘It’s okay,’ I manage to mutter.

‘Can I get you something? A brandy maybe,’ he says. I think about the strong alcohol hit at the back of my throat, dissolving into a bitter fruit flavour in my mouth. Then the burning heat travelling through my veins, doping every cell in my body. It would be easy, very easy. No one would blame me after what I’ve just been through. But I would.

‘No thanks, I don’t drink.’

Chapter Sixty-Five

The ground is the first thing I feel. The cold, damp stone freezing my bottom as I sit here and wait. I don’t know what I’m waiting for. What to expect now. But I don’t care. Tara is safe.

A car pulls up behind the crowd that has gathered, and I look up, hoping it’s my dad. It’s not. It’s Detective Siobhan Lee. She steps out of the vehicle like John Wayne getting off a horse. Lee stands with her hands tucked into the pockets of her jacket, surveying the crowd and looking up at the balcony. I’m really not up to answering her questions now. But I know I have to. She needs to know this has nothing to do with Tara. It was Andriu who received the message the night of Electric Picnic when he had our phones because of our bid to create the perfect alibi. Andriu who deleted the message from Avril telling us we were in danger, then texted Avril back and arranged to meet her at Huntley Lodge. It was Andriu who sent me the message from Avril Ryan’s phone the day he killed her. ‘I can destroy you.’ He was trying to freak me out, setting in motion his plan for a cover-up.