‘No, it wasn’t. But the plan to get him arrested and charged hasn’t worked out how we’d hoped. And, of course, my affair with him was only to get the inside track on what he was thinking and doing.’

‘I don’t know how you did it.’

‘I hated every minute, Eden, and I don’t know how you pretended to put up with him for so long. What we’re doing will keep us moving forward. Just remember, he was planning to kill you. You do know that, don’t you?’

Eden nodded, still fretful.

‘And don’t for a moment think he’s not capable of it. He knows you’re up to something, obviously, and he’s not going to forgive you for this.’

‘I know, you’re right.’

‘So you’re just playing him at his own game. You don’t have to feel guilty, you’re doing what you’re doing to save your life. That’s why you ran away, faked everything. That’s why you’re going to do what you do on Thursday night, to give yourself a future. OK?’

‘I suppose.’

‘Good, give me a high five!’

Eden gave her a reluctant high five. As their palms met, she felt a flicker of hope.

The start of her new life?

But still a nagging doubt. ‘I need a drink – a stiff one.’

‘I need you first,’ Rebecca said.

Eden shook her head. ‘A stiff drink first – then you! Then another stiff drink. And then?’ She gave a smile. ‘What time do you have to leave?’

Rebecca waved a dismissive hand and gave a smile back. ‘No rush at all, I have all the time in the world.’

They went through into the kitchen. ‘Just think, after Thursday,’ Rebecca said, slipping her arms around Eden’s back, pushing her hair aside and kissing her on the neck, ‘the rest of our lives together.’

Eden pulled out two cut-glass tumblers from the cupboard and poured a generous slug of Macallan into each. ‘To the future,’ she said, handing her lover a glass.

‘To our future,’ Rebecca corrected, downing a large amount of whisky in one gulp.

A short while later, they lay in the large bed, entwined around each other, with Elbow playing on the Sonos system. ‘There’s just one thing that’s still worrying me about the plan,’ Eden said.

Rebecca took her hand and kissed it. ‘My love, don’t let anything worry your pretty little head.’ For emphasis, she lifted herself up a little and kissed Eden’s forehead. ‘Has that made your worry go away? Is it better?’

Eden grinned. ‘Much.’

‘So what’s worrying you? Your cat – Reggie? We can figure a way to bring him to Cancun, or wherever we ultimately decide to settle.’

‘Not Reggie, no, Bex. It was when the police were questioning you – I just had the sense, from what you told me, they weren’t buying that Niall had murdered me. Not totally.’

‘You’re right. They’re not buying it totally. But my sense is nor are they discounting it, they still think it’s a strong possibility. That’s what I mean by this bringing our plan back on track. Cops are suspicious and cynical – that’s in their DNA, yes?’