I checked over my shoulder again and then went back to studying the treeline, scanning right to left this time, looking for any movement or shape or colour that would give him away.

That was when I saw him.

Chapter 28

28

Ben was on the far side of the lake, maybe fifty or sixty metres away, just standing there. Wearing the same jacket he’d worn on Thursday night: the Louis Vuitton, the one Mel had told me cost more than a thousand pounds. He had on a black baseball cap and was carrying a long blue canvas sports bag that looked slack and half empty, but weighted down in the middle. As if it held something long, thin and heavy.

I stared at him for a long moment, trying to make sure it was him, waiting for him to make a move, give a signal, show some sign that he had seen me on the bridge and recognised me. But he just stood there, absolutely still, staring back across the choppy water of the lake. It was the first time I had seen him since Thursday evening and I was trying to work out what I was feeling, through the surge of emotion.

Anger at his betrayal. Sadness at all the lying. Determination that this would be the end of it.

The rough stone of the bridge parapet was coarse beneath my fingers. It was clear now why he had chosen the bridge for our meeting: not because it gave a perfect all-round view of the surrounding heath, but because anyone standing on it was elevated, exposed, raised ten or twelve feet above everything else. Because if you were standing on the bridge, it would be very obvious if you were alone or not.

And still he stood there. Him on one side of the lake, me on the other. He put a hand in his pocket and put a mobile phone to his ear. He spoke, listened briefly, spoke again, then put the phone away. He raised a hand in a wave, then turned and walked away up the path.

Now what – follow him? Why not? I wasn’t going to let him just walk away after bringing me all the way out here to this place.

I walked down the bridge’s incline to follow him, keeping my eyes on him all the while. He had a big head start on me and was walking quickly, not looking back. He reached the fork in the path and took the left-hand side, quickly disappearing from view behind the screen of trees that led back to the entrance. I broke into a jog, my footsteps loud on the path. Can’t let him get away. I cut across the grass to gain on Ben a little more, but the path looped away behind the trees and he was still out of sight.