‘Jonathan,’ Sam lied, offering her a polite nod. As she lit the cigarette, the door to her room flew open and an irate man emerged. Dressed in jeans and a white vest, the man had an angry gaze fixed on the woman before noticing Sam. His eyes widened in fury, and Sam slammed his car door shut. The man, presumably her partner, stormed towards her.

‘Who the fuck is that?’ the man demanded, refusing to look at Sam. Tammy cowered, and Sam noticed her pull her hooded jumper up above her exposed arm.

But he’d seen the bruises on her arm the moment she’d turned around.

‘I’m Jonathan,’ Sam said protectively, stealing the man’s intention.

‘You got a problem?’ the man asked, puffing out his chest in a pathetic act of intimidation. Sam shook his head.

‘I’m just getting a room to get my head down.’ Sam hauled his rucksack over his shoulder and headed towards the door of the reception and offered Tammy a reassuring smile. ‘Nice to meet you, Tammy.’

‘Get fucked,’ the man spat in Sam’s direction before aggressively turning back to his partner and as Sam approached the door, he could hear him accusing her of trying to sleep with him. Sam felt his fist clench, and every fibre of his being wanted to turn back.

But he was on his last legs, and the last thing he needed was to stumble into a domestic problem and risk the possibility of capture.

Although his forged identification was state-of-the-art, having the authorities look into his past and potentially connecting the dots would be a disaster.

With a heavy heart, he entered the reception and booked in for the night. The disinterested woman behind the counter was helpful enough, and when Sam emerged back into the parking lot, the couple was gone. Sam was under no illusion they were back in their room, no doubt engaged in an uncomfortable scenario.

But he had to step away from it.

He entered his mediocre room, dropped his rucksack on the floor, and didn’t even bother looking at the furnishings as he collapsed on the surprisingly comfortable mattress and fell asleep before he could even crawl up to the pillows.

* * *