‘I want to make a deal,’ she said, her voice hard, her eyes even harder. ‘I’ll keep the recording safe, but you have to swear that you’ll never reveal Wren’s involvement in any of the incidents. If you do, the recording is emailed to the police straight away. Got it?’

‘Sure.’

‘Three questions.’

‘Yeah?’

‘Who undid Wren’s seatbelt?’

‘How—’

‘How did I know about that? I heard it, you moron. Who was it?’

‘It was me.’ He stared at her in defiance. She slapped him across the face so hard he fell onto the couch.

‘How did you know the airbag wasn’t going to go off?’

Justin looked on the verge of tears. ‘It was faulty when I got it – we never got round to having it fixed. Figured it might come in handy one day.’

‘Why did you hit the tree? You could have killed yourself and Wade. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t have mourned you, but how were you to know for sure?’

‘I didn’t. I thought my life was over so I’d see if I could take Wren with me. I lined up the tree to hit his side, undid his seatbelt knowing that the airbag wouldn’t go off. And it worked. He died and we didn’t.’

Vanessa strode over to him and he shrank back into the couch, probably thinking that she was going to slap him again. Instead, she kicked his damaged leg. He screamed in pain.

‘You don’t keep up your end of the bargain, I will ruin you, you and Wade, so fill him in too. Wren’s name stays out of it all. Got it?’

He was openly crying now, snot leaking from his nose, holding his leg.

‘Are we clear?’

‘Yes! Yes!’

Vanessa gave him a brittle smile that felt odd on her lips. Her whole perspective had changed. The world was not as it seemed. Wren was not as he seemed. Had she ever really known him? Had he ever really loved her? So many questions. It was hurting her head. She wanted to cry but found that she was out of tears, just like she was out of fucks. She had solved the mystery, but at what cost? He wasn’t depressed, he was worried. Worried that Olivia would tell, that his involvement would come out. Then after she died, he was trying to distance himself from those he considered anchors, her included.