A few yards from the ramp, Shallicker pulled to a halt and braked. Lucy drew up alongside him. He pointed the way she needed to go. She drove the remaining sixty yards to the car park’s far end, veering into one of the empty bays on the Bentley’s nearside.

McCracken turned as she climbed out and approached.

As always, he wore a tailored suit, a pristine shirt and tie and what looked like a Rolex watch. It was now past nine o’clock on a September evening, and the temperature was falling fast, but he looked unaffected by the chill.

‘Well,’ he said, ‘I didn’t think it would be long before you wanted to hook up again.’

‘Oh, really …?’

‘Sure.’ He cracked a half-smile. ‘You talk like you hate me, Lucy, but last time we were in league, I seem to remember you were the main beneficiary.’

‘We weren’t in league,’ she retorted. ‘We just had a mutual enemy. And I’d say the benefits were about equally shared. But that case is closed and is now irrelevant.’

‘Okay … so to what do I owe this pleasure?’

‘What do you think?’ She folded her arms. ‘Last week you sent Mum a mountain of flowers and a lovey-dovey birthday card.’

McCracken furrowed his brow. ‘You’ve called this meeting about that?’

‘I consider it a serious breach of our truce.’

‘Our truce … as far as I’m aware, does not extend to you telling me who I may and may not send birthday greetings to.’

‘Except when it’s Mum, I reckon.’

‘I don’t reckon.’ There was a sudden snap to his voice. ‘If she was eighty-five, maybe. But she’s fifty-five, and she doesn’t need your permission to get on with her life.’

‘It’s this “getting on with life” thing that worries me.’ Lucy couldn’t contain a mild concern that he wasn’t responding to this in his usual airy, casual way. ‘I mean, what’s your game? She may think she’s a toughie, she may act like one. But she’s actually quite vulnerable. She lives on her own, and she earns just about enough to get by.’

McCracken shrugged. ‘I can help her out there—’

‘No, you can’t,’ Lucy interrupted. ‘That would send exactly the wrong message. Look … Mum’s lonely. She’s got a couple of mates, but no one she really cares about and no one who cares about her … apart from me. There’s been no bloke in her life since she moved to Crowley.’ She registered his surprise. ‘Yeah, that’s right. A belter like Mum, and she’s been a singleton her whole life. She threw her best years away on raising her only child.’

McCracken contemplated this. ‘Or alternatively … it’s just that I’m a tough act to follow.’