He didn’t actually know if that was true. FitnessFanatix was part of the Forton Country Club complex, located on the southwest fringe of Crowley, quite close to the M62 motorway, in a largely rural area, and thus encircled by woodlands and pasture. The only other building within half a mile was the small country church of St Barnabas, which stood a hundred or so yards to the south. There wasn’t much daily villainy in this district, but though the Country Club had a hotel section, there’d only be a sleepy night-manager on Reception later on, and he couldn’t be expected to keep his attention fixed on every corner of the car park. It wasn’t impossible that a bunch of thieves could make an opportunist drive-by to see if there was anything worth pinching. But why scare her with that? The idea was to try and give the impression that he was being helpful.

Even so, the girl didn’t seem keen on the idea. He wasn’t quite sure why. Because she didn’t have enough cash in her purse? Or could she be one of these women who didn’t like the idea of travelling in a taxi alone after dark, with a male driver she’d never met before?

Either way, it was another opportunity for Nathan, one which, if he’d given himself two or three minutes longer to think about, he probably wouldn’t have taken.

‘The alternative is …’ he said, all innocent. ‘I mean, I don’t want you to get the wrong impression or anything … but I can give you a ride home. Like I say, I’m going in ten or fifteen minutes.’

She regarded him thoughtfully, with no apparent emotion – which made him nervous, though there was no disdain in that coolly pretty face. With a jolt, he realised that she was appraising him, looking him over properly, maybe for the very first time; checking out his well-defined pecs, his moody features, his mean but stylish tats.

‘Whereabouts are you going?’ she asked.

Nothing she’d seen had put her off, he realised with a thrill.

‘Just into central Crowley. If you’re not too far from there, I’m happy to drop you off at home.’

She pondered it again, and as before, he saw no evident distaste.

‘Okay,’ she said. ‘That might be a plan. Save me waiting out there on the car park for half an hour for a taxi, won’t it?’

‘Yeah, I suppose.’ He noted that she hadn’t yet told him where she lived. He wasn’t sure what that meant. Either she didn’t trust him to know her actual address, or she lived way, way across the borough and didn’t want to dissuade him from his act of generosity before they’d even started. Either way, it worked for Nathan. The whole point of it was to get her into his car with him.