I hear the engine again, closer this time. I shake my head to try and get the sound out but it stays. I look to the road behind me but there’s nothing there. As I turn back a full beam of light shines straight in my eyes, and I hear a voice, a voice I thought I had forgotten, a voice I am not sure is even really there. In my mind I have replayed this voice often, trying to cling onto any kindness. It’s different in my memory, softer somehow. Now it sounds jarring and desperate.

‘You shouldn’t have come. It’s not safe for you here,’ it says, so familiar.

The light is so bright I can’t see anything but white. I look up to the sky and fractals of light remnants bounce around my head, the dizziness taking over. I stumble backwards and start to run. I don’t stop until I can no longer hear cars or see the road. Moments later I am behind the street on a bench under a willow tree, I don’t know how long I was running, all I know is that I am fast. Even under the influence, I can move faster than my pursuer and I know the car can’t get into this park. I lie back on the bench, my vision returning to normal. If I can just close my eyes for a second, I can regain my strength and try again. The moment of clarity comes and I stand. I’m stronger than this. I am getting closer, I can feel it. The only thing left is to find out the truth I was so afraid of knowing all those years ago. I need to find the driver of that car. I need find out what happened to Mandy.

Chapter Forty

Then

Watching from the window, Jasmine waited for Tim to leave. The more she thought about his erratic and inexplicable behaviour on the clifftop the more she knew she had to get into his rooms. She waited what seemed like an eternity before she heard the guest house door open. She saw him checking that no one was around before leaving with his backpack slung over his shoulder. She pulled back from the window a little as he glanced upwards. Her room was dark, and she was sure he couldn’t see her, but if he could then he showed no sign of it. He left by the back gate and she jumped out of bed.

Downstairs Jasmine went straight for the key, then peered outside to check that Tim’s car was gone. It was that time of day when everyone was either still in bed or had just left to complete errands and a bizarre silence descended on the neighbourhood. She couldn’t even hear the neighbour’s kids with their relentless trampolining. It was now or never.