‘I might have got a call.’ His voice snakes through the air between them.

She stops. ‘A call.’

‘Yeah.’ He holds out his thumb and little finger then puts them against his head, miming a phone, and grins. ‘You know, a call.’

‘From who?’ Her jaw feels like it’s going to come off its hinges, it aches so badly. She can’t bear for him to say the words, but she has to know even if it breaks her heart.

Bouris clicks his tongue. ‘I can’t say. That would be completely unprofessional.’

To Oli’s horror, a tear slides down her cheek. Her mind glitches. She is Isabelle, standing in front of the man who mowed her down. Fine-boned, with long black hair, her ice-blue eyes pleading to know who wanted her dead.

Oli chokes on a dry sob, threads of saliva caught between her lips. ‘Please.’

Bouris makes a sad face. ‘Oh, honey, I want to, but I can’t. I made a deal with the devil himself. All I can say is that someone hated that smug bitch even more than I did.’

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

THE GUARD UNBOLTS THE DOOR. IT SCRAPES HORRIBLY AS HE PUSHES it open. Oli rushes down the corridor, avoiding eye contact with the other guards before bursting through the double doors and into the late afternoon sun. A horn blares, and she stumbles backwards, narrowly avoiding being hit by a spluttering Mitsubishi. It burps a cloud of smoke from its exhaust, and Oli stands frozen on the kerb, her stomach clenching.

She thinks of Dean’s huge empty house and wonders if she should call Lily, ask if she can stay with her and Shaun. But it feels too dramatic, like a kid running home to its mother.

The last of the adrenaline leaves her system, and her teeth start to chatter. She rubs her arms through her jacket sleeves and gets back into the rental car. Cranks the heater. She stares straight ahead, her brain numb. A woman in a bright-yellow jumper with a long braid down her back bursts from the prison entrance, her face streaked with tears. She runs off down the street, her handbag slapping against her leg.

Shuddering through a deep breath, Oli calls Rusty.

‘Oli?’ His voice almost has her in pieces.

‘Rusty.’

‘Ol. Are you okay?’

‘Is there any news on Cooper’s attack?’ she chokes out.

‘No, I’m sorry. We’ve got nothing yet.’

‘Right.’ She feels a crushing hopelessness.

‘We’re still going through everything, though—CCTV and phone records. We went to your office this morning and took his computer and some other items. If there’s anything to find, we’ll find it.’