‘Where do you feel pain?’ The paramedic peers at her, pulls her eyes open and shines a torch in them.

Her mind struggles with the question. ‘Please help my fiancé, he’s injured.’

‘He’s being looked after, don’t worry.’

‘Is he going to be alright? He was shot.’

‘Let’s just worry about you for now,’ the paramedic says kindly, examining her temple.

Rusty appears. ‘Oli.’ He smiles tentatively at her, fear lurking in his eyes. ‘Are you okay?’

She’s trying to think. ‘Why are you here?’

‘TJ called me.’

‘TJ? I don’t understand.’

‘He said you talked earlier—that you told him a whole lot of stuff, then hung up. Then you didn’t return his calls, and he was worried. He got Dean’s address from HR and turned up just as Bowman arrived. TJ saw him go inside, thought it was weird. He already had suspicions about Bowman feeding information to Dawn but assumed him being here was something to do with Cooper and didn’t want to interrupt, so he got back in his car and waited. He called me, wanted to see if I knew anything. But by then the lady next door had already called the cops.’

‘Toni?’

‘Yeah. She didn’t recognise the Toyota in the driveway, and she knew Dean was supposed to be away, so she couldn’t work out why his car was there. She couldn’t get on to him, then she saw TJ waiting in his car and was worried that someone was planning to rob the house. Apparently there’ve been some break-ins around here lately?’

Oli remembers Toni talking about the break-ins the evening she came over. ‘Apparently.’

‘Anyway, the cops arrived just as Nathan was leaving. He said he was on his way to call for help. Babbled some excuse about Dean losing the plot and wanting to kill you like he killed his first wife. It all sounded off, then TJ told us Bowman was inside.’ Rusty pauses. ‘And then a call came through that the panic alarm had been triggered in the house.’

‘Jesus.’

Rusty nods. ‘I voiced some doubts about Bowman. We spoke earlier today, and he told me you were …’

‘That I was what?’

‘Losing it. Said you’d been calling him day and night about a bunch of old cases. And when I asked him about the girl, he fobbed me off, said he had proof she wasn’t Louise Carter. He said I should avoid talking to you for a while.’ Rusty balls his fists. ‘It just didn’t sit right with me, not with what happened to Cooper. I called in backup.’ He looks around the room. ‘Thank Christ.’

‘You know he’s been doing this for years, Rusty. Decades. He and Nathan. And who knows who else.’

Rusty doesn’t reply, just clenches his jaw and squeezes her hand.