‘I didn’t want to be overheard. Wanted to be somewhere away from my family. Common ground, so to speak.’

His smile wavered. ‘Riiight. So, what did you want to discuss?’

‘Don’t pretend you don’t know.’ Louisa’s voice caught. She felt sure he was playing with her.

He shrugged. ‘There’s been rather a lot going on lately. I’m not a mind reader.’

Louisa swallowed down the urge to yell at him and took a slow, deep breath to remain in control. ‘Yes, there certainly has, but I mean, you know – the thing you told me—’

‘Oh! Of course. The woman in the lane …’ He gave a wry smile.

‘Yep. Her for starters,’ Louisa snapped.

‘I know it was a terrible shock for you, to hear from me what you’d done after you’d buried the memory for so many years. You’ve always got me to talk to about it though – you know that. We are the only ones who know what you did. What I did to cover it all up. It’s our secret.’ He reached forwards, taking hold of her upper arms. ‘As I said before, the guilt is a huge burden, but now we’ve found each other again, we can share that weight. We can be each other’s support.’ His confident smile sent a sharp shiver down her back.

‘Yeah, about that. I’m not sure we are the only ones who know. And I think you are well aware of that.’

‘No, Lou-Lou,’ Oliver said, taking her in his arms and holding her tightly. ‘I promise, I haven’t told a soul, never would. I’ll protect you until the end.’

‘Protect me?’ She pulled out of his embrace, so she could look directly into his eyes. ‘Are you sure about that, Oliver?’

‘Yes, I’m sure. What you did was something many people have done – drinking, smoking dope, then driving – you won’t be the only one who’s done that. You were unlucky that night.’

‘No, Oliver – I was wrong that night. Wrong to get behind the wheel, wrong to drive through the lanes, wrong to call you for your help. Wrong to go along with you.’

Louisa watched as the words sank in – catching Oliver’s expression as it hardened, his jaw tightening.

‘That hurts,’ he said, taking a step back. ‘I put myself on the line for you! Don’t be so selfish and ungrateful now. My life is in tatters – because you killed that girl and I covered it up for you.’

The shift in Oliver’s mood and the way his voice was suddenly thick with malice scared Louisa. She took a step back, lowering her phone light so she couldn’t see his face. But he walked forwards, clearly not finished.