She nodded at the group, but only Juneja and Watson replied in kind. The responses from the others ranged from impassive to cold.

‘So, this is what it feels like to be a civilian,’ Harri said as she and Sabih met and made a gap in the crowd. ‘Frosty.’

‘Don’t be silly, H,’ Sabih replied. ‘It’s just a little odd, that’s all. Why don’t you join us?’

‘I don’t think that would be a good idea. I’m the awkward silence, the knowing look, the bad smell no one wants lingering.’

‘You’re so dramatic.’

‘Tell me I’m wrong.’

Sabih hesitated, and Harri scoffed.

‘I just came to ask a favour,’ she said. ‘See what you can find out about these three.’

She handed Sabih a piece of paper, which he examined.

‘Benjamin Elmys, David Asha and Elizabeth Asha,’ he observed. ‘Ben Elmys? Isn’t that the name of the guy you dated?’

‘I need you to do this,’ Harri replied, ignoring the question.

‘It had better not get me into trouble,’ Sabih remarked.

‘It won’t.’

‘I’ll call you.’

‘Thanks,’ Harri replied. ‘Tell the lads I said hi. I know it will mean a lot to them.’

Sabih smiled, and she flashed one of her own before she left the pub.

Sadness nagged at her as she started down the street. She missed the camaraderie, the laughs, the feeling she was part of something more than herself. She hadn’t had much of a social life, and her colleagues and job had filled the gap. Or maybe the immersive life she’d lived as a police officer had left no space for anything else? Either way, she felt the loss keenly. She’d once considered those men her friends, and even though none of them had openly shunned her just now, they hadn’t embraced her either. Only Sabih had remained truly loyal, but maybe he felt he had to, given what she’d sacrificed for him. No matter what happened, things could never be as they were. She was an outsider now.

Her car was parked on Etruscan Street, but as she approached the corner, she heard a noise coming from a service alleyway that ran parallel with the side road. She glanced down the alley and saw Puck and Red, the drunk couple she’d passed. They were having sex against a graffiti-covered industrial bin. The man had his back to her, but Red caught sight of Harri watching. Her eyes flashed in the darkness, as though she delighted in being seen. Did she think Harri was jealous?

Harri blushed and ran on, wondering if on some level she was.

Chapter 7

The trees rose like the crooked fingers of a god, making patterns in the sunlight. A week after their first date, Harri met Ben for their second, a walk in the forest that covered Maer Hills. They parked nose to nose in a lay-by in a country lane off the A51. He drove an old black Land Rover Defender with privacy windows, and she was in her Golf, which seemed so out of place in the rugged countryside. He was beaming when he got out of his car, and her cheeks ached with her own grin.