The officer shook his head. ‘No, sir. Details, however, are sketchy. The woman in question absconded from the hospital. All we know is she is roughly in her late teens, with blonde hair and blue eyes. And the nurse removed a gold necklace with a squirrel on it from the injured woman. Other than that, sir, we don’t know who she is.’

Conrad felt as though a cold spear of ice had hit him in the chest. It was obvious who the injured woman was. Assuming it was true, then it was unforgivable.

‘Commissioner, did you know about this? And do you intend to cover this up?’ asked one of the reporters.

Conrad sighed. ‘No. I do not intend to cover this up at all. If Mrs Mullins is guilty of a hit-and-run, then she will have to pay the consequences, like anyone else.’

A police officer stepped out of the garage and nodded to the arresting officer, confirming that there was evidence of damage to the front passenger wing of Rebecca’s car, suggesting she had been involved in an accident.

Rebecca watched as her brother walked away. He didn’t even look back to see her being read her rights.

Chapter Twenty-One

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Satisfied with what she’d seen, Zara started the engine again and slowly crept along with her lights off. As soon as she arrived in front of the hangar, she smiled. The floodlights were deactivated; no one had turned them back on. The shutters were open. It was another bright idea thought up by her father. No one would ever suspect that this vast building would have steel shutters that could instantaneously reach the floor by using a remote device. She’d only seen it happen once when she was younger; the loud bang as the shutters hit the concrete base had almost made her jump out of her skin. She fingered the remote control hidden under her gloved prosthetic hand, her body trembling with nervous excitement.

As soon as she stepped out of the car, she felt the cold, damp air hit the back of her throat. She shivered and zipped up her padded jacket. She liked how it looked on her, although it was just an illusion. It was fitted but had an even padding all over it, making her appear two sizes bigger, and yet sufficient for hiding the bulletproof vest. She just prayed that if she did get shot, it would be in the chest. She knew it would hurt because although the vest should prevent her from being killed, the pressure alone would probably knock her clean off her feet.