‘Not what it looks like?’ Abs nodded at the body. ‘What does this look like to you? The girl is dead. But.’ He held up his hands, making the biggest pitch of his life. ‘Nobody knows she’s with us. We were seen talking to her in the pub, sure, but so were loads of people, and she left on her own. Nobody saw us with her outside the pub, and nobody knows she came here.’

Everyone was quiet – the only noise came from songbirds chirping in the trees – and Abs thought he’d failed to sell his plan.

But then Tony nodded. ‘Alright. I don’t see why we should all have to suffer. I’ve got a wife and kids, I can’t go to prison.’

‘Deano?’ Abs needed him to agree, to convince Jez to buy into the idea. ‘You’re gonna go along with this, right? Don’t you dare say no, because we’re trying to do you a massive favour right now.’

‘I don’t remember.’ Deano rubbed his eyes. ‘Not any of it, I just don’t—’

‘Yes or no?’ snapped Abs, losing patience.

‘Yeah.’ The big man nodded. ‘Sure.’

‘That’s three of us for the plan.’ Abs turned to Jez, who stared at the body. ‘Come on, mate, don’t let your own life be ruined because of someone else’s mistake. We all need you to agree to this.’

When Jez looked up at Abs, his eyes were blurred with tears and his face twisted in an agony of indecision.

‘She’s dead,’ he said quietly.

‘Yeah, she is.’

‘Maybe it’s not what it looks like.’

Abs crouched in front of Jez and said softly, ‘We have to decide now because we ain’t got much time. Are you with us?’

Shamefaced, Jez nodded.

Abs cupped his friend’s neck – Good lad – and stood.

‘We’ve got forty-eight hours till we’re expected home. So we’re going to find some place the police will never look, and we’re going to bury her there. Then we’re going to scrub and wash our clothes, and we’re going to clean up here, inside and out, to make sure every single trace of the girl is removed.’

Everyone looked past him at Rhiannon’s body. Abs didn’t want to look at her – it was the last thing he wanted to do – but he forced himself, and in his mind he begged for her forgiveness.

‘Come on, guys,’ he said, finally looking away. ‘If we stick together, we can do this. You know what I always say, teamwork makes the dream work.’

31

‘Tony Gardner was killed several hours before you and Lolly got there. You’ll see from the report that the pathologist estimates that was around mid-morning. The body is very badly burned. Acid was sprayed in his eyes – he was blinded just like Andrew Dean – and he suffered severe head trauma, which is what killed him.’