‘I ain’t going back, it’s over,’ Abs snapped. He never lost his temper, never lost his cool, certainly not with Jez, and he felt awful about it. ‘There’s something else, but I don’t understand what it means. That policewoman called me earlier, Detective Inspector Dawson. She asked about your sister.’

‘Lauren?’ said Jez in surprise. ‘Why would she ask about her?’

‘She was getting background information, that’s what she said.’ He eyed Jez. ‘I told her you ain’t heard from her for years, right?’

‘That’s right.’

‘Then why’s she asking about her, what does it mean? I’m telling you, there’s stuff going on that’s making me very uneasy.’

Jez looked towards the door. ‘Careful, Abs, Bethany is upstairs.’

‘We should have told the police about what Deano did to the girl at the time. We should never have hidden the body.’

‘You didn’t touch that girl, Abs.’ Jez spoke quietly. ‘You didn’t kill her. This is all on Deano.’

‘Yeah, mate, but we did wrong.’ Abs kicked the edge of a rug with a foot. ‘And it’s not too late to put everything right.’

‘Look, you’re upset because filming didn’t go well.’

‘We’re going to die for what we did, just like the others. It’s, what’s the word – retribution.’

Jez looked him in the eye. ‘We’re not going to die.’

‘We’ve got to tell the feds,’ said Abs. ‘Before it’s too late.’

‘Mate, you’re being selfish, I’ve got a life now, a wife and home and a nipper on the way, and I’m not – look at me.’ Abs lifted his gaze reluctantly from the floor. ‘I will not go to prison because you’ve suddenly changed your mind. You’ve got to get a bit of backbone.’

Abs looked at Jez, had never seen him looking so grimly determined, and he guessed he was being selfish. He’d have to try to live with the guilt, make his peace with it. He’d get his career back on track somehow. LIE! wasn’t the only show in town, and Kelsey wasn’t the only girl. He was voted Britain’s Sexiest Guy three years on the trot – that had to count for something.

But when he closed his eyes, a familiar image spun in his head, and he didn’t hear the doorbell ring.

‘I keep having this… it’s like a waking dream, Jez. I see the room in the cottage and—’