‘I should never have covered for him. Angela … she shouldn’t be there …’

‘What about Angela?’ Adrian said, almost relieved that Jimmy had probably been talking about her all along. Glad he didn’t have to confront his situation right now.

‘I didn’t know at first. I should have stopped him when I found out …’ Jimmy whispered before losing consciousness again.

Was Jimmy talking about the domestic abuse or something else?

Sirens approached the house as soon as he had finished the sentence. The ambulance had arrived, although the chances of them being able to help Jimmy now were worse than slim.

Adrian stood up and took a deep breath before stepping away from Chilton’s barely living body so the paramedics could get to him and see if they could do anything. He watched Imogen drive away and was immediately flooded with a mixture of relief and guilt. He knew he wasn’t being fair to her. He just didn’t know how to be any way else right now. He was trying to get back to the man he used to be.

The paramedic looked up and shook his head. There was no hope for Jimmy. If they could just get Angela to testify, they could stop Reece Corrigan. Adrian daren’t get his hopes up at this point, but there it was. It seemed as though they might actually have a chance to nail this shitbag.

Chapter Seventy-Two

In the car, Imogen was grateful to be away from Adrian. Constantly second-guessing everything he said or did wasn’t doing either of them any good. She was annoyed with herself for looking at his phone. He wouldn’t cheat on her, she knew he wouldn’t. So why did that nagging voice in her head refuse to give her a moment’s peace?

Instead of driving down towards the station, she doubled back and drove to Wonford Hospital instead. What on earth did she think she was going to find there?

She parked in the car park nearest the ambulance bay, knowing that Dr Hadley was usually in accident and emergency. This was stupid. If Adrian found out about this, he would be really pissed off with her, especially as she already knew he wasn’t cheating on her.

She knew it. Didn’t she? But then, why so many phone calls between them over the last few weeks? Had he turned to Dr Hadley after their argument at the Corrigan house? Is that where he went? Is that when it started? That seemed to be the moment when everything changed between them. Why couldn’t she just keep her stupid mouth shut? She shouldn’t be so paranoid about his history with the doctor; it was one date that Adrian had claimed was a real non-starter. Furious with herself, Imogen had to know for sure; she had to speak to Zoe Hadley for herself.

‘Is Dr Hadley in?’ Imogen asked the receptionist, showing her warrant card.