Pete was grinning at her and for a second, Jill felt an urge to reach out and slap his grin away. She shivered. What an awful, strange thing to think.

‘Stop it!’ she said, ‘That’s not true. Not one bit.’

Pete held up his hands. ‘All right, calm down. If you say it’s not true, it’s not.’ But the tone of his voice was clear — he absolutely did not believe her.

Excellent, thought Jill, yet another one of my failings.

At least she’d have something different keeping her awake tonight.

CHRISTMAS EVE

A woman was slumped in the driver’s seat. A thin line of blood trickled from her hairline down around the side of her face to her chin.

‘Oh God,’ said the Good Samaritan. This was so far beyond his capabilities. He’d done a first aid course for work about five years ago, but he’d never had to use it. He didn’t even know where to begin.

‘Are you . . .’ He wasn’t even sure she was conscious. ‘Are you okay?’ he asked, realising as he said it that it was the most ridiculous question he’d ever asked in his life. Of course she wasn’t okay.

The woman’s head lolled to the side and then her eyelids flickered. Thank God, she was conscious. She started to mumble something and he leaned in closer to listen.

‘My husband,’ she said.

‘I’ll call him for you,’ he said in a rush. ‘Don’t worry, I’m going to get help and I’ll get your husband for you as well.’

‘No,’ she said. ‘No, no.’ She pointed to the passenger seat. ‘My husband. He’s gone.’

Chapter Six

CHAPTER SIX

Wednesday 9 December

Andrea

Tony took two wineglasses out of the cupboard but Andrea shook her head. ‘Not for me. I’m still working on these reports. If I have a glass of red, I’ll be asleep on the couch in half an hour.’

‘You’re no fun,’ Tony mocked. He put back one of the glasses and picked a bottle off the wine rack, lifting it up to look at the colour in the light. ‘Are you sure? I have a feeling this one’s going to be good. Perfect drinking age.’

Andrea considered suggesting he save it for a special occasion then, but realised that was pointless. All the wine on their rack was ‘special-occasion worthy’. It was really quite extraordinary how quickly and comfortably Tony had adapted to a lifestyle of wealth.

‘Don’t tempt me,’ she said. ‘I’m trying to stay strong. If I don’t get these reports finished tonight I’ll be screwed.’

‘Fair enough.’ He poured his glass and then walked over and massaged the back of her neck with one hand while he sipped his wine.

‘You okay? You seem stressed.’

‘Yeah, I’ll be all right. Just worried about . . .’ She trailed off and he dropped his hand from her neck.