‘It’s too late.’ She held her phone up. ‘I told him we’re in the Jeep and that we appear to be outside Morag’s house.’
‘Oh, Jesus.’
‘Why have we come here? What were you whispering about before?’
I didn’t answer her. ‘I need some time to think.’
‘I asked what—’
‘Shut up! Please.’
‘Yeah, Miranda. Be quiet.’ Holly was watching Avril’s house. She patted her pockets, searching for a cigarette, then changed her mind and bit her thumbnail instead.
I turned around to face Miranda. ‘I need you to not send Zack any more texts, okay? All will become clear, I promise.’
‘Who the hell do you think you are?’
She lifted her phone again, poised to send a message, and I snatched it out of her hand and sat on it. I’d thought about throwing it out of the window but didn’t want her to get out of the car and attract any attention.
‘What the fuck?’
She reached between the seats, jabbing her hand at my thigh, trying to get to the phone. Holly grabbed her wrist and pushed it back.
‘Miranda. Leave it. Please.’
‘Is this something to do with Lewis?’
My head throbbed with pain and when I closed my eyes I saw bright lights. I was so exhausted, more stressed than I’d ever been in my life. Insides twisted up with tension.
‘Who do you think you are? I demand that you tell me!’ Miranda shouted. ‘And give me back my phone.’
‘Oh, for fuck’s sake!’ It was my turn to yell. ‘Zack murdered Morag. I watched him shoot her, right in front of me. We think he, or maybe it was Lewis, brought Samir here, too, and killed him. Maybe Zack had something to do with Lewis’s death, too.’
I said all this facing forward, so I couldn’t see Miranda’s reaction, but she went silent for a second before saying, ‘That’s absurd.’
‘I saw it happen. I’m not lying.’
There was a long silence. ‘Why the hell would he kill Morag?’
‘Because we think she saw him and Samir together. Or maybe Lewis and Samir, and Zack and Lewis were working together.’
‘Zack and Lewis would never work together.’
Miranda hadn’t protested that her husband could never kill someone. She hadn’t said,That’s impossible. She didn’t say a word about her husband’s character.
Her next words were, ‘If Zack killed Morag, why aren’t we talking to the police right now?’
‘Because they think Patrick did it,’ Holly replied.
‘Why would they think that?’
‘God, I really don’t want to go through this again. I need to think. I’m going to drive for a while, okay. I just need… silence.’
Susan was still inside Avril’s house. I was, frankly, surprisedshe was driving again, but at least it told me she hadn’t been badly hurt. The fact there were no other police here told me something else: the road from Inverness must still be blocked.
It wouldn’t be for long, though, now the snow had stopped falling. I was scared. Terrified that, even having found the place where Samir had been kept, and with the note that linked him to the Grants, no one would believe me. Leaving Susan’s car had been a gamble because I had thought I might be able to find Jasmine, but it hadn’t worked out. Now, it looked like a stupid decision, one that made me seem even more guilty.
I had no choice. I was going to have to surrender myself to the police, tell them everything I knew and hope that the evidence would eventually lead to Zack. Maybe Jasmine would turn up. All I knew was that the longer I stayed on the run– words that seemed too crazy to be applied to me– the guiltier I would look.
