with a chuckle. ‘I’m just about to make some coffee. Did you want me to parcel the rest of this up in a doggy bag? Izzy’s thinking of heading back to her own place tomorrow and I’ll never be able to eat this lot.’
‘Isn’t that a little soon?’
Izzy tilted her head. ‘No. I need to get on with my life,’ she said, struggling to keep her voice even. She wasn’t in the mood for an argument and she’d already made up her mind that tonight would be her last, whatever he said. ‘As much as I appreciate everything you and Rebecca have done, it’s time for me to stand on my own two feet.’
‘But the press—?’
‘The press can go to blazes. If they want to hound me, I’m sure you can find a couple of boys in blue that will come to my rescue,’ she said, starting to gather the empty dishes together with a clatter.
He wasn’t happy. She could tell by the way his eyes bored into her as she reached across the table. But she’d had enough of being told what to do.
‘Leave those,’ Rebecca said.
‘No, I like washing up,’ she lied. She’d do anything if it meant being able to keep her back to Rhys. After a moment of silence, she heard the scrape of a chair.
‘I’ll just go and take out the rubbish. I’ll be back shortly and Izzy … I’d like a quick word before I go.’
A few minutes later, she walked ahead of him through the door and out to his car.
‘I won’t keep you long,’ he said, resting his hand on the side of the roof. ‘It’s too cold to be outside.’
‘I’m fine, really.’ She pulled her coat around her body as if to emphasise the point. ‘Look, I know you couldn’t say anything in front of your sister and I also know that I’m probably the number one suspect but …’
‘No! How could you even think that?’
‘Well, whatever. Just – please. I need to know if there’s any news.’
She watched him lift his hand, rubbing it across his jaw. ‘Are you sure you want to know, really sure?’
She stared back, her heart squeezing inside her chest. A car door slammed, the sound drawing her attention away from him and to the sudden arc of light as the driver switched on his lights before starting the engine. She only turned back when the noise trickled into silence. She opened her mouth to speak but the words wouldn’t come. Instead she nodded her head. She had to know.
‘It looks as if there was foul play of some sort. There are signs that the male—’
‘Oh, for God’s sake, at least call him by his given name, why don’t you.’
He threw off her snappy comment with a shrug. ‘Preliminary results confirm that Charlie Dawson received injuries not consistent with those normally sustained when a car has been involved in a crash. While the airbag was deployed, the team believe this was only after the vehicle hit the water.’
‘So, all that means precisely what?’ she said, her gaze pinned to his.
‘I’m afraid it means that there’s conclusive evidence that it wasn’t an accident. Charlie was murdered.’
Chapter 32
Izzy
Izzy leant against Rebecca’s front door, her forehead resting on the smooth surface of the wood. She couldn’t move if her life depended on it. Her thoughts had taken her full circle to this moment, a moment where the last five years had finally caught up with her. All along she’d been hoping to see Alys again but news of her and Charlie’s accidentally death had padded her emotions against any feeling other than that of guilt. She’d done her grieving. She’d more than paid her dues on the River Styx in coinage of tears. Nothing could change the fact that she’d lost them both. What she regretted now with a fierce passion was the betrayal of her love for Charlie. She’d allowed that pure clean love to disappear under the weight of her sorrow for her child. Now a new story would have to be written. She knew the start. Rhys had just told her the ending. But the middle—
A shout from the lounge pulled her out of her reverie and back into the lounge and where Rebecca was waiting with a fresh mug of coffee but, despite her entreaties, she made her way to her room and started to pack.
She couldn’t stay another night, not now. She welcomed the respite she’d been given but things had moved on. She’d