As Jenna listened to Luke’s version of events, she watched him, assessing his body movements for congruence with his words. His description tallied with the one she’d built up back when she’d started to investigate the case – and with Sandy’s version too.
‘Next thing I know,’ Luke added. ‘A man in green’s standing over me. I was covered in blood.’ He put a hand to his forehead and his nose as if reliving old hurts. ‘He spoke so gently to me. So reassuringly, I felt myself being calmed.’ He shook his head slowly. ‘The effect was remarkable. After all that noise…’ He tailed off. ‘Then I heard a woman, the other paramedic, shout him over. That there was a body. Not another person. A body.’
‘Goodness,’ Jenna said. ‘Must have been terrifying.’ Then a thought. ‘If Danny punched you just before you lost control, why didn’t you cite that in your defence? Surely you weren’t to blame, in that case? I can’t imagine anyone could keep their car on that road after having taken one to the chin?’
‘The lawyers got to me. That’s why I changed my plea at the last minute. They said the court would go easier on me with a guilty plea. My blood scores were enough to convict me, they said. I should never have been driving with that level of booze in my blood. I didn’t stand a chance at trial. So…’ He shrugged, his eyes briefly displaying the bewilderment the accused young man must have felt when faced with the might of the legal system.
Jenna looked at him, saying nothing, waiting to see if he would bridge the silence.
Luke simply looked back at her, but there was a wealth of information going on behind those pale-blue eyes. If only she could read them accurately. She could sense, when he spoke about his plea, that he felt he deserved what he got, but also that he felt little if any guilt over Danny’s death. She said as much.
Luke made a face of apology. ‘I know it’s not what you want to hear, Jenna, but I would never have been able to change my life if Danny was still alive. Was I glad he was dead? No, I could never celebrate someone dying, but was I pleased he wasn’t around? Absolutely.’
‘But…’ Jenna paused, unsure how to ask what had been bothering her as she listened to Luke’s account.
‘But what?’ Luke nudged. He was leaning forward, his arms out, palms up. ‘You can ask me anything.’
‘What I don’t understand is what Danny had over you. Why couldn’t you break away from him?’
‘You heard what he threatened to do. He was going to turn Angie into an addict.’
Jenna narrowed her eyes. ‘Really? Surely you could have protected her from him?’ She still struggled to marry her own experience of Danny with the man Luke said he knew, but there was certainty on Luke’s face. He truly believed Danny would have done what he threatened to do.
‘You’re lucky,’ Luke said as if reading her thoughts. ‘It seems he had you fooled.’
She reacted with a sharp intake of breath.
‘Either that,’ he added hastily, ‘or you got the best of him. But believe me, the people who did are few and far between. Even his parents treated him with caution.’
They sat in silence. Each of them trapped in the weave of their own thought and emotion, unsure or unable to push through and find a way back to each other.
The wind picked up. The shed groaned as it shifted. Rain fell on the roof, a light but urgent pattern, like soft fingers lightly drumming their insistence that the truth be revealed.
Luke regarded Jenna, hoping that what he’d said to her would be enough, but he could see as she sat back, crossing her legs and arms, that something caused her doubt. He felt a tremble at the thought that only the absolute truth would satisfy her.
Jenna’s phone sounded from her handbag. She looked at it, then looked away as if dismissing the need to answer.
‘On you go,’ Luke said.
‘Sure?’
He nodded.
She pulled the phone from her bag and read the screen. ‘It’s Sandy,’ she said.
‘Hi, Sandy,’ Jenna said. ‘Can I call you back?’
Sandy carried on regardless. Luke could hear the man on the line speak clearly in the quiet of the space: ‘It’s just, hen, that our Jean’s been pushing me to call you.’
‘Yeah?’ Jenna asked, making a face of apology towards Luke.
‘That girl you were with the other day? Hazel? Our Jean’s been nagging me. She said the girl’s face was familiar. Very familiar, and she’s since been looking out old photos to try and convince me. Cos I don’t know why anyone would pretend to be someone else. I think she’s havering, but she insisted.’
Luke sat up straight, and as if she picked up on his alertness, Jenna did too. ‘What did you just say there? Pretending to be who?’
‘This Hazel lassie. Jean’s sure she’s not who she says she is.’
There was a pause, and Luke could make out some conversation in the background, then a woman saying, ‘Give me that phone.’
‘Hi, Jenna is it? This is Jean, Sandy’s wife. For my sins.’
‘Hello, Jean. Yes, we met briefly the other day,’ Jenna replied, widening her eyes at Luke in confusion. ‘What were you saying?’
‘That Hazel girl. I knew her as soon as I saw her. I just didn’t trust myself, you know? She’s Amanda Morrison, Danny’s wee sister. The spit of her mother, God rest her soul. I’d watch out if I was you. That family were all a wee bit strange. And if that lassie’s pretending to be someone else, she’s up to no good. No good at all.’