I pulled away from the lay-by with Dan beside me, leaving Nick and Luke behind to get into their car. Jason watched me in the rear-view mirror as I sped off, hands on hips. No doubt he'd be pissed when he found out I wasn't going back to the house, but he knew how to get hold of me if he needed to. He'd get over it. He always did. I made a mental note to give him a call later to smooth things over.

Dan reached over and keyed our destination into satnav. Forty minutes. At least Howard chose to hold his final showdown close to the airbase so we didn't have far to travel. Today had turned out to be a good day, and I felt more upbeat than I had in ages. Not only was Tia back home in one piece, but I'd also proven this morning with Jimmy that I still had a good fight in me. And best of all, Luke's crackpot half-brother was making friends with his new cell mate, who I hoped was six-foot-seven with a penchant for tall, blonde, and grouchy.

Nope, not a bad day at the office.

Of course, the day wasn't without its low points. My life wouldn't be complete at the moment without a dash of darkness to even out the light.

The first low occurred as I rode in the van, but not for the reasons you'd think. No, the sadness came when I freed myself, because my handcuff key was built into my wedding ring. Unlocking the cuffs brought back memories of my husband and the heartache that came with losing him.

When we first got married in Vegas, we'd had crappy off-the-shelf rings, engraved on the inside with "CB & MB 4EVA"—Crazy Bastard and Mental Bitch Forever. Nate's idea of a joke. We didn't manage forever, though, did we? Although the rest of my life would feel like forever without my husband in it.

We'd put up with the shitty rings for a week before my husband flicked his across the breakfast table.

"Diamond, if I've got to wear a permanent reminder of my supposed undying love, I'd prefer something that doesn't look as if it came from an arcade machine."

"Agreed. What are you thinking?"

"Surprise me."

My husband's new ring had been titanium with two bands, one made from dinosaur bone and the other from a meteorite. The designer told me it would symbolise our love lasting for all time. Back then, I thought he was talking shit, but it turned out he'd been right. When I gave it to my husband, I told him I wanted to get something as ancient as he was—he may have only been nine-and-a-half years older than me, but that didn't stop me from reminding him about it at every opportunity.

My platinum ring with its hidden handcuff key was beautiful as well as practical. And, of course, we'd had the engraving transferred over as a reminder of our drunken wedding.

When I'd unlocked my handcuffs in the van, I sent him a silent thank you. Was he up there somewhere, watching me? If so, I hoped I'd redeemed myself just a little with today's performance.

The next low point had been leaving Luke and Tia. Guilt gnawed away at me, and I felt kind of sad too. It wouldn't be easy for Luke at first, dealing with the revelation that his brother was a head case, but he had the strength to deal with it. That much I knew. He'd lent me some of that steel over the past few months and helped me through the worst time of my life. I'd always be grateful to him, but the kindest thing I could do now would be to let him go. He didn't need me and my troubles weighing him down further. My problems were my own, and I needed to face up to them.

At least Luke and Tia had each other for support. I'd watched them grow closer over the last two months, and now they had the relationship a brother and sister should have. Yes, they'd get through this together.

And me? Well, Luke had dug the pit in my chest a little bit deeper. My life would be worse for not having him in it, but the time had come for me to return to Virginia. Luke belonged in England, and I couldn't ask him to change everything for me.

Nor could I change for him. I'd been away from home too long, and while I'd salvaged my relationship with Nick and Dan, I still had a way to go with Mack and Nate. That was something best done face to face.

Dan interrupted my thoughts. "What happened to the ransom?"

"It's in the back of Nick's car. Can you put my share back in the safe?"

"Sure."

"And Jason's gonna want to speak to you. There'll be paperwork."

She groaned. "Yeah, I know. Thanks for leaving me all that."

"I'm sorry. I'll call him—I need to have a word about Simon. He's whacked."

"I got that."

"You don't have the whole picture yet. In the van, he told me he couldn't wait to feel my tight pussy around his dick. Jason needs to look into his history."

"The sick fuck. Did you check Tia?"

"He didn't touch her. If he had, he wouldn't be breathing now."

"That kick in the nuts you gave him let him off easy."

"I broke his trigger finger too. I heard it crack when I wrenched the gun out of his hand."

"That was a nice trade off for Tia's fingernail."

"Exactly what I thought." I gripped the steering wheel tighter. "He's not getting out of prison. I'll fix it. He's never going to interfere in Luke or Tia's life again."

Dan reached over and squeezed my hand. "You obviously care about them. Are you sure you're doing the right thing by leaving?"

"I don't see another way. I've fucked up Luke's life for quite long enough."

"You should speak to him."

Did she think I didn't know that? "I can't."

Her answering shrug left me under no illusion that she thought I was doing the wrong thing. I glanced at the satnav. Ten minutes to the airbase.

"Will you say goodbye to Luke and Tia for me?" I asked. "Tell them I'll miss them."

"I will, but you should do it yourself."

My turn to shrug. Dealing with more emotion was beyond my current capabilities. "Let me know if they need anything."

We lapsed into silence and soon pulled up at the gates of RAF Northolt, where my Learjet waited next to the taxiway. The stairs were already lowered, and as I approached, Bradley bounced down to meet me. Didn't the guy ever run out of energy?

"I've loaded your bag with your laptop, clothes, a cashmere throw, and three kinds of moisturiser. And I've picked up a fresh bulgur wheat and rocket salad for you to eat on the flight."

"Have you been talking to Toby again?"

"Yes, and he's thrilled you're on your way back. He's so worried you've been neglecting your diet. Most of your groceries have arrived—it's just the Wagyu beef that's stuck on the tarmac in Japan, and the caviar's on back order. He mentioned a detox."

Great, that would mean living on spinach smoothies and lemon tea for a week, and I didn't even like caviar. Was it too late to change my mind about going home? A little break in the Caribbean seemed like an excellent idea right now.

Dan read my thoughts and mouthed, "Don't even think about it."

I rolled my eyes.

"Stop being like that. You know how much you love nettle juice," she said.

"Bitch," I whispered in her ear as I hugged her tightly. "I'll see you in a few days."

"Yeah," she said quietly. "I'm glad you're back. I mean really back."

"Me too."

Leaving Dan on the tarmac, I turned and walked up the stairs onto the plane. It was just as I remembered, cream leather seats with walnut trim. At least Bradley hadn't refitted the interior while I was away. I wouldn't have put it past him, not after the time I spent a week in Atlanta and got home to find my gym painted a pale purple. Calming, apparently. I didn't want to be calm in my damn gym. I wanted to punch things.

Deep breaths, Emmy. Think happy, purple thoughts. I pushed the memory away and took a left into the cockpit to greet Brett, my pilot.

"It's good to see you back, Emmy," he said. "Will you be flying her today?"

"I might as well." Seeing as I was still wide-awake, and I never slept on planes, anyway. I could do far too much damage at forty-five thousand feet. "I'll take a break in the middle. I understand Bradley has salad for me."

"He mentioned it earlier while I was tucking into my cheeseburger and fries."

"Sometimes, I don't like you very much."

Brett chuckled as we buckled ourselves into our seats, and I shouted back to Bradley to fasten his seatbelt for take-off. With eight seats, it was the smaller of our two planes. We had a larger Global 8000 as well, but that was apparently in Seattle. First world problems. Today's flight plan called for us to fly to Teterboro, New Jersey, a seven-hour journey that took the plane to the limit of its range. From Teterboro, we'd refuel and make the short hop over to Richmond International where my husband's helicopter, a shiny black Eurocopter he'd purchased two months before his death, was waiting to take me home. Maybe a fourteen-seat helicopter was overkill for Bradley and me, but we'd sold the smaller one just before I left, and I hadn't got around to replacing it. Something else on my to-do list, which grew longer by the minute.

I started the plane's engines, and once they'd warmed up, I taxied over to the runway. Was I doing the right thing by leaving? Part of me wanted to go back to Lower Foxford, my sanctuary of sorts. But I couldn't, not now. No more running.

"Ready?" Brett asked.

"As I'll ever be."

As I powered up for take-off, I felt the first rush of adrenaline, but there was something else too.

What was it?

Was I...? No, I couldn't be. Was I nervous?