"Easy enough. Just tell her. Tell her now. 'I'm sort of on the run, Caroline. I'm only in Harrogate to take care of some old business involving my dead husband who ran a drug empire last decade in Manchester. By the way I might have had a hand in his being dead now.'

"So now that's cleared up – I'm thinking the Margarita pizza. With a salad – and the maple balsamic dressing. How about you?"

Melanie ran this and other set ups for introducing herself to Caroline, her real self, on their first date. 'Maybe I should wait until after we have desert. Wouldn't want to make dinner awkward.'

But no matter how fervently she mulled over finding a way to tell this woman what was really going on, it all sounded bad. Deal-breaker bad. And she didn't want that. She wanted Caroline to give her a chance. She wanted someone to give her a chance again, and she wanted someone to want her. Caroline Dawson wanted her. It was impossible to miss.

Her co-worker and friend, Janet, prattled on next to her in her ancient Toyota Celica on the way to drop Melanie for said first date with Caroline after the children's carnival. Librarians weren't typically flush and the fifteen-year-old car smelled of petrol when they stopped at lights. Melanie hoped it wouldn't result in her smelling of petrol when she arrived. She grabbed a lock of black hair and pulled it to her nose to check. She also hoped Caroline might step right in and greet her with a kiss on the cheek when they met. Or just a kiss. The former was much more likely, but she could always hope it might be the latter. Anyway. She hoped she'd be right near Caroline right off, and not smelling like car fumes when she was.

Melanie climbed out of the Celica at the curb near the restaurant to see Caroline on her mobile and fast approaching with long, sure strides. She clicked off as Melanie waved goodbye to Janet. It wasn't Melanie's wildest dream, but sure enough the curvy blonde woman with the piercing blue eyes leaned in to peck Melanie on the cheek as she said hello. She smelled of rosemary.

Impulsively, she returned the gesture. For a moment she thought Caroline might make it a hat trick and they'd stand there until dark going back and forth. She didn't. But Melanie saw a flash in her eyes and started imagining all the ways this night could go so very well instead of so very poorly.

'Definitely wait until after desert.'

"You want another, ma'am?" The bartender with the black eyes and curly black hair spoke with a thick German accent.

Melanie scowled as he interrupted her daydream, or rather, late-night dream, just as she was getting to the good part involving Caroline and desert. "No." She reached into her pocket and dropped four pounds on the battered oak bar. The sound as they hit was weighted and dull.

"Very good. Thank you."

Melanie's mobile beeped. "10% power remaining." She swore under her breath and reached into her bag, fishing for her battery case. She popped her cover off and slipped the mobile into the backup charger. She set it on the bar and took a sip of her pint as the lightning bolt icon appeared in the corner. One problem solved.

It had taken her less than a second to spot Mitch and Dave in the ridiculously obvious unmarked white delivery van across from Leann's flat. Now she knew where they were. And they knew where she was – and where Leann was. She'd strolled on by without a backward glance and installed herself at the nearest pub to think.

Seedy would be one way to describe the wood-paneled pub where she sat. Run-down another, and menacing the final. Perhaps not menacing. Perhaps, under other circumstances, just dirty. But cloudy glass or not, the beer still drank well. As it calmed her nerves it cleared her mind.

She'd always wanted to tell Caroline everything, and even ask for her help. Almost from the moment she'd seen her come into the library. Certainly as soon as she'd kissed her and realized one would never be enough. She'd been lonely and alone when Caroline had come into her life. She felt that loneliness echoed back at her by the compelling, composed single mum, and the synergy had made Caroline irresistible.

But by the time they'd even started dating Melanie was stumbling over what to say. What was the right time to tell a story like hers? Time slipped away and slipped away. Christmas came and went. New Year's came and went. And by the time the green buds appeared on the trees, signaling the approach of spring, she knew it was already too late. By that point confession wasn't just confession. It was lies and betrayals of trust. It was the look on Caroline's face from tonight. The assessment and the skepticism and the hurt.

She thumbed the eight hundred pounds sitting on top of the coins at the bottom of her jacket pocket. Would it be enough to buy Leann's freedom? What about her own? She'd been scraping by in Harrogate. Saving up in anticipation of just this kind of scenario. She'd be flat broke by the time this was all over. Broke and alone again if she knew anything at all about Caroline.

She'd tried, this weekend in Brighton, to lead Caroline to it all on her own. But Caroline had a habit of ignoring anything that wasn't really relevant to her current goals. Then things had gotten complicated and out of control.

What she needed right now was a distraction to finish it once and for all with Leann. She could use Caroline's help, no doubt. Would Caroline be up for it? What they were doing wasn't illegal. Dangerous perhaps, but not illegal. She'd brought Leann to Brighton to shake Nigel. He'd have followed her to any airport in the country, possibly snatched her then or followed her wherever she landed. This way she was out clean - the English Channel the biggest stream in the world for shaking the dogs off the scent.

Her mobile lit and she looked down. Relief covered her face.

"Hi Brian."

Caroline started awake again to a knock at the hotel door. The lights were still on and she was back in the arm chair. The bed just didn't feel right.

She shuffled in her white socks across the hotel carpet, rubbing her eyes. She peered through the security hole and blew up through her bangs as she stepped back to open the door.

"Hi Robbie. It's good to see you."

"Of course. Whether you take my advice and go to Brighton police or not, I don't want you doing this alone." He came through and she closed and latched the door behind him.

"Didn't think I'd ever be turning to you in your, ehm – official capacity." She yawned and shook her head. "So what've you learned?"

"Mate Dave's been on it all night for me at the station, digging up what he can and getting anything else out of Manchester. Your Melanie is in it, Caroline. I don't mean to scare you but that's the truth of it."

Her Melanie. Caroline rolled it around in her mind, deciding whether that term still felt right. She was terrified for Mel, no mistake about that. But wanting to see Mel safe was a far cry from wanting her back in her life, her home, or her bed.

"Here's what's what, far as I can tell. I can confirm that Nigel's the son of Melanie's deceased husband. Took up the family business - all of it - after his dad died."

Caroline watched Robbie pace and stretch. He must have flown down the M1 – it had taken him only four hours to make the trip from Halifax.

"Back when it all went down with Richard, Manchester wanted to question Melanie about the man's death, and her father's, but she and her family were already out of Heathrow by the time the missing persons was filed. Report was put in by Richard's mum a couple days after the boat accident."

Robbie shrugged out of his dark brown corduroy jacket and tossed it on the bed. "They questioned Richard's associates, but none of them had anything to say. 'Specially Nigel. Our idea is he didn't want anyone digging too deep. Or maybe he wasn't so sad about his new position in life."

He paused as his phone buzzed in his back pocket. "Gillian" He held it up to Caroline with a grin and then tapped out a text. He walked over to the curtains and tipped them back to look out over the dark and twinkling city.

"Melanie's family didn't offer anything helpful, didn't file charges or demand anything when it came to finding out what happened to her father. So it was put away neat and tidy. Though Manchester had more than a hunch it wasn't all above board – so to speak."

Caroline guessed that neither Robbie nor the Manchester police had any idea what had really happened on that boat more than a decade ago. She considered the cost she might pay for her silence on the matter and weighed it against the cost Melanie would pay if she filled in the blanks for them. Two men were dead. Melanie had made stupid choices. She'd paid for that at least on one front, with her father's life. Caroline kept quiet.

Robbie flopped down into the napping chair, as she'd come to think of it, and scratched at his beard. The rasp of it could have been the sound of Caroline's blood pumping through her raw, naked heart. Everything about her felt gritty and exposed and her eyes burned with bad sleep.

"Nigel's story is he's just picked up where his dad left off, with the appliances. But you couldn't find a bloke off the street who believes him. Added high-end stereos and home-theater installation type stuff. Folks who can afford a little bit more quality - or volume. We suspect he's grown beyond meth as well, you know a little something for everyone."

More nodding from Caroline. She let herself feel Mel's deception again. She balanced the heft and breadth of it against Melanie's good intentions.

She looked away from Robbie and stared at a bland, bad watercolor on the wall of the room. Lilies should never be purple and teal. "I just thought we were here for a short holiday."

Robbie didn't respond to her non-sequitur and she rambled on. "I'm worried about Mel. I don't know if she's safe, and obviously, I'm also worried how safe I am at this point. She's told me very little on the premise that the less I know, the safer I am."

"Yeah. Well. From what I know, she's right. I can't tell you much more. Manchester has been leading the investigation into Nigel. They've been trying to shut down his operation for a while - and they might finally have done it. He's put his foot in it. Sold bad smack to the wrong kid. Son of a judge. And there's a man willing to flip."

Caroline looked up, eyes finally sharp and clear as the clock hit one am and she shrugged off the last of her persistent drowsiness.

Robbie nodded again. "Yeah. They can get him. If Leann'll testify. Seems everyone wants this woman for a lot of different reasons. Not to put you and Melanie further at odds, Caroline, but if you can step in and somehow convince this Leann woman to stick around…"

"We're all a lot safer, and so is the entirety of Manchester. Two birds, one stone."

"That's about the size of it."

"That's what we're doing then. That's what's going to happen. Because how I feel tonight, I never want to feel this way again." Caroline made a sweeping gesture with her hand. "One way or the other this bloody mess is over, Robbie." She finished with a stern point at eye level.

Standing, hands on his hips now, Robbie tucked his chin curtly. "That's about what I wanted, expected to hear out of you, Caroline."

Caroline's head snapped over as they both heard the sound of the automatic lock on the door whir. It opened, and Melanie peeked her dark head in. She caught sight of Robbie and started back. Then, the door opened fully and she came through, trailed by Brian Shadforth.

"Yeah. So, it's what I do a lot. Get women where they need to be. Makes it feel like my own mum didn't die for nothing."

Brian recreated his halting, self-conscious style and narrative for Robbie and Caroline, standing in front of and taking up most of the window in what had become a very crowded hotel room.

'We should have gotten a suite.' Suddenly Caroline's life and her space were crowded with men. She was shockingly relieved to see Brian standing her in front of her, healthy and whole. She looked from him to Robbie, but not at Melanie. She wasn't sure about Melanie yet, not sure where she fit or how she felt. Other than angry and resolute. So Melanie stayed on the outside. Though Caroline desperately didn't want it that way. She shoved down her sadness and her want that Melanie would make it better and concentrated on the here and now. And on Nigel and Leann Pullings.

Melanie turned to the big young man with his close-cropped red hair. "Brian tried to steer Dave off Leann by coming to me, or rather to you, Caroline, with the sweater. And it worked. Trouble is none of us saw Mitch coming and he's the spanner. Has his own motives and a way of being unpredictable. So Brian had to go silent running for a while."

Brian scratched at his neck and stared at his ratty trainers. "Yeah I holed up on my boat. That one guy, the small one, he led on that quiet was good for me. I said yeah sure and tried to get on, but the big one worked me over. Took everything on me, phone and wallet and all that." He looked over to Mel. "Know I'm hefty, but never been particularly good with fighting. Only when I have to."

Melanie put a hand on his arm and Brian smiled down at her. Caroline watched the interaction and it pissed her off how much comfort Melanie seemed to impart to the simple hulk of a boy.

He continued. "Didn't think it was a good idea to circle back to Mel or Leann, so I laid low. Came up for air and a new phone when I could."

"I'm glad you're here now, Brian. You're a great help." More of the comfort and assurance flowing to Brian from Melanie, which for no reason got right under Caroline's skin.

"We'll see about that." Caroline turned to Robbie. "It seems you're the most qualified to call the shots here, Robbie. What's next?" Her cool gaze brooked little room for disagreement from anyone.

"The police are next. No question." Hands still on his hips and a familiar cloak of official authority drawn around him.

Brian scowled. "I dunno. I think I can get Leann where she needs to be still. And I'd rather not mix with the police." He made eye contact with a silent Melanie, who looked as though she were trying to stare through him and out the window. "And I don't like thinking Melanie'd end up in jail after what she's been trying to do to help."

"Well I think Melanie needs to take responsibility for her actions – past and present. And there are other considerations at work here." Caroline finally looked over to Melanie and drove her point home. "Leann can do far more good staying and helping to put Nigel away than she can running from the situation."

Robbie shifted on his feet and Brian kept his head down.

Caroline continued. "Robbie's informed me that there's a chance, Melanie, that this mess can be cleared up if Leann helps the police hold Nigel accountable."

Melanie sniffed and cleared her throat. Her eyes shone with discouragement and she crossed her arms and looked down. "I suppose - you make a good point, Caroline."

"I do. And I'm glad you see it that way."

Robbie put a hand on Caroline's arm. She softened her posture and let up on the thousand-watt glare.

"We don't know yet what's what when it comes to all that, Brian, Melanie - regarding who's on the hook for what. We do know the safest thing we can do."

"Yep." Caroline walked over to the desk and pulled a card from her purse. She held it out to Robbie and inclined her head. "Brighton police – Sergeant Weixel. I'm sure he'll be glad to help. And to know that Brian here is alive and well."

Brian couldn't seem to find a way to look at any of them. Melanie sniffed again and excused herself to the loo.