No Way Home

The second car back in the queue had its window rolled down and the driver was speaking to her.

‘Sorry?’

‘I said, broken down again?’

She frowned as a flutter of fear swept through her chest. ‘Excuse me?’

‘Wasn’t that the same car I saw down by the Old Mill the other night?’

Now her heart was hammering, her breathing rapid and shallow as the fear of discovery froze her brain. What should she say?

But then, she realised, she had no idea who this man was, he didn’t have a clue who she was, and she would probably never see him again. She forced a shrug. ‘It’s not the first time this has happened. I just hope it’ll be the last.’

‘I bet. Good luck with it.’ He wound the window up as the repairman moved from the engine compartment around to the passenger side of the vehicle, opened the door and ducked down to check something under the glove compartment.

Emma was torn between seeing what he was doing and trying to memorise the numberplate of the man she’d just been talking with. If she managed to remember it, she had no idea what she would do with it. What she would be able to do with it. But he was a potential witness. It felt important that she should try. That she should have some information on him.

‘There you go.’ The repairman stood up with a small object held triumphantly in his greasy hand. ‘There’s your culprit. I’ll test it, but I’d lay odds on it. A dry solder joint in this little bugger’ll stop you dead as soon as it gets warm.’

The traffic began to move in the other direction and Emma’s glance was torn away by the driver’s wave as he set off down the hill. She refocused with difficulty. ‘That tiny thing can stop an entire engine?’

‘Yep. Just like that.’ He stepped across to the back of his van, delved inside for something and fiddled with it for a moment. Then he nodded. ‘Yeah. I’ve seen it before a few times.’

‘Do you have a spare?’

He shook his head. ‘No, but like you said, give it time to cool down and it’ll get you home and back out to a garage, as long as you don’t sit in this queue for too long. The Nissan dealership should have them in stock. Take it there as soon as you get the chance. Five minutes and they’ll have it replaced and you’ll be good as new. I’ll just pop it back in for now.’