Page 78 of A Game of Lies

Jason leaves a long pause. When he speaks again, it’s intentionally casual, as though he’s just thought of something. ‘Do they send people to prison for old crimes, do you know?’

‘You what?’

‘Like …’ Jason makes like he’s plucking a crime from thin air. ‘Burglary, for example. Would they bother? Like, if it was years ago? If the person was a teenager at the time, and the house belonged to their grandad or something, so—’

‘What are you saying, Jase?’ Henry looks suddenly serious. He glances towards the cameras.

‘Nothing. Forget it.’ Jason holds his nose and sinks under the water, hiding his grin. Hook, line, sinker.

‘What would you use the prize money for?’ Henry says, when Jason surfaces.

Jason doesn’t hesitate. ‘I’d give it to Kat. She can buy whatever she wants. Whatever makes her happy. I’d definitely book a holiday somewhere hot. Ten years we’ve been married, and we’ve still not saved enough for a proper honeymoon. Yeah, that’s what I’d do first.’

Afterwards, he sees Henry whispering with Aliyah, who casts furtive glances in Jason’s direction. It doesn’t bother Jason to be the subject of gossip, not when it’s Jason himself who put it there, and he gives the pair a cheery wave. Aliyah looks quickly back to Henry.

When Roxy and Owen assemble the contestants in camp for the evening’s live segment, there’s a palpable tension in the air. Roxy is pacing by the edge of the trees, practising her lines, while Owen fulfils barked requests from Miles.Move Pam ten centimetres to the left. Have Lucas standing. No, try him leaning against the table.

‘Exposurecontestants!’ Roxy leaves a long pause. ‘Henry has attempted to expose one of you. Do you have an idea who it might be?’ Jason matches the blank expressions of his campmates, taking care not to meet Henry’s eyes. Double-crossing bastard.

Roxy looks at each contestant in turn. Pam, Henry, Aliyah, Lucas, Ceri … Her gaze comes to a stop. ‘Earlier today, Henry made a bid to expose Jason. Let’s see if he was right.’

The camera will be zoomed in on him now. Jason adopts a betrayed expression, then mouthsI love you, Kat, hoping she’ll see it.

‘Remember,’ Roxy says, ‘if Henry’s wrong, he’ll face the confession pod himself.’

Roxy is handing a key to Henry. ‘The moment of truth. Open the box and give me Jason’s secret.’

Henry takes ages to find Jason’s envelope among the others, but eventually he hands it to Roxy and shoots an apologetic glance in Jason’s direction, which Jason ignores.

Roxy turns to the camera, the envelope held aloft. ‘Let’s remind ourselves of the accusation Henry made earlier in the confession pod.’ She holds her smile for a second, then her shoulders slump and she cricks her neck.

‘Are you okay?’ Aliyah asks Jason.

‘I’m fine,’ he says curtly, remembering the whispered conversation he’d seen between her and Henry earlier. It could just as easily have been Aliyah running to the confession pod, accusing Jason of robbing his grandad.

‘Twenty seconds,’ Owen says, pressing a finger against his earpiece. Jason knows that, right now, the viewers at home are watching Henry’s exposure attempt.I accuse Jason of burgling his grandfather’s house. Jason tries not to laugh. Kat’s going to be so confused – both Jason’s grandads were dead before Jason hit double figures.

‘Ten seconds,’ Owen says. ‘Five, four.’ He finishes the countdown on silent fingers, as Roxy re-assumes her smile for the camera.

‘Let’s find out if you’re right, Henry.’ She opens the envelope, and despite everything, Jason’s heart races. His real secret’s in there – what if Roxy reads it out by mistake, or drops it, or—

‘Congratulations, Henry.’ Roxy turns the card so all the contestants can read the writing. ‘Your accusation was correct – Jason is indeed a bigamist.’

The camp spins. This isn’t possible.

‘Say your goodbyes, Jason.’ Roxy’s exaggerated sad face flips quickly to one of glee. ‘You’ve been … exposed!’

This can’t be happening. What was Henry whispering to Aliyah about, if it wasn’t the information Jason fed to Henry in the hot tub? Jason hasn’t said a single word that would enable Henry – or anyone else – to guess his secret … Unless … he thinks about the way Aliyah pumped him for information yesterday.Is your secret something to do with your marriage?Maybe it wasn’t Henry sharing information with Aliyah, but the other way around.

‘Oh, my God.’ Aliyah reaches for Jason as he says goodbye to the group, but he brushes her off. He’s thinking about Kat, who he knows will be watching. He’s thinking about how devastated she’ll be, how she’s probably even now packing his bags, slinging them out into the street. White-hot rage builds within him as Roxy leads him out of theExposurecamp. None of this would have happened if it weren’t for Miles Young creating this hell of a show. Miles hasn’t been near theExposurecamp since filming started, but he can’t hide now.

He’s going to get what’s coming to him.

TWENTY-NINE

MONDAY | FFION

As Ffion drives towards Carreg Plas, she sees that several vehicles are parked in the narrow road, including a large van with a satellite dish on top. She leaves the Triumph a hundred metres away and walks towards the gate, where a uniformed officer has clearly been on all night.

---