Page 51 of A Game of Lies

‘Poor man,’ Bronwen says.

‘Hmm,’ Huw says again, thinking of Angharad.

‘Elen Morgan says he’s having a breakdown.’

‘That’s what they all say nowadays, when they don’t want to face up to what they’ve done.’

Bronwen stares at him.

‘Although,’ Huw adds, ‘obviously he might genuinely be ill.’

Satisfied, Bronwen turns back to the TV.

Huw’s relieved the search-and-rescue team are finally off the mountain. They might look like another emergency service, with their marked-up off-roaders and high-vis kit, but everyone’s a volunteer. For the last six days, they’ve abandoned their jobs and families to look for Ryan Francis.

Bronwen clutches his arm. ‘Oh, my God!’

Huw, who hasn’t been watching, and who has no idea what is happening, has run out of interested noises to make. On the telly, the young pretty one – Ali something? – is stepping down into what Huw only knows is the ‘confession pod’ because Bronwen won’t stop banging on about it.

‘What if she exposes Ceri?’

‘That would be … bad.’ Huw feels on fairly safe ground with this, but Bronwen turns to him in horror.

‘Bad? It would be disastrous!’

‘Absolutely disastrous.’ Huw should get some sort of an award for this. Boyfriend of the Year, or something. He bets Bronwen won’t sit and watch the motocross with him next weekend.

‘Oh, God, I can’t stand it!’ Bronwen sounds close to tears.

She’s going a bit over the top, isn’t she? Huw likes Ceri – they’ll chat over a pint if they happen to be in the pub at the same time – and he gets that Bronwen is Ceri’s boss at Royal Mail, so she’s kind of invested, but … does it really matter?

‘It’s the birthday card. That’s what’s done it,’ Bronwen says. ‘Aliyah saw Ceri looking at the card, and she guessed her secret.’

On the telly, the young girl in the confession pod takes a deep breath. ‘I expose Ceri.’

‘No!’ Bronwen digs her nails into Huw’s arm as the adverts cut in.

‘Ow!’

‘This can’t happen. We have to do something!’

Huw peels her off him and goes to the loo. ‘Chill out, Bron,’ he calls from the kitchen, where he opens another beer. He returns to the sofa and tries tocwtchup a bit, but Bronwen is rigid with tension. ‘Ceri’s a tough cookie. Whatever her secret is, it’s not going to bother her if people find out.’

‘Shh!’ The music is playing, and the contestants are back on screen. Huw slumps back into the sofa. He’ll get no sense out of Bronwen till this is over.

‘Good evening from Dragon Mountain,’ Roxy says to the camera.

‘Pen y Ddraig,’ Huw mutters automatically.

‘God, Huw, it doesn’t matter! Ceri’s about to be exposed!’ Bronwen is almost hysterical.

They’ll have to get a second telly, Huw decides, if they move in together.

‘Aliyah,’ Roxy says. ‘Earlier today, you attempted to expose Ceri. Let’s find out if you were right.’ She holds up a small key. ‘Open the box and find Ceri’s envelope, please.’

Aliyah’s hands are shaking so much she fumbles the key, but eventually she gets it open and flicks through the envelopes, handing one to Roxy. Huw catches a glimpse of Ceri in the background, silent and white-faced.

‘I can’t bear it.’ Bronwen slaps splayed fingers over her eyes.

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