He and Nicole should have called an ambulance as soon as they found her in that wine cellar, Kyle thought crossly, before others had a chance to intervene. It seemed Yvonne’s reputation was more important than her well-being. He wondered if her husband and children would agree. But no one had asked Kyle for his opinion, so he thought it best to leave the self-proclaimed experts to it. Perhaps they were right, and Yvonne would appreciate their discretion.
“Len,” Kyle called out.
Len turned around, rearranging his face into an expression of concern. “How’s Yvonne?” he asked.
“Still doped up to her eyeballs,” Kyle replied. “She drank enough wine to fell a horse.” His own limit was two glasses, three if he was feeling reckless, but Yvonne had downed several bottles. He couldn’t even imagine what that did to a body.
“I had no idea she had it in her,” Len said, grinning lasciviously. “The heart of a party girl beats beneath that frigid exterior.”
“What the hell are you playing at?” Kyle demanded, rounding on Len.
“How do you mean?” Len asked innocently.
“She was fine until you came along. What happened last night?”
“Nothing,” Len replied, shrugging his thick shoulders.
“Did you have sex with her?”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but yes. It was passable, not great,” Len added. “She’s a bit too uptight for me.”
“Is that why you gave her coke?”
“I thought it might loosen her up a bit. We only did a few lines.”
“She could have died, Len. I’m no expert, but I think she might have alcohol poisoning.”
Len looked up at Kyle, not bothering to hide his annoyance. “I’m not her keeper, Kyle. We partied, then she went back to her room. She was fine when she left me. What she did afterward is not my responsibility. It was just a friendly shag. It didn’t mean anything.”
“Would Sheila agree with that assessment?” Kyle asked. He knew he was hitting below the belt, but he was too angry to let this go.
“I doubt it, but Sheila will never hear about it, will she, mate?” Len put undue stress on the last word.
“You honestly think she doesn’t know what you get up to?”
“My marriage is my business. Given the outcome of yours, I don’t think you’re in any position to offer matrimonial advice.”
“I didn’t cock up my marriage,” Kyle snapped.
“Right, you just keep telling yourself that. You think just because you are not the one who left, you’re not responsible?”
Low blow for low blow, Kyle thought. He wasn’t ready for this conversation, so he turned on his heel, needing to walk away.
“If you ever breathe a word of this to Sheila, I’ll kill you,” Len snarled.
Kyle spun around. “Like you nearly killed me before?” Kyle hadn’t meant to say that, but the words just slipped out.
“I saved your life, you miserable bastard.”
“Did you, Len?” Kyle hurled back.
“You know I did. I pulled you from a burning car.”
“After you wrapped it around a tree.” They’d never had this conversation, not in the thirteen years since the accident, but it was time to set the record straight.
“I could have left you to burn,” Len retorted.
“Like you did Hugh?”
“I would have saved him if I could, but I went for you first, because you were my best friend.” Len looked really angry now. He didn’t like his heroics questioned, not after he’d turned the whole episode into a reason for sainthood.
“You were drunk and high, and you insisted on driving. You refused to slow down when Hugh begged you to. You as good as killed him.”
“It was an accident!” Len roared. “We were kids. Kids get drunk.”
“Hugh wasn’t drunk, and he’d offered to drive, but you wouldn’t let him. You are responsible for his death.”
“He didn’t have to get in the car with me,” Len said with a shrug.
“He had no other way of getting back.”
They were yelling now, their words echoing over the still waters of the reservoir. Now that the accusation was out, Kyle wondered how he could have allowed Len to get away with it all these years. It wasn’t that they’d had an accident; accidents happened. It was the fact that Len had never seemed bothered by Hugh’s death. He’d shrugged it off and gone on with his life, putting Hugh out of his mind as soon as the funeral was over.
Len could have saved Hugh, had he not been so pissed. He’d dragged Kyle, who’d cracked his head on the windscreen, to safety, but didn’t go back for Hugh right away. He was so drunk, he could barely stand. By the time he’d remembered Hugh was in the car, flames had reached the petrol tank, which was right next to Hugh, who’d been knocked unconscious. The tank blew up, turning the vehicle into a ball of flame that could be seen from miles away. Hugh had been twenty-one years old and never knew that he’d left behind a daughter. Hayley was now twelve and the spitting image of her dad, who’d been blond and blue-eyed with a smile that could disarm even the crustiest of tutors. Kyle kept in touch with Hayley’s mum, Lila, but Len hadn’t spoken to Lila since the funeral, preferring to put the whole incident behind him.
“You really are an ungrateful bastard,” Len said, his voice dangerously low. “You owe me your life.”
“I owe you nothing, not anymore. The debt has been paid many times over.”
“Really? How do you figure?” Len demanded.
“I covered for you time and again when you begged me to tell Sheila you’d been
