Best Kept Secret

of his hand firmly on the horn, although he was aware that the driver in front wouldn’t be able to
hear a word he was saying. When he looked into the rear-view mirror again, he was horrified to see that the lorry behind him was now no more than a few inches from his rear bumper. The lorry in
front still hadn’t progressed enough to move back into the inside lane, which would have allowed Sebastian to accelerate away. Bruno was now waving frantically at the lorry driver on their
left, but the driver maintained a constant speed. He could easily have taken his foot off the accelerator and allowed them to slip into the safety of the inside lane, but he didn’t once
glance in their direction.
    Sebastian tightened his grip on the steering wheel when the lorry behind him touched his rear bumper and nudged the little MG forward, sending its number plate flying high into the air.
Sebastian tried to advance a couple more feet, but he couldn’t go any faster without running into the front lorry and being squeezed between the two of them like a concertina.
    A few seconds later they were propelled forward a second time as the lorry behind them drove into the back of the MG with considerably more force, pushing it to within a foot of the lorry in
front. It was only when the rear lorry hit them a third time that Bruno’s words
Are you certain you’re making the right decision?
flashed into Sebastian’s mind. He
glanced across at Bruno who was now clinging on to the dashboard with both hands.
    ‘They’re trying to kill us,’ he screamed. ‘For God’s sake, Seb, do something!’
    Sebastian looked helplessly across at the southbound lanes to see a steady stream of vehicles heading in the opposite direction.
    When the lorry in front began to slow down, he knew that if they were to have any hope of surviving, he had to make a decision, and make it quickly.

    It was the tutor of admissions who was given the unenviable task of having to phone the boy’s father, to let him know that his son had been killed in a tragic motor car
accident.

ALSO BY JEFFREY ARCHER
    NOVELS
    Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less
    Shall We Tell the President?
    Kane and Abel
    The Prodigal Daughter
    First Among Equals
    A Matter of Honour
    As the Crow Flies
    Honour Among Thieves
    The Fourth Estate
    The Eleventh Commandment
    Sons of Fortune
    False Impression
    The Gospel According to Judas
(
with the assistance of Professor Francis J. Moloney
)
    A Prisoner of Birth
    Paths of Glory
    Only Time Will Tell
    The Sins of the Father
    SHORT STORIES
    A Quiver Full of Arrows
    A Twist in the Tale
    Twelve Red Herrings
    The Collected Short Stories
    To Cut a Long Story Short
    Cat O’ Nine Tales
    And Thereby Hangs a Tale
    PLAYS
    Beyond Reasonable Doubt
    Exclusive
    The Accused
    PRISON DIARIES
    Volume One – Belmarsh: Hell
    Volume Two – Wayland: Purgatory
    Volume Three – North Sea Camp: Heaven
    SCREENPLAYS
    Mallory: Walking Off the Map
    False Impression

My thanks go to the following people for their invaluable advice and help with research:
    Simon Bainbridge, Robert Bowman, Eleanor Dryden, Alison Prince, Mari Roberts and Susan Watt

First published 2013 by Macmillan
    This electronic edition published 2013 by Macmillan
an imprint of Pan Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
Pan Macmillan, 20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR
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Associated companies throughout the world
www.panmacmillan.com
    ISBN 978-0-230-77147-5 EPUB
    Copyright © Jeffrey Archer 2013
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