Karin’s cry was lost to the sound of a scream. Claudia had let go of Karin when Leanne ploughed into them and the shove had unbalanced her. Claudia could have fallen one of two ways, and fate decided that this was one disaster she wasn’t going to sidestep. There was a human-sized splash.

Leanne knelt down and made a grab for Claudia’s outstretched hand, but Claudia had done the one thing she shouldn’t. When she hit the cold water, she had gasped for air and, as her head submerged, she breathed in a lungful of water. Her arms flailed in panic and when she did rise briefly to the surface, she was coughing and spluttering. Her eyes were wide with fear and she was looking directly at Leanne.

Karin had risen to her feet and pressed a hand to her bloodied forehead as she watched on silently.

‘We have to do something,’ Leanne said, glancing left and right.

Beyond the tunnel there were no boats moored along the canal bank, no lifebuoys or poles to hook out Claudia, not even a fence post or broken branch that Leanne could recover in time to save her. She reached out her arm again, fingers stretching towards Claudia, who was busy swallowing more water than she was coughing up. Her movements slowed and she couldn’t keep her head above water. She seemed to know this and stopped struggling.

Leanne had trained for a situation like this and if it had been Lois slipping beneath the surface, she would have jumped in by now. It was probably for the best that she hadn’t. It gave her time to take off her boots and jacket.

‘What are you doing?’

‘I can’t watch her die.’

‘She would have let me die. I saw her push Declan off the balcony, Leanne. She killed my brother!’ Karin’s voice was loud enough to block out the sound of air bubbles breaking the surface of the water. ‘She’s … She’s not like us.’

‘No. And we’re not like her,’ Leanne said with grim determination. ‘You need to phone for an ambulance. Now!’

Without waiting for an answer, Leanne took a breath and held it as she jumped into the canal, her arms spread wide to reduce how far her head dipped beneath the surface. The pain was like nothing she had ever felt before. She knew she wouldn’t have long before she succumbed to the cold, but she didn’t act immediately. She floated on her back and waited for the shock to dissipate. When she allowed herself to move, she kicked her feet, exploring the dark waters with her legs until she connected with a solid form that she couldn’t see. She took another deep breath.