She covered her ears and eyes, not wanting to know what was to come next. Jock was here to make peace, to see what he could do to help. Little did he know why he was really called upon. She couldn’t trust father to let him go, now he knew where they were. It was a gamble contacting him in the first place. But Jock was loyal. His pride was such that to tell anyone where he was going, he’d have to have good enough reason, and there was none. Yet.

A loud banging on the wooden door made her jump. She shook her head and pushed her face into her knees.

‘No, no, no, no, no,’ she whispered.

Lovely, gentle, kind, caring Jock.

‘Go away. Get in your car and go away!’ she willed him to rethink his trust. He’d walked blindly into something he could never predict.

The door opened and she knew that he was inside. The latch had been left off for him.

It was time to leave. It was time to disappear. Again. One police car had given up. There’d be more. It was no coincidence that they’d found this place now. She was tired and she didn’t want to move again. She wanted to be Callum’s girlfriend: a normal schoolgirl, shopping, chatting to friends and going to climbing classes.

She grimaced into her knees and bit herself hard. None of that would ever happen as long as she remained here.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up into Jock’s sweet face.

‘What happened to your father?’ he asked.

Chapter 51

Kelly pulled her car into her driveway and switched off the engine. Demi had been lecturing all day in Lancaster and had accepted Kelly’s invitation for supper. Her involvement on the case had been welcomed by her team and Demi had fitted in well. It was a shame she wasn’t local. She’d dismissed her team to get some rest. Fred O’Reilly was booked in to be formally interviewed in the morning. They hadn’t managed to speak to Jock Harris, though.

‘I hate this stage of investigations. I remember you lecturing us on the tree. “Only when the tree has leaves,” you kept saying.’

Demi laughed.

‘Where the hell do you get your ideas?’ Kelly asked. She got out of the car, and Demi did the same.

‘What a lovely house. Which lake is that? I’m afraid my knowledge is sketchy. What a beautiful place to work, I envy you.’

‘It’s Ullswater. Thank you. It is a beautiful place but my work doesn’t exactly get me out sightseeing.’

‘I can never understand the names around here, they’re all so non-English.’