He walked over to me, holding the gun loosely. It hadn’t occurred to him that I might not be chained any more.

I peered at the shotgun. It looked like the safety catch was on.

A noise from the cellar below. Tony turned towards it.

I hurled myself at him, knocking him to the floor. The gun fell and I grabbed it.

Tony struggled to his feet. Tried to lunge at me. I kicked him in the face and pointed the gun at him. I shifted away so he couldn’t reach me, keeping the gun aimed at him.

‘You’re going to walk to the wall,’ I said, ‘and you’re going to put that cuff on and lock it. The key’s still in it. Go on. Move. I’m watching.’

He eyed me. I wasn’t close enough that he could leap at me, or knock the gun from my hand.

He took a step towards me and held his hand out. ‘No, come on, give me my gun.’

I thought of his wife downstairs, kept there for thirty years. His daughter who’d never seen daylight. ‘I fucking mean it.’ I flicked the safety catch off. ‘I won’t hesitate to kill you.’

He stepped back and sank down against the wall. ‘You can’t leave me here. The carbon monoxide …’

I kicked the knife away so he couldn’t reach it. ‘Put the cuff on,’ I said.

When he looked up at me again, I could see the fight had gone out of him. He slumped and reached for the cuff. Put it around his wrist. I waited while he locked it and threw me the key.

‘Show me it’s locked,’ I said, and he tugged at the cuff. ‘Tell me the code to stop the carbon monoxide.’

Tony looked up at me and opened his mouth, but then his eyes glazed over and he slumped sideways, eyes closed.

‘Tony!’ I yelled. ‘Wake up! Tell me the code!’

There was no response. He lay wedged against the wall.

‘I’ll shoot your legs off,’ I shouted.

No response. Maybe he really had passed out. We were so close, but the women were going to die if I couldn’t get that door open. I fired the gun at the pipe carrying the carbon monoxide. The loose pig careered across the barn and the other pigs squealed. I whispered an apology to them. The gun had blasted a hole in the tube. I ran and opened the barn door wide. But there was already too much carbon monoxide in the basement.

I crept towards Tony. He hadn’t jumped when I’d fired the gun. If he was unconscious, I needed to get his keys from his pocket and open up the house to get access to a phone.

‘Bex!’ I shouted. ‘Are you okay?’

No response. I pictured them dead or brain-damaged.