‘I realised who you were when we saw you at the viewpoint, and I couldn’t take the risk that Joe had told you who your real father was. You said you were on your way to the quarry, so all we had to do was follow you. The brake pipe was already bent from the pothole earlier on; it didn’t take much to snap it.’

Marie falls silent, listens. They hear the front door open, then footsteps approaching. Anna realises that Marie has used the word ‘we’ more than once, which means she’s not alone; she has a helper. The footsteps echo through the hallway, and suddenly she is convinced that Alex Morell is on his way to join them. Alex, who has invested everything he has into the project at Kotorp, seeing it as his last chance to regain at least part of what he has lost. She thinks back to the message he left on her phone. ‘I don’t know when my life stopped, but I’m intending to reclaim it. Whatever it takes . . .’

She can picture Alex’s tall, bulky body in the driving seat of the Saab as Marie tells him where to move the car to, pictures him lying underneath her car tampering with the brake pipe. She feels dizzy, sick. The door handle is pushed down.

The door opens and Bruno Sordi is standing there.

His face is white. He looks at Lisa, then Anna, and finally at his wife, holding the gun.

‘Oh no,’ he says with a sigh. ‘Now what do we do, darling?’

‘I’ve had some time to think about that,’ Marie replies. ‘How about another tragic fire, this time with a fatal outcome?’

Bruno sighs again, then nods.

‘I guess we don’t have a choice.’

Chapter 61

61

Autumn 2017

Bruno has brought the Sordi family SUV and parked it next to Anna’s car at the front of the house. The two German Shepherds are in the back, and don’t jump out until Marie gives them the command.

‘In you get,’ she orders Anna. ‘Back against the seat, make room for her.’

Anna does as she’s told. Lisa sits between her legs with her head resting on Anna’s chest. She feels the young woman trembling, hears her gasp with pain as she is forced to draw up her injured arm.

‘Stay calm,’ Anna whispers in her ear.

She finds it hard to follow her own advice when both dogs jump in. They are clearly not pleased at having to share the cramped space.

‘The boys won’t touch you as long as you keep still,’ Marie says as she slams the door shut. The biggest dog lets out a low growl.

Anna closes her eyes. ‘Stay calm,’ she whispers again, as much for her own benefit as for Lisa’s.