That night, Heather did not go to bed. When they went off to their separate rooms, she waited half an hour or so for Nikki to go to sleep, and then she crept back down the hall to the living room, where she sat with her phone in her lap and her legs tucked up under her for the rest of the night. She listened, and she looked at Ben Parker’s number on the small electronic screen. There was no mobile signal, but she could use the phone at the cottage to call him. As easy as that. Despite the late hour, she was almost sure he would answer.

But instead she stayed awake, one small lamp on next to her and a knife from the kitchen lying in easy grabbing distance on the sofa. She listened and watched, her body thrumming with tension like electricity through a wire. Someone here knew who she was. Someone here was playing with her. Why? What did they want?

Was the new Red Wolf watching her?

By the time Nikki got up the next morning, Heather had brewed a pot of coffee and put the knife away. In the daylight, the crisp green landscape around them seemed less threatening, and all the horrors of the previous night – whose daughter am I exactly – seemed ludicrous.

‘You’re up early.’ Nikki yawned hugely, taking the cup of coffee in both hands. ‘Raring to go?’

Heather smiled, although it felt sickly and false on her face.

‘Not exactly. My head is killing me.’

Nikki sat on one of the kitchen stools, her mouth turning down at the corners. ‘A migraine?’

Heather nodded and sipped from her own cup, ignoring the slippery feeling of guilt in her chest.

‘Bloody hell. Do you want to go to a doctor or something?’

‘No, but I think I’m just going to lie low for the day. Maybe you could move your date with Harry forward a bit? Spend the day with him.’

‘But …’

‘Don’t worry about me, honestly. It’s hardly fair to drag you all the way up here then doom you to a day of tedium because I’ve got a migraine, is it? Just test the water, see what he says.’

‘If you’re sure.’