Fran takes a step backwards but she can still see him as he edges closer to the front door. Then, in a blink, he darts into a room at the front of the house and disappears.

‘Renata?’ he shouts, his voice more distant, ‘Where—’

There’s a thwack – like a cricket bat hitting a ball – then a thump.

The house falls silent: no footsteps, no creaking floorboards, no doors opening and shutting, no shouts. Fran reaches for the hall door handle, then pauses. Something’s telling her not to go into the house. Instead, she slips outside and moves silently towards the window of the room that Tom went into.

And then she sees him, lying on the floor, face down, arms outstretched. Kneeling beside him, and sobbing like her heart is breaking, is Renata. Did he collapse? Have a heart attack? It would explain why everything went so quiet. Ambulance, Fran thinks, running her hands over her dressing gown pockets. They’re both empty; her phone’s back at the retreat, plugged in on the floor.

There should be a phone in the house though. She taps on the window to get Renata’s attention, completely forgetting she’s not supposed to be there.

Chapter 47

Then

JENNA

Jenna drags a dressing gown from the pile at the entrance to the sweat lodge and wipes it over her face as she gets slowly to her feet. The wasteland is deserted and the only light is a sliver of sun on the horizon. She slips her feet into the nearest pair of flip-flops and takes an abandoned bottle of water from an upturned oil drum, unscrews the lid and empties the bottle in a couple of gulps. She pulls on the dressing gown, pockets another bottle and, hearing shouts from the sweat lodge behind her, panics and runs. She clambers over the wall that separates the wasteland from the path back to the hotel then deliberates. She doesn’t want to see anyone. She just wants to be on her own, to calm down, to think. She could go back to her room but she wouldn’t be alone for long. Erica would be out of the sweat lodge soon and want a shower. The bar? Too many people. And she doesn’t want to risk bumping into Damian.

Damian. Just thinking about him makes her stomach twist. He warned her. He told her not to trust Tom and she ignored him, told him she was in love. Maybe she shouldn’t go anywhere. Just wait for Tom to come out and confront him about what Kate said. But how had Kate known about her dad? Had she coerced Tom into telling her what they’d discussed in their session? Hit him until he told her?