‘Can I help you?’

I startle, step away from the door. I recognise the woman staring at me from the top of the stairs as Neil’s mother. ‘I’m fine,’ I say. ‘Just a bit lost – it’s such a big house.’ I zip past her, and once downstairs, almost fall through the front door. The cold air tingles my cheeks and darkness swallows me as I head for the car.

And as I sit in the driver’s seat, gripping the steering wheel, deep breathing in an effort to calm down, I realise the first domino fell long ago.

*

I’d borrowed Dad’s car to go to Elise’s funeral, and now, as I drive home through the darkness, my mind whirs. Rosamund mentioned Jackson’s caravan in Laurel Wood. And then there was that day at Drummondale House when we played Truth and Lie, and Jackson told us he grew up in a caravan. And now Neil has mentioned it.

I pull over into a lay-by, and leave the engine running. My heart thuds as I get Google Maps up on my phone. With shaking hands, I key in the address of the apartment Jackson and my mum shared in Tweedmouth, and see as I expand the map, there’s a wooded area nearby called Laurel Wood. It looks to be about a mile across.

Rain splatters the windscreen. I flick on the wipers.

Within seconds, I’m on the road once more.

Chapter 51

Present Day

Me

I haven’t always been the best person I could have been. I’ve let people down. I let my mum down. I should have been there for her. I regret that now, and I’m so sorry for the things I’ve done. But it’s too late for apologies. You have chosen to punish me, and there’s nothing I can do.

Rain splatters the window behind me, and I hear your car approaching. The snapping and cracking of sticks under slow-moving tyres as you drive through Laurel Wood. You will be here soon. You said you would be – that it’s almost time.

And I know, even if I beg and scream and cry, it will do no good: my life will soon be over.

But I’m not afraid. I can’t take any more of this misery. I’m ready. I want to die.

I hear the key turn in the lock, and the door open. I try to lift my head, but the room spins and I can barely move.

Why are you doing this? But you’ve told me so many times it’s almost a mantra. I know the answer – it’s because you love me.

Chapter 52

Present Day

Amelia

Wipers thrash across my windscreen – thud, thud, thud, and I can barely see through the hammering rain, but I know I’m close. I have to keep going.