The black Range Rover was parked at an angle at the top of Ben’s drive, blocking Beth’s Mercedes in. I approached it at a run, put my hands up to the tinted glass to peer in. Empty. I went to the front door, ringing the bell and hammering on the door, calling Alice’s name, but there was no answer. I crossed over onto the lawn and looked through the window into the lounge, then walked around the right side of the house, through the gate to the garden and around the back. The builders weren’t working today, the new summer house still little more than foundations. Treading softly, I walked to the big windows onto the sunroom to see if I could see anything from there. A doorway into the lounge gave me the same view from the other side. I moved on.

The door to the conservatory stood slightly ajar, a panel of glass shattered and lying in pieces on the thick carpet.

Shit. Maybe I was already too late.

I pushed the door open more fully and stepped inside. Listened. Heard nothing.

‘Alice?’ I said in a loud voice. ‘Beth? Are you there?’

No answer. I walked further into the room, moving quietly.

‘Alice?’

Nothing. The house was silent.

I took out my mobile and called the unrecognised number. No answer. Strained to hear a ringtone somewhere in the house.

There was a thud upstairs.

I froze. They were here.

Another one. Thud.

A female voice. Indistinct.

I took a step towards the hallway and hesitated. Another thud, louder this time.

Whatever was happening upstairs, it didn’t sound good. Somebody was in trouble. I went quietly into the hall, across to the staircase, craning my head up to the first-floor landing.

The female voice came again, high and frightened, the words still muffled.

I moved quickly up the stairs, trying to be as quiet as I could.

A crash and the sound of breaking glass. A scream.

Beth?

The main landing had five doors, all of them open. I opted for the second flight of stairs instead, taking them two at a time. Her voice came again, clearer now.

‘Please! I promise I didn’t tell him anything! Don’t hurt me!’

The master bedroom at the end of the hallway. The door was closed.

‘PLEASE, NO!’

A huge booming gunshot, muffled through the door but still horribly loud in the enclosed space.

I ran the length of the hallway and charged into the door with my shoulder. Wood splintered from the frame and then I was standing in the open doorway of the master bedroom, breathing hard, adrenalin coursing through me, everything else forgotten.

There was a body sprawled on the floor by the side of the bed.

Oh, no. I was too late.

Chapter 78

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