He was taken aback. He had been expecting more resistance, arguments about how she couldn’t walk away from this story, couldn’t miss this opportunity. He had not anticipated this immediate agreement.

‘OK,’ he said. ‘That’s great.’

‘So what’s the plan?’ she said. ‘Where do we go?’

‘A hotel,’ he said. ‘Then find a place and don’t tell anyone the address.’

‘Works for me.’ She smiled. ‘I can still write about the threat and what we’re doing.’

‘Alice,’ he said. ‘I’m not sure that’s a great idea. It’s better to get off the radar.’

‘We’ll be hidden away. It’ll be fine. But we can discuss that later.’ She finished her coffee and put the mug on the table. ‘Where do you want to go? I can look for a rental place.’

‘I don’t really care. I just want to get away.’

‘How about the Lake District?’ she said.

‘Fine by me.’

‘Great,’ Alice said. ‘There’s a place I know which has special memories for me. I’ll see if there’s somewhere there.’

‘Where is it?’ Tom asked.

‘The deepest lake in the Lake District,’ she said. ‘Wast Water.’

Alice

She sat at a corner table, an espresso in front of her. The door opened and Nadia walked in. A few heads turned to look at her. Even in plain clothes in was obvious she was a cop; there was something about the confident way she moved, the way she looked around the café, taking everything in.

She saw Alice and raised a hand in greeting, then spoke to the barista and placed her order.

‘So,’ she said, when she got to the table. ‘You wanted to talk?’

‘Thanks for coming.’

‘How are you? After the last letter?’

‘I’m fine. The officer outside the house helps.’ After she told Nadia and DI Wynne about the threat in the letter, they had sent two uniformed officers to look over the house. It was the only way Tom would stay another night.

‘Good. They can stay as long as you need.’

‘It might not be that long,’ Alice said.

‘Oh?’ Nadia frowned. ‘Why not?’

‘We’re going to stay in a hotel tonight, then head up to the Lake District. There’s a house free which we’re going to rent.’

‘You got lucky.’

‘I told the owner we’d take a month at peak rate. I think a few bookings might have been moved. Probably upset some people.’

‘I think that’s a good idea,’ Nadia said. ‘Get away for a while.’

‘Do you think it’ll work?’ Alice said.

‘What do you mean?’

‘Could someone find out where we are?’