No. He had Jo and Tom to think about, not to mention the fact she was going to attack him. She was going to lunge at him and swing the hammer at his head. He’d be ready. He’d been in his fair share of fights down the years. You couldn’t mix with the people he had mixed with unless you could look after yourself.

But then she licked her lips and turned away and ran into the house.

He saw immediately where she was going. She was going to get Jo.

She was going to hurt his niece. To bash her brains out with that hammer.

He ran after her. She turned out of the kitchen and into the dining room and he heard her footsteps on the stairs. Good. He could trap her upstairs.

He walked up the stairs. When he was near the top she walked out of a bedroom door and onto the landing. In one hand she was holding Jo. In the other, she was holding the hammer.

‘Hand her to me,’ he said. ‘You don’t need to do this.’

‘Move,’ she said. ‘Now.’

‘No. I can’t let you hurt her.’

‘I said move.’ She lifted the hammer close to Joanna’s head. ‘I’m going to count to three, and then I’m going to kill her.’

‘You won’t do that.’

‘One.’

‘I know you won’t.’

‘Two.’

She was perfectly still, her eyes trained on his. They had the same emotionless, inhuman look as before.

There was no doubt she would do it, then try to do the same to him. He could run away, but it would be too late for Jo.

He took a step down.

‘Good,’ she said. ‘Keep going. All the way.’

He backed away and she followed, keeping a few steps’ distance between them. When he was at the bottom of the stairs she nodded towards the terrace. ‘Outside, back to me.’

He went out, looking forward, all too aware she was behind him.

‘Lie down,’ she said.

He lay on the terrace, next to the scattered furniture. This was it. He braced himself for the sharp blow from the hammer.

It never came.

Instead, she set off at a jog towards the lake, Jo bouncing in her arms.

Alice

He would follow her, no doubt, but that was part of the plan. He would think she was going to drown the infant, and he would run after them.

She glanced over her shoulder. He was on his feet, looking at them. As she watched, he started in their direction.

Good. She sped up. She needed to reach the water before he caught them.

She ran down the slope that led to the rocky beach. Tom lay sprawled in the dinghy, his head lolling over the side of the boat. She ran into the lake until she was waist deep in water.

Roland appeared at the top of the slope.