He came closer again, but I turned and took a few steps towards the stand of trees.

‘Paige, I think there are things we need to talk about, to work through.’

I was about to reply when I heard a shout.

‘Where did that come from?’ I asked.

‘Does it matter? I’m talking to you, Paige.’ I detected a tone in his voice that set off alarm bells in my head. Even after three years I recognised when his emotions were on the edge; the difference was this time I didn’t care.

Pushing past him, I set off back in the direction of the cabin, wondering what had happened. Suddenly I felt a tug on the back of my coat, one of my feet slipped and I sprawled face first into the snow. The fall knocked the wind out of me, and I lay there for a couple of seconds before rolling onto my side.

Mike loomed over me, and I instinctively pushed my body away from him along the ground. He reached down and took my arm but I shook him off.

‘Don’t touch me,’ I snapped.

‘Oh for God’s sake, Paige, don’t be so pathetic. I’m just trying to help.’

I ignored him and struggled to my feet. My trousers were soaked through from the snow, but at least it had been a soft landing. Keeping my back to Mike, I set off towards the cabin again, trembling slightly. I told myself it was from the cold, but I couldn’t shake off the memory of the tug I’d felt before I fell.

Chapter 4

The forensics team arrived at the cabin at the same time Mike and I did, so Singh led us back to the hall and out of their way.

‘What happened?’ he asked, looking at my snow-covered clothes.

‘I slipped,’ I muttered.

Singh cast a glance at Mike, but didn’t ask any more questions. He led us into a room in which a few uniformed officers were drinking cups of tea; Mike took it upon himself to join them, but I sat as far away from him as I could. Singh fetched me a drink then disappeared, reappearing a few minutes later with a shiny silver emergency blanket for me.

‘What’s that for?’ I asked, feeling my face flush.

‘You’re soaked, and I don’t really want you freezing to death,’ Singh replied, concern in his eyes. He started carefully tucking the blanket around my legs then stopped, looking embarrassed. I couldn’t help but smile at him. Even when he was busy and stressed he found the time for little moments of kindness, and it was one of his most endearing qualities. I told myself he would have behaved that way with anyone, though I secretly hoped I was getting special treatment.

‘We heard a shout,’ I said, remembering what had sent me hurrying back in the first place. ‘Has something happened?’