Forest was standing in the doorway of the cabin, and she gestured at us to join her. We walked into a large communal area with some sofas and a log burner, the seats occupied by a couple of uniformed officers, four teenagers and three adults. One of the women was slim with dark hair, sitting very primly on the sofa, whilst the other was dressed in a brightly patterned jumper that looked hand-knitted, her mass of strawberry-blonde curls making her look a little wild. As I looked over at the third staff member, a churning sensation began to build in the pit of my stomach. I must be mistaken. I blinked a couple of times, but the man who was half turned away from me still looked the same. He had the build of someone who used to play rugby but had spent more time in the pub than on the field recently, with dark blond hair cut close to his head. I took a step backwards, out into the freezing air, and took a deep breath. How the hell could it be him?

‘Paige, are you okay?’ Singh appeared next to me and I swallowed deeply. There was no way I could let my emotions show.

‘I’m fine,’ I replied, taking another deep breath and stepping over the threshold again. The man had his back to me, so I thought he probably hadn’t seen me yet. One of the uniformed officers directed the staff members towards us. I clenched my hands into fists and pushed my shoulders back, preparing to come face to face with him. The three of them got up and crossed the room to speak to DI Forest and DS Singh.

Forest introduced the dark-haired woman as Liz Marcek, the deputy head, and the one with all the curls as Sasha Thomas, a social worker, before turning to the man. He needed no introduction, but the detectives didn’t know that. Mike Lowther, my ex-boyfriend, who I had last seen over three years ago in my hospital room.

Chapter 2

‘Hi Paige.’

I didn’t trust myself to speak and just nodded in response. Singh looked between the two of us, confused, but I didn’t fill him in.

‘How are you?’ Mike asked.

‘Er, busy,’ I replied as I turned to Singh. ‘What do you need me to do?’ I signed as I spoke for the benefit of the two women. Liz Marcek, the deputy head, signed a question to the detectives.

What’s happening? They’ve told us to wait here but we haven’t been given any other information. Have you found Leon? Is he okay? And where the hell is Steve?

I interpreted this for Singh and Forest, who glanced over at the students. Some of them were watching us, and I knew they’d be able to see anything I interpreted for the staff.