Tears immediately spring to my eyes and I let out an anguished whimper. I remember this being taken at the Richmond County Fair, just a year or so before our family was torn apart. Dad had won the watermelon eating contest, which had made me ridiculously proud, and we’d celebrated with all the candy we could stomach. I can still feel the wholeness I’d felt that day; the contentment of being with Mom and Dad, safe from the outside world. Who knew we needed protection from someone within our own home?

I look at Jennifer’s chubby little face, her eyes alight with wonder at everything going on around her, and I hate my father even more for taking that away from her. Somehow, I forged my way through the debris he left in his wake, carving out a life I felt I deserved. But Jennifer wasn’t so lucky. She got lost in the mire and it pains me every day that I wasn’t able to pull her out. Though as she looks back at me from the screen, I can almost see her mouthing the words, You didn’t try hard enough.

I slam the lid down and cry out into the silence of the house, in a desperate attempt to rid myself of the thought that my own sister could be masterminding a plot to bring me down. Would she go to such lengths? Does she really blame me for everything our father put us through?

There’s only one person who can calm my overactive imagination, but as I pull my denim jacket on with the intention of going to see Leon, I’m reminded of his vicious words on the phone when I told him about Anna. On top of everything else, just when I need him most, it seems that my anchor is rapidly drifting away.

As I head over to the main house, I use the short walk to clear my lungs and my head of all the toxic thoughts relentlessly attacking it.

‘Hey, Naomi,’ says Tristan, as I approach the security lodge. ‘How you doing?’

‘I’m good thanks, any idea where Leon is?’ I ask, sweeping my eyes across the bank of monitors on the desk.

‘Mmm, there’s a lot of activity today,’ he says, seeing me looking. ‘Everyone’s getting ready for tomorrow.’

I smile.

‘It doesn’t make my job very easy,’ he goes on. ‘There’s been people here all through the night. How am I to know whether they’re supposed to be on site or not?’

‘I guess you just need to stand down security between now and the concert,’ I say. ‘Otherwise you’ll get an alert every two minutes.’

‘That’s what Leon said,’ says Tristan. ‘I’ve turned off most of the cameras and I’m just getting rid of all the footage from last night.’