‘What?’ Ben said in a high-pitched voice. ‘What can I tell you Daisy, I’m a much-loved boy. My mother is very proud of me,’ he said with definite sarcasm and lay back on the bed placing both hands under his head.

I cocked my head and screwed my face into a frown. ‘What is it? You’re golden balls in her eyes? Why is that so terrible?’

‘Come here,’ he commanded, therefore side-lining my question. I joined him on the bed where we entwined ourselves around one another, each limb clambering for space. Ben kissed my neck which made me squirm around; the sensation was just too much for me, so I began laughing hysterically.

With the noise of my laughter, neither of us would have heard the floorboard outside let out a soft creak as it was relieved of the weight of a stationary body.

3

ANNIE

I knew there was something about my new daughter-in-law that was so familiar. She was striking in her overall appearance. Tall, long golden hair, rosy cheeks – she was a handsome woman, there was no denying it. I could see what Ben saw in her.

But there had been something else that played on my mind after they left. I had seen her somewhere before. I knew something about her.

All I needed to do was cast my memory back a few years, when the face from the sixty-inch TV screen had haunted my every waking hour, when I read newspapers back to back to follow the reports. That was when I had seen Daisy before, her face had come to me unexpectedly amongst the chaos of those years, the article on her tangled in with the trail of words I read daily, checking, always checking. I remember her story leapt out at me and for a time, distracted me from the face I didn’t want to see. Initially I felt sorry for her, looking at the photo of her in her school uniform, just a girl, but as I read on, I discovered there was more to a photograph than meets the eye.

I had never forgotten that news story, and I had read a fair few. I read the papers for years, never wanting to miss anything. Then one day I finally felt safe and stopped. But not before I had seen Daisy’s story.

So when she arrived at my house I knew straight away I had seen her before. I could tell by the way she presented herself that she was holding tightly onto her past and that she was trouble. To arrive wearing red heels when pregnant? What does that say about her? That girl was danger. I was adept at knowing when danger was approaching and I knew exactly what I needed to do.

I needed to protect my son.

After Ben and Daisy left, I sat alone in the front room staring out through the window where the darkness had enveloped the view of the sea. Having returned from the shops and seen the face on the TV screen just the day before, I was still in shock and now I was on extra high alert. I thought about the vast expanse of water just a few feet away and hoped it would protect me.