‘OK, you can stay on the sofa,’ said Steph, and couldn’t help feeling relieved. Whoever had broken in here tonight had either wanted to scare her or warn her. Her mind went straight to Owen and what she’d seen him doing. Could he have broken in to warn her off? And how did that relate to Harry? She wished she could isolate the incidents. She wasn’t naive enough to think that, just because Owen was into drugs, Harry was too, but his reaction to his brother had been neutral.

‘That’s fine,’ said Harry. ‘I’ll be right out here if you need me, though. Just shout.’

‘Thank you,’ said Steph, pushing herself up from the sofa. She purposely avoided his outstretched hand. She didn’t trust herself to make physical contact with him. ‘Goodnight, Harry.’

Once inside her bedroom, Steph closed the door and leaned back against it, letting out a sigh. Tentatively she climbed into bed, resting her head on the pillow. She didn’t know how long she lay there before she finally went to sleep but images of the person in her lodge wouldn’t leave her. She didn’t think they had been there to do her any harm, otherwise they wouldn’t have fled as soon as she’d knocked herself out. The more she thought about it, the more she was sure they hadn’t meant to push her. They had simply been trying to flee. But what did they want? Maybe she had just disturbed them before they’d had time to search the place. Thank goodness her laptop was still there, although out of habit she always backed her work up on a memory stick and that was securely in her purse.

Eventually she felt herself beginning to drift off and her mind wandered back to the lake and kissing Harry. Knowing he was just metres away on the other side of the wall was both reassuring and frustrating.

Lodge 174, Conmere, Sunday, 12 May, 10.00 a.m.

When Steph woke in the morning she instantly remembered what had happened the previous night. There was no gentle drift of events into her consciousness; the memories were there immediately. She sat up and, although her head still hurt, the pain definitely had eased over the last few hours.

Steph hoped Harry was still there. She hated to admit it, but she felt a little nervous after last night. Sitting still, she listened for any sign of him, then she got up, wrapped her dressing gown around herself and ventured out.

‘Good morning,’ he said, rising from the sofa, on which he looked to have been studying his phone. ‘How are you feeling?’

‘Hi. Not so bad. I wasn’t sure if you’d still be here.’ She let out a small breath of relief to have him there.

‘I was hardly likely to go off and leave you, not after what happened.’