Steph took one look at Sonia and the expression of pure fear made Steph obey the command. Concentrating solely on the road ahead, she accelerated hard. Her little Fiat 500 wasn’t exactly geared up for racing and certainly not for rallying around the Lake District. She was fully aware the road was now climbing higher above a lake on their left. On one side were the hills and on the other an ever-increasing drop down to the water.

‘Do you recognise the driver?’ shouted Steph as she threw the Fiat around a sharp left-hand bend. She felt the back wheels lose grip for a moment and the tail-end slide but then the ABS kicked in and the tyres found traction.

Sonia turned to look behind them again. ‘No. I don’t know who they are. Can’t you go any faster?’

‘I’m doing my best!’

Steph felt another shunt and the Fiat jolted forward; she yanked the steering wheel to the right to avoid the drop. For God’s sake, the driver was going to run them off the road, right down the hill and into the water. The road ahead began to open up and she knew the Audi would easily be able to overtake them.

Sure enough, the Audi came alongside them. Steph tried to get a look at the driver but the 4x4 was much higher than her car and she couldn’t afford to take her eyes off the road for more than a couple of seconds at a time. She didn’t know what to do – sheer power, size and probably skill were too superior for her and her Fiat. There was an almighty scraping noise, followed by Sonia screaming as the Audi swung in towards the Fiat. Steph felt her car bounce off the 4x4 and the wheel jolting out of her hands. She looked up and could see the road was bearing off to the right again but the other car wasn’t giving them any room. The Fiat was heading straight for the clump of trees ahead of them. At the last minute the Audi took the bend, but it was too late for Steph. She slammed on the brakes and the car skidded across the verge, throwing itself towards a tree as Sonia screamed for a second time.

Chapter Twenty-Two

The Lake District, Sunday, 12 May, 2.05 p.m.

Steph groaned and, lifting her head, slowly opened her eyes. She was still strapped into the seat and thankfully by some miracle they had missed the trees, the Fiat 500 coming to rest in the small gap between two large conifers. She looked across at Sonia in the passenger seat.

‘Are you OK?’

‘That was close,’ whispered Sonia, her eyes flitting between the trees which shouldered them. ‘I thought we were going to hit them.’

‘Do you hurt anywhere?’

‘I don’t think so. Just a bit shocked.’