He drives to Stephanie’s place. The gate is open. He parks, carries on on foot. He feels stupid, moving like a soldier under fire, flitting from tree to tree like he’s being watched, but at the same time he feels this is an entirely fitting response to the situation.

The Cadillac is parked in the driveway beside Stephanie’s pickup truck. With the angle, with the cold glare of the sun and all that packed snow on the rear window, it is impossible to see if there’s anyone in it. Danny stays crouched down for another minute. No movement, no sound. The house is quiet, too.

He creeps forward, leaving deep footprints. If he suddenly has to run, there’ll be nowhere he can go where they couldn’t easily find him. He ignores the voice in his head telling him this is a bad idea. Of course it’s a bad idea. He doesn’t need a little voice to tell him that.

One more step and he’s close enough to peer through the rear window. It’s dark in the Cadillac, much darker than it has any right to be. He can’t see anyone in the gloom, but he can’t be sure, so he creeps up along the side, careful not to touch the car itself. It isn’t that he’s afraid an alarm might sound, alerting Gant and Jeremiah to his presence. It’s just that he doesn’t want to touch the car. He has the absurd notion that touching it will make him sick.

The back seat is empty. Lots of space in there. The front is empty, too. Tidy. Neat. No coffee cups or scrunched-up gas receipts. It is showroom clean. That Mr Gant sure knows how to take care of his automobile.

For the first time, Danny becomes aware of the footprints in the snow leading from the Cadillac to the house. Gant’s footprints are narrow and long and, judging by the depth, he’s a deceptively light man. Danny follows them up round the hood, where they’re joined by Jeremiah’s heavy footprints clumping alongside, drag marks between each one. Both sets of footprints lead up to the porch, and on the porch there’s freshly-shod snow all the way up to the front door.

He should kick the car. That’s what he should do. Kick the car, set off the alarm, get Gant and Jeremiah running out here, away from Stephanie. By the time they got outside, Danny would already be backing away. They might be able to track him easily, but they wouldn’t be able to catch him. One is fat and one is old. He’d get away. He’d probably get away. Unless Jeremiah has a gun, and he’s a good shot.

Kicking the car is Plan B, Danny decides.