Grant jolted at the shock of her standing right there behind him. He spun and his heart thumped so hard in a sudden wave of panic that he thought it might actually burst out of his rib cage.

‘Sorry, did I scare you?’

‘Yes, you bloody did!’ he hissed. ‘There’s nothing here. Just a branch on the doors.’

‘Did you check out the back?’

‘No.’

‘Could you? Please?’

Grant let out a long deep sigh then nodded. He knew it wouldn’t be that difficult to quickly check, but the fact was, he was genuinely rattled. He moved over to the patio doors and turned the key, then pressed down on the handle. The door released and Grant pushed it open and stepped out into the cold, though only a couple of inches from the threshold. He really wasn’t intending to venture too far.

He saw movement out of the corner of his eye… A dark shadow moving towards him… For the second time in a few moments Grant thought his heart might actually explode, but this time he was ready. Almost. The bat was in his grasp. Grant turned to where the shadow was. He crouched, moving into a defensive position and pulled the bat behind his head, ready to uncoil his arms and attack…

The figure came forwards. Split-seconds moved ever so slowly as Grant’s brain worked to decipher what was unfolding in front of him. The bat began to arc forwards…

The shadowy figure loomed, but then, all of a sudden, it was out of the shadows, lit up by the light seeping out from the kitchen.

Grant could now see his face clearly. He pulled his arms back, abruptly stopping the bat’s trajectory.

‘You?!’

Ethan Grant said nothing, just gave his father a crooked half smile.

Chapter Fifty-Six

Dani headed down the stairs and cautiously opened the doors at the bottom to peer out. There was no sign of Jason, but then she heard the outer door to the apartment block clink shut. She moved out into the foyer and caught a glimpse of his figure outside, heading away around the corner.

He hadn’t seen her.

When Dani had arrived home earlier she’d not seen Jason’s car, but she guessed he’d driven to hers and knew where he usually tried to park on the one-way street outside. With any luck he’d still be stuck in the one-way system by the time she caught up.