Her brain started to blur. What was happening to her?

‘I didn’t do it,’ Dani said. ‘You must know I didn’t kill any of them?’

Jason said nothing.

‘You must know it’s not me!’

‘You’re right. I know it wasn’t you. Not the Dani I know. But—’

‘There is no other me! I’m not a fucking schizo with split personalities!’

Jason didn’t say anything. His silence made her question her own strong words. She wasn’t mad. Was she?

‘If you need help, Dani… I’m here for you.’

She didn’t know what to say. What to do. She dropped the diary and turned for the door. She just had to get out.

‘No, Dani!’ Jason shouted.

She ran up the stairs, out into the cold night, a thousand thoughts blurring in her mind. She didn’t kill those women. She couldn’t have. But then… her brother was a murderer. Was there a killer in her too?

With her confused brain consumed by those demented thoughts, she didn’t see the figure standing outside until it was too late. She had no time to react as the gloved hand sprang forwards, a small black object sticking out from its grasp. The taser pressed into Dani’s side and a surge of electricity rushed through her body, knocking her clean off her feet.

She landed on the cold paving slabs with a painful thud. In a daze, she was only vaguely aware of the sound of a scuffle above her, before another body flopped down right next to her.

Unable to move, Dani stared into Jason’s eyes, as both their bodies twitched uncontrollably. She heard but couldn’t see the figure move up behind her.

The taser stabbed into her back and the pulse of electricity that surged through her seemed even more powerful than before, sending both her brain and her heart into a panic. Sparks and stars danced in front of Dani’s twitching eyes.

But not for long. Seconds later, everything turned black.

Chapter Fifty-Nine

The first thing Dani saw when she opened her eyes was Jason. Her head was bowed forwards and turned to the side. She was sitting on the cold hard floor of the basement, her legs out in front of her. She tried to move, to fully sit up, but realised she couldn’t. Her hands were behind her, linked together – metal handcuffs? – and wrapped around a hard object of some kind. A metal pole, was Dani’s best guess.

She tried to pull her head up to look around the room but it was heavy, and even moving a few millimetres sent a searing pain through her neck and down her spine. Was that because she’d been sitting in the awkward position for so long, or was it the after effects of the taser?