Dani’s eyes remained focused on the forlorn figure of Jason. He was lying on the ground in front of her, his eyes closed, his body hog-tied; wrists and ankles clasped together with plastic cable ties. Two sets, no, three, all linked together. He had a large gash up above his eye; the smear of red blood on his face glistened in the electric light.

The light. It was so bright.

Dani fought through the pain in her body and lifted her head as best she could to survey the room she was in. Was it the same basement still, or a different room altogether? She could just about make out the shelves, a workbench. A single overhead bulb, like before. But that was emitting only a dull orange glow, yet there was a piercing white light in front of her that was almost impossibly bright to look at, like staring into the sun. It was so bright and glaring that Dani couldn’t even see where exactly in front of her it was coming from, and she could see nothing of what lay beyond.

‘Jason,’ Dani murmured, looking back at him, her tongue and lips struggling to form the word. She focused, tried again. ‘Jason. Can you hear me?’

She saw the slightest of twitches from him. Heard the slightest of groans.

Then she heard a noise from across the room in front of her. Dani’s head whipped around and she cringed in pain.

‘Who’s there?’

Nothing. Silence.

‘Who the fuck are you?’ Dani screamed, finding a strength that surprised her.

She heard a long but calm sigh. Then movement. The first thing she saw were the shoes. Shining brown loafers. Because of the position of that bright spotlight Dani could make out nothing of the figure the shoes belonged to. Not until he took two more steps forwards. Finally his whole body was visible, the spotlight now on his back and creating a long shadow that swept forwards onto Dani.

She looked up into his eyes. She’d never met him in person, but she’d seen enough pictures of him to recognise him instantly.

It was Ethan Grant.

Chapter Sixty

‘DI Stephens,’ Ethan said, his manner calm and confident, though his face was twisted in a grimace as he stared at Dani. ‘I understand you’ve been looking for me.’

Dani’s mind whirred with so many conflicting questions that nothing would stick.

‘So what’s the plan?’ she said, sounding way more direct and focussed than she had any right to be. ‘You set me up for killing Reeve already. Now those poor women too?’

Ethan laughed. ‘You mean the diary? Do you like that touch? When I started reading it in your apartment, I just knew what I had to do with it. I mean, look at you. You’re so fucked up. I bet even you thought for a few moments that maybe you really were a murderer. Like your loser brother.’