‘There’s no proper track!’

‘You have to keep an eye on the direction,’ Ed explained. ‘It’s to the west of the house.’

That clearly didn’t help; it just made Therese laugh even more.

‘You’re not bringing me out here to kill me, are you? Remember, I write horror novels.’

Ed glanced at her and to his relief saw that her eyes were sparkling. She definitely wasn’t scared of him.

‘Not far now.’

‘Can you fish in the lake?’

‘You certainly can.’

They passed a grove of overgrown fir trees, then the lake opened up before them. The surface of the water was dark and looked strangely hard without the wind to cause ripples. As if you might knock yourself out if you tried to dive in.

‘It’s a good place to swim too – there’s a little beach,’ Ed said, pointing.

‘Okay.’ Therese didn’t look as if she had the least interest in swimming.

‘Time to head back.’

Therese didn’t move; she stood there motionless, gazing out across the water.

‘There’s something floating out there.’

At first Ed couldn’t see anything, then he spotted a jacket.

A jacket floating on the surface.

‘That’s odd.’

Therese moved closer to the water’s edge.

‘Oh my God, it’s a body!’

Ed reacted instinctively; he ran straight into the water.

It was a man.

A man.

Where the hell had he come from?

Ed turned the body over, dragged it towards the shore. He recognised the man, knew he’d seen him before. Only from a distance, and only through the windows of The Sanctuary, but it was definitely him.

The man with the gaping wound in his throat was one of the people who had sought refuge in The Sanctuary.

Chapter 6

When the first car arrived, Malin was sure that the man in the Wellingtons had come back. Panic made her want to scream. It was over now, she realised that. The man had made his decision. He wasn’t going to let her or the children go. Not now Dan was dead; there would be too much explaining to do.

She ran to the bedroom window, trying to see whether he was armed with anything other than the pistol. To her surprise she saw a different man, someone she didn’t recognise. And a young woman. She looked strong and healthy, and she beamed when she got out of the car and looked at the house.

As if she wanted to live there.

Malin didn’t know what to do. Who were they? Could she trust them?

Will they be able to hear me if I bang on the window?