‘We do. His name is Stuart Ross and we’re about to pull him in. He’s one of Sullivan’s foot soldiers based here in London. The note that accompanied the photos makes it clear that Sullivan sent him north to Kirkby Abbey to snap the pair of you along with your house.’

‘That can mean only one thing, Leo,’ James said. ‘Sullivan got wind of where we are and has decided it’s time to settle the score.’

CHAPTER THIRTY

James didn’t want to tell Annie about the photos on Sullivan’s phone, but she had a right to know.

He had mistakenly believed that the threat they’d faced from Sullivan had receded over the past year. But clearly it hadn’t. And now he had to decide how seriously to take this latest development and what, if anything, to do about it.

Before facing Annie, he slipped into the downstairs loo and opened up the photos that Leo had sent him.

The first was an exterior shot of their house. The second showed he and Annie coming out of the front door. The third was of the pair of them walking arm in arm through the village.

For a few minutes he was lost in silent thought as a knot of dread formed in his stomach. When he walked back into the kitchen, his heart was pounding in his chest.

Annie hadn’t moved from the table and the look she gave him told him that she knew that something was up.

‘That was Leo Freeman in London,’ he said, deciding that there was no point beating about the bush. ‘He had some news about Andrew Sullivan.’

‘Please tell me they’ve collared him,’ she said.

He shook his head. ‘They’re still looking, but they found something when they searched his house.’

Alarm shivered behind Annie’s eyes as she stared at him, slack-jawed.

‘Well don’t keep me in suspense,’ she said. ‘What did they find?’

When he told her, and showed her the photos, she sucked in a breath and her eyes grew to the size of saucers.

‘I knew the bastard wouldn’t leave us alone,’ she said, her voice trembling. ‘But I can’t believe he sent someone to take pictures of us. Why would he do that?’

‘It could be he was planning to send them to me in order to scare us,’ James replied.

Annie jammed her tongue to the side of her mouth and thought about it.

‘I think it more likely that he was checking out the lie of the land before making his move,’ she said. ‘If he’s decided to come here, he’ll want to know what to expect.’

James swallowed, trying to moisten his throat.