He heard Alice’s voice, as if from somewhere deeper in the house. She’d recognised his accent. He felt the weight behind the door shift and her father’s face appeared at the widening gap.

‘Let me see your hands.’

Tony held up both in surrender. ‘I’m not going to harm you. Or Alice. But we need to be quick.’

Slowly, the door opened and Tony stepped inside. He heard it slam behind him, with a finality he could not easily dismiss, as if the life he had lived was over and a new reality lay ahead.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Chapter Thirty-Eight

The entrance to the woods lay ahead of them as they trundled down an increasingly uneven roadway that led to a small empty parking area.

‘No sign of Uncle Sean,’ Duggan said, pulling one of the cans free from the plastic rings that held the four together. He tapped on the top twice, a trick Tony remembered him doing years back to stop the contents from spraying when the can was opened. Tony didn’t know if it worked, or it was a tic Duggan had not shed.

The can opened with a wet hiss and he gulped down three or four mouthfuls before belching softly. ‘We’re staying put so, until he comes.’

‘I’m going to stretch my legs,’ Tony said, feeling he had to explain his exiting from the car to Duggan.

‘I’ll join you,’ Karen said.

They stood together, in front of the car, their backs to the occupants, and scanned the woodland. A five-bar gate blocked the pathway leading up into the trees, a dull metal chain and padlock wrapped around one side.

‘Do you remember this?’ Karen asked.

‘I’m not sure,’ Tony admitted. ‘I don’t remember climbing over a gate. How could we have?’

‘Did we even come in through here? Maybe the gate wasn’t here back then.’

Tony looked around, trying to find some distinguishable landmark that might trigger a memory from that night, but recognised nothing in particular. It could have been the entrance to any woodland, anywhere.

‘It has been thirty years,’ he said, finally.

‘We’re never going to find him,’ Karen said.

Just then, the air filled with a low rumbling which grew in intensity and pitch. They both glanced up instinctively as the sound sharpened, rising above them. They could just make out the underbelly of the jet as it emerged through low lying cloud and continued it ascent, breaking through the higher layers and disappearing from sight, its roar gradually dying with its passing.

Karen looked at Tony. ‘This is the place. I remember that.’