Cover

Dedication

For Joan Daly

With love

Prologue

It was a terrible shock to her body, being plunged into the icy water of the lake. At first, she was numb, sinking lower and lower, the weight of her clothes dragging her down into the freezing depths. Moments later, she gasped, her body demanding air but finding water instead. It burned in her lungs, a deep, screaming, searing pain in her chest.

I’m drowning.

The thought was the only clear thing, the knowledge that this was it, this was the end. She relaxed, drifted for a moment, before her body protested.

She kicked her legs and punched out her arms, something deep inside her instructing her to head up to the surface, to find air so that she could open her mouth and breathe. The rest of it could wait: the cold, the wet, the snow, even her attacker up there on the lake.

Up, up, UP!

The persistent thought was like a chant in her head. She reached out with fingers that were turning blue and grasped the mantra as though it were a rope that could pull her up to the surface.

It was pitch-black in here, in the hole, underneath the water, but a tiny pinprick of light guided her. It was hope instead of hurt that bloomed in her chest now.

One last push. She felt her body engaging every muscle to propel her forward. She could sense that the air that had eluded her so far was within touching distance.

She was already gleeful, teeth showing in joyful gratitude, not caring about the water that seeped into her mouth through her smile. She was ready to burst through the surface of the water and gulp in great breaths. She had made it.

Smash.

She cried out in pain, letting even more water into her mouth as her fingertips came into contact with something solid. Realisation hit her hard, and she clawed at the ice above her head, frantic, her whole body rolling until she wasn’t sure if it was the world that was upside down or herself.

A shadow fell, cutting off the light that came from outside and above. It turned her mounting panic into something akin to a survival instinct. She tilted her head back and forced herself to watch through eyes that were stinging painfully.

Through the thick ice she saw boots, legs, the person they belonged to moving steadily over her.

The person who had attacked her.

They were still out there, waiting and watching.

Time – and air – had run out.

She closed her eyes. She felt her breathing slow. Her body was shutting down.

It was over.

Chapter 1