It wasn’t a long walk to the train station and less than ten minutes after leaving home, Jodie was saying goodbye to her friend. ‘I’ll talk to you over the weekend,’ she said, giving her a hug. ‘And thanks again, so much, for coming. You’re a lifesaver.’

‘Remember, if you need me, I’m here for you. Tasha won’t mind if you want me to come and stay for a few days.’

Love was definitely blind. Tasha would mind a lot. In fact, she’d probably be furious. Jodie gave her friend’s arm a squeeze. ‘Thank you, but honestly I’ll be fine.’

‘Okay, but ring if you need to.’ Rivka gave a wave and headed into the station.

Jodie stopped at a local shop. She wasn’t going to cook but she still needed some food in the house. Bread, milk, beer, and wine. The necessary staples of life. There were a few takeaways in Gravesend. She’d find out what Flynn liked when he arrived and order something.

She’d turned the corner into Wilfred Street, her house in view, when anxiety hit her and set her heart thumping. Victor knew where she lived. She peered down the short road. It seemed quiet. But maybe he was hiding behind one of the parked cars, waiting to jump out on her.

She’d not been afraid of him when she was fourteen. Looking back from the vantage point of maturity she saw what a wonderful job he’d done in persuading her to trust him, to believe he was god-like, to fall in love with him. That she had done so was something she’d never shared with Rivka who would have argued that she’d been a child, incapable of love. Jodie knew Victor had groomed her and he’d done a good job… but she knew what she’d felt for him had been love. Recognising that it had been wrong, that she had been too young, didn’t change that basic truth.

But she wasn’t fourteen anymore and if they were right, if Victor had deliberately set out to destroy her career by planting those tablets, he wasn’t the man she remembered, the charming Adonis, he was the rapist who had taken advantage of a vulnerable child. Now, for some reason, he’d come looking for her – it was sensible to be afraid.

Lengthening her stride, she hurried along Wilfred Street, taking her keys out as she walked, slipping them into the lock and taking a quick look around before pushing the door open.

How had he found out where she lived? Dumping the shopping bag in the kitchen, she went into the sitting room and pulled the curtains. Had he been peering in her windows, straining to see through the voile she thought had been a sufficient barrier to prying eyes? Maybe venetian blinds or shutters would have been a better option.