‘I didn’t . . .’ he started.

‘And the bathroom cabinet door. There was a mirror on it, yes? And you took it off.’

This time, he didn’t even attempt an answer. Their eyes locked. Belle lay back tiredly on the pillows. ‘It’s really bad. Isn’t it.’

‘Don’t think about it. It will get better.’

‘You’re a rotten liar.’

‘There’ll be scarring. There’s no doubt about that. But there’s no infection. It’s healing fine.’

‘My leg feels OK,’ said Belle.

‘That’s fine too. There might be some scars. Nothing too bad.’

Belle almost smiled. But she couldn’t manage it. The stitches felt tight when she tried, pulling her face to one side. She must look like the Joker in Batman, she thought. Oh Christ.

‘Must have given you a fright, a girl turning up ripped to shreds on your doorstep,’ she said.

He shook his head. ‘You’re not ripped to shreds. You’re here and you’re alive. Everything from here on in is a bonus.’ He paused, eyeing her face. ‘Who’s this Harlan Stone then? Any relation to that Charlie Stone character who moved into the big house? The one who died along with his missus in the helicopter crash? That damned thing was a bloody nuisance, zipping in and out, worrying the livestock.’

Belle nodded. ‘Harlan’s their adopted son. He’s crazy and he’s sadistic and he keeps a lot of pet apes around him, real nasty bastards.’

‘Are you ready yet to tell me about what they did to you? And why?’ he asked.

Belle gulped down a breath. Oh Christ in heaven. The black waters closing over her head. The pressure and the pain as the caimans struck. The terror.

‘If you can’t yet, don’t worry,’ he said.

Belle took in a calmer breath, then let it go. The panicky feeling abated. But she wanted to tell him, tell someone. ‘I can do it,’ she said.

‘If you’re ready.’

‘I’m ready,’ said Belle, and she started to speak, started to tell him all about Charlie Stone and her dad who worked with him, and Charlie’s twisted viper of an adopted son, and how Harlan had pursued her all her life. When he’d finally seen her as a threat, he had thrown her in with the caimans, expecting them to finish her.

‘But they didn’t,’ she said at last. ‘I got away.’

His eyes had narrowed while she spoke. ‘You think this fucker’s going to keep looking for you? He didn’t know you managed to get out, did he?’