‘Of course,’ she muttered, swaying as she tried to stay on her feet. ‘It has to look like an accident, doesn’t it?’

He dragged her along. ‘Yes, clever girl, it does. But don’t worry, it will.’

In the hallway, Molly grabbed hold of the banisters with her free hand. She was damned if she was going to make it easy for him. He merely laughed and yanked her away, laughing harder when she squealed with pain.

Then she heard it, distant but unmistakeable. The sound of sirens. Charlie was too busy trying to get her up the stairs to notice. Every time he got one hand free, she’d grab onto the banisters with the other. His expression was growing more frustrated, angrier. He was resisting the temptation to hit her, she guessed that wouldn’t last much longer. She needed to keep him occupied until the police got there.

The sirens were growing louder. Charlie’s head jerked up and he gave a grunt of disbelief before looking down at her face. Whatever he saw there released his rage and with a growl of fury, he raised his hand and punched her.

She staggered from the blow. Already unsteady, she slipped and tumbled down the stairs, landing in a heap at the bottom. He jumped down beside her and fired a kick at her head, missing when she rolled away and curled up. The sirens were deafening, the police had to be outside. With a vicious yell, Charlie pulled his foot back again and took aim.

Molly had only one weapon left; she opened her mouth and screamed, a blood-curdling sound that echoed around the hallway.

It worked. Instead of kicking her, he turned away and looked frantically around. There were shouts from outside the front door. Panicked, he bent down, grabbed her hair and yanked it. ‘Is there another way out?’

‘Yes,’ she said, gritting her teeth as he wrenched her head harder. ‘Go out the patio door. At the end of the garden there’s a gate that’ll take you out onto the road behind.’ She was lying. The garden was long and narrow and surrounded by a high wall. But it was dark, it would take him a while to discover she’d lied and by then the police would have broken through the front.

Unfortunately, Charlie wasn’t a fool. His hand still gripping her hair, he dragged her to her feet. ‘Show me,’ he said, pushing her towards the living room.

Another shout from outside distracted him for a second, and Molly broke free. But she was too slow, he grabbed hold of her shirt and pulled her back, catching hold of her arm and twisting it painfully as he pushed her into the living room, his eyes darting towards the patio door. She yelled out, dragging her feet both from pain and a determination that she would not be taken with him.