‘I’m really sorry I didn’t tell you about it,’ I said, looking from Aidan to my mother who was still sitting at the table twirling a hanky between her fingers. ‘I wish now that I had.’

‘So what should we do?’ my mother said, her voice cracking with emotion. ‘Is it going to be safe for us to carry on as normal?’

‘Of course it is, Mum,’ I said. ‘Lots of people make threats and most times that’s all they turn out to be.’

My father’s face pushed itself into my thoughts suddenly and I wished he was here with us now. He’d know how best to handle the situation, how to respond to the genuine fears being expressed by my mother and Aidan.

It was difficult for me because I was just as worried as they were, and just as creeped out by what was happening.

Aidan had already asked me who we thought was responsible and I’d told him we had no idea. Now he jumped to his own conclusion.

‘That man Roy Slack must be behind this,’ he said. ‘It stands to reason. The task force has made it known it intends to smash up his empire. So he’s resorting to desperate measures to stop it.’

‘We can’t be sure it’s him,’ I said.

‘Well, has he been arrested or even questioned? And if not, then why not?’

I should have been able to reassure them that they had nothing to worry about but I couldn’t. Instead I was as anxious as they were and a knot of dread was growing in my stomach.

I feared that this might well be the start of something bad … something that we wouldn’t be able to control.

16

Laura

When the alarm went off I was already awake, and had been for most of the night.

Aidan stirred and groaned beside me, and as per our morning routine neither of us moved much for about five minutes.

Then, without saying a word, I hauled myself out of bed and into the en suite. That was his cue to get up and go downstairs to make the teas.

Under the hot shower I reflected on the previous evening and how awkward it had been.

My mother had stayed until nine o’clock – well past her bedtime – and would probably have slept in the spare room if she’d had a change of clothes.

The anonymous message had really upset her and she had convinced herself that she was about to become the victim of a crazed killer. Aidan had worked with me to try to allay her fears but she’d kept shaking her head and insisting that we couldn’t possibly know what was going to happen.

And she was right, which was why the situation was so worrying.