I notice then that one of his hands is scratching in the muddy leaves. He’s searching for the shotgun, which he dropped when the trap snapped shut. I reach over and snatch it from his fingertips just as he grasps it. ‘You won’t be needing that,’ I tell him with a smile.

He bangs his head back into the ground in frustration, letting out a roar.

‘Does it hurt?’ I ask him, nodding at his leg. ‘It looks painful.’

‘Help!’ he gasps, looking around. ‘Laura!’

The rain is lashing down, pasting his hair to his skull. I can feel the droplets sliding down the back of my coat and along my spine, but I don’t feel cold; I feel invigorated, alive with victory. I am free, finally, after all these months, years even, of fear. To see him here, at my feet, no longer the predator but the prey, is what I’ve been dreaming of. It’s why I’ve done everything that I’ve done.

Still clutching his leg, he wheezes and tries to look around for Laura.

‘You killed the person I loved,’ I tell him. ‘You made him suffer and you made me watch. And then you stole his identity, you piece of shit.’

‘Laura!’ he shouts again, his voice hoarse with effort.

I glance up and look at Laura, standing paralysed against a tree, shining the torch on us. She’s a silhouette and I can’t make out her expression.

‘Laura! Where are you?’ Ethan is desperate now.

She doesn’t move.

PART THREE

Chapter Thirty-One

Eight Months Earlier

Laura

The door dings and I look up. A man barges in, carrying a large black Labrador cross in his arms. I rush around the reception desk to help him. The poor dog looks to be in a terrible state: it’s panting, its head is lolling, and one of its hind legs is bloody and mangled.

‘What happened?’ I ask as I lead him straight through into a back examination room.

‘I think it was a hit by a car. No collar. I found it lying in an alley.’

After the vet looks the dog over and confirms she’ll need an operation to reset the leg, the man offers to pay for it. I take him out into the waiting room to prepare the paperwork and when I look up from the desk, I find him staring at me in such a way that immediately I feel flutters in my stomach. He’s incredibly good-looking and my cheeks start to burn under the intensity of his gaze.

‘Hi,’ he says before pausing a moment. ‘I’m Liam. William really, but I go by Liam.’

I swallow nervously, always a little flustered by male attention, but even more so when it comes from someone so attractive. ‘I’m Laura,’ I tell him.