Naomi watched him narrowly. He was taller than Ed, his biceps straining against the material of his coat, muscles gained from outdoor work. But it was the strength of his presence that unsettled her the most. People seemed wary around him; most of all, his wife. John the handyman had told her to stay well away when she mentioned calling the local police. Even Joanne had hesitated in giving Lloyd’s phone number out, saying that she would alert him instead. Naomi should have called 999, but thought it would be quicker to go direct. Now they were bumping along a trail that Lloyd called a shortcut to the village.

‘This is the route she would have taken on foot,’ he’d said, when Naomi explained she had not physically seen Morgan since yesterday.

The Land Rover came to a sudden jerking halt as they pulled up next to a half-rotted shed standing sentry in the middle of the woods. A coat of snow had settled on its galvanised roof. Naomi tugged on the door of the Land Rover.

‘Stay put,’ Lloyd warned, in a gravelly voice. ‘If she’s not inside we’ll do a circle of the woods.’

Naomi watched him swagger towards the broken-down hut, his head bowed against the snow. Snow had piled up against the door overnight and she watched him force it open before making his way inside. She counted to thirty before opening the door. The second she set her foot on to solid ground, Lloyd appeared from the hut with Morgan in his arms.

She rushed to Lloyd’s side, her heart thumping a warm beat in her chest. Was Morgan even alive?

‘Open the back door!’ Lloyd barked the order, and Naomi complied. ‘Get in the other side so I can rest her head on your lap,’ he shouted over the rising winds. Above him, tree branches battled the storm, making an ominous whooping sound. ‘She’s frozen to the bone. She must have been there all night.’ He gave her an accusatory look. Morgan’s lips were almost purple, her skin milky-white.

‘I thought she was in her room,’ Naomi blurted, scooting into the car. ‘I heard her moving about.’

‘Sure you did.’ He settled Morgan in the back of the vehicle, her head on Naomi’s lap. Shaking out a blanket, he brought it up to her chin. His hands froze, an indecipherable expression on his face. Naomi’s discomfort rose as his gaze lingered a little too long.

‘Are we going?’ she said, snapping him out of his trance.

‘Just a minute,’ Lloyd said. ‘I need to check inside.’ Slamming the Land Rover door, he turned back to the shed.

Smoothing back Morgan’s hair, Naomi watched as her eyes fluttered open.

‘It’s OK. You’re safe now,’ she said. ‘We’ll get you to hospital, get you checked out.’ Pulling the blanket around her, she rubbed Morgan’s hands.