‘No . . .’ Morgan said. ‘I’m just in shock.’ Opening her arms, she wound them around his waist, making him shift slightly on his feet. ‘I’m so glad you’re here.’

‘That’s more like it.’ He smiled, his mood back on an even keel. ‘Now give me some sugar . . .’

Naomi’s throat tightened as he leaned in and kissed Morgan hard on the mouth. But as Morgan recoiled, it was obvious she was playing a game.

‘Not in front of her.’ Morgan’s face soured as she pulled away.

Naomi opened her mouth to tell him to back the hell off, but Morgan delivered a tight shake of the head.

‘Joel,’ Naomi reasoned. ‘Ed will be back any minute. Let me go and we’ll tell everyone how you saved us. It was self-defence. You’ve done nothing . . .’ She was about to say he did nothing wrong, but his thunderous face relayed that her input was unwelcome.

Morgan advanced upon her, grabbing Naomi’s forearms and giving them a shake. ‘Shut up!’ She scowled. ‘We’re not interested in anything you have to say.’

Joel was standing over the gun.

‘Leave that,’ Morgan said, as he reached down to pick it up. ‘Please,’ she continued. ‘All hell is gonna break loose here soon. Let me pack a bag. Get changed out of these jeans. I’ll be two minutes, max.’

‘Fine,’ Joel said. ‘But I’m bringing the gun. Nobody’s stopping us. Not this time.’

Joel picked the rifle up from the floor.

‘It was you, wasn’t it?’ Morgan said. ‘In the woods.’

Joel nodded. ‘I wanted to take you somewhere quiet, but you fought like a bitch. Then I saw that copper in the woods and I legged it.’

‘If I’d known who you were I wouldn’t have lashed out,’ Morgan said, turning to leave. She gave Naomi one last sorrowful look before returning her attention to Joel. ‘I’ll be back in a sec.’

Run, Naomi thought, run and don’t come back. But where could Morgan get help? Not in the village, and her phone was in Lloyd’s pocket.

‘Do you want me to kill her?’ Joel called, his eyes trained on Naomi. ‘’Cos I will, if you ask me to.’

Naomi couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She watched him take a small, clear plastic bag from his tracksuit pocket and tap some white powder on to the back of his hand. Within seconds, he had snorted the lot. Coke. The man was on coke. No wonder his behaviour was erratic. The intensity of the situation ratcheted up a notch.

Morgan’s voice was high-pitched as she called from the hall. ‘She’s not worth it. C’mon, we need to go.’