Coming to Nighbrook was meant to be a new beginning, but Naomi had had no idea how unhappy Morgan had been until now. But the timings didn’t add up. She had heard movement around ten minutes before John came to free her. So why did Morgan’s phone say she was two miles away? She knew Morgan had been plotting something, but running away in this weather? She thought she had more sense than that. At least Harmony had places to go, people who would put her up until she found her feet. But the only person Morgan knew in Nighbrook was Dawn.

Naomi trudged through the slush, swearing beneath her breath as she refreshed the tracker on her phone.

‘Aww no!’ she exclaimed, as the signal disappeared. The battery must have run down – either that or Morgan had turned her phone off. Naomi would never find her on her own.

‘Morgan!’ she shouted, her throat scratchy from calling her name. A blast of icy wind watered her eyes and made her nose run. She flexed her fingers before plunging her hands into her pockets as she braced against the cold.

She needed to tell Ed, but he was so far away. If she could find Morgan first . . . She sighed. She would have to call Joanne at the very least. Maybe Dawn was at the café. Morgan was probably sitting there with a grin on her face, drinking hot chocolate. But the image didn’t sit right. Something was wrong.

She looked to the sky as crows circled above her, cawing at her presence in the thick of the woods. She pulled off her glove, her finger hovering over her phone contacts before finally settling on Joanne.

‘Naomi.’ Joanne spoke with icy politeness as she answered the call. ‘What can I do for you?’

In the background the jingle of her old-fashioned cash register rang out. Naomi could picture the café, cosy and warm, but Joanne’s words were stiff.

‘Have you seen Morgan? Her phone is switched off. I’m worried about her.’

‘Morgan? No, I haven’t. She’s probably gone for a walk.’

‘In this weather? I doubt it.’ Her words were sharp, but her anxiety was rising, and she needed answers fast. ‘Is Dawn there?’ she said, but it seemed Joanne wasn’t listening. She was mumbling something with her hand clasped over the phone.

‘Hold on,’ she said eventually. ‘I’ll pass you over.’

Naomi walked slowly, too scared to veer off the path. The storm was picking up again and it would be easy to get disorientated in weather like this.

If only Ed was here, she thought. He’d know what to do . . .

‘When did you last see her?’ Dawn said, getting straight to the point.

‘This morning. I heard her pottering about in the living room.’

‘Oh, that’s OK then.’ Dawn exhaled a soft sigh of relief. ‘For a minute I thought something happened to her last night.’