‘Portia wasn’t stupid. When she opened the door, she held a very large, sharp knife and threatened to hurt me.’ Allison sighed. ‘I probably would eventually have fought regardless but they drugged me again. This time, it was in the food.’ She hadn’t given much thought to what would have happened next. She’d have been reluctant to either eat or drink anything she was given, so how had they hoped to keep her subdued? ‘I don’t know what the next step in their plan was, how they were going to force me to be compliant, and thanks to you, I’m never going to find out.’

‘You said you were going to make them pay.’

‘Yes. And I will.’ Allison reached for the glass, took another sip of the wine. She was feeling stronger. It was going to take her a long time to recover both physically and mentally; getting revenge on Portia and Stuart would certainly help. Make them pay. An idea came to her, and she looked across at Jo. ‘You could help me.’

‘That depends on what you’re planning. I’m going to be hanging around for a few months so I might as well make myself useful.’ She looked suddenly worried. ‘I don’t do violence, though, in case that’s what you were thinking.’

‘No, nothing violent.’ At least not initially. Not till they’d paid for their crimes. ‘When Portia and Stuart get home and find I’ve escaped, they’ll be surprised when the police don’t arrive, sirens wailing, lights flashing. Then they’ll sit back and wonder what I want.’

‘Money? They do seem obscenely wealthy.’

‘Yes, so my plan is to relieve them of some of that, to help me buy this.’ She waved her free hand around the room, then laughed at Jo’s puzzled expression. ‘Oh, yes, I never did get around to telling you the truth about Peter’s estate, did I? Getting held prisoner does tend to make one forget. Let me make it clear. Your share of my dearly departed husband’s estate would keep you in beer for a few days, no more than that.’

‘You’re lying!’

‘Nope. It seems dear Peter forgot to tell me a few things. Like he didn’t own this house, he wasn’t a solicitor, and the few hundred quid he had in the bank possibly won’t be enough to clear his credit card debt. There might be a pound or two over. As long as you stick to cheap beer, you should get a few cans out of it.’

Jo’s response was unexpected. She sat back and laughed till tears ran down her cheeks.

‘Glad you’re taking the news so well.’ Allison was surprised and more than a little suspicious.