When the call ended, Tara was driving past St Mary’s church and she said a silent prayer to Mike, asking him to look after their daughter, but she didn’t slow until she reached the gates that blocked the footpath to the lighthouse. There was a spray of gravel as she came to a screeching halt and then she was running across the headland fields. She paused for breath when she reached the lighthouse and called out Molly’s name before turning in circles. Eventually, she turned east and followed the route they had taken with Dexter.

The sun was in Tara’s eyes as she forced her legs to move faster, but the figure of a little girl refused to materialise. Quickly running out of path, her gaze was drawn to a distant bend in the river. East of Pickering’s Pasture, the land rose up and she could just make out the zigzag of steps that cut into the cliff face. She stopped in her tracks. Molly had overheard her making plans to meet April. Tara was on the wrong side of the salt marshes.

33

Faith’s shadow stretched ahead of April’s as they raced back to the car park.

‘Slow down,’ April said. ‘Please, Faith. We need to talk calmly about this.’

‘Calmly?’ Faith said, turning on her. ‘That bastard sold me a lie and I was ready to pay a premium for it. He’s not paid any rent yet and I don’t suppose he ever intended to! How did I fall for something so crass? When did I become that person, April? When?’

‘You haven’t fallen for anything,’ April said. ‘You see him for what he is now, that’s the important thing.’

Faith bent forward and rested her hands on her knees. ‘I’ve been such an idiot! What must everyone think of me?’ she asked. Her shoulders shook.

April edged closer, but when she put a hand on Faith’s back, her friend straightened up.

‘I won’t be made a fool of a second time,’ she said, sniffing back tears. She adjusted her sunglasses. ‘He leaves today.’

‘Do you think he’ll go quietly? Should I come with you?’

Faith took a deep breath and held it before letting it go. ‘I’m not scared of him,’ she said. ‘He might talk hard, but I don’t think it’s anything other than a fantasy.’

‘What do you mean? What fantasy?’

‘Play-acting, that’s all, to spice up our sex life. You know the sort of thing.’

‘I don’t think I do.’

‘Nick … he likes the idea of holding me at knife point while we have sex,’ she said. Raising a hand, she added, ‘Don’t worry, I have my limits. I don’t indulge him.’

April’s expression of horror was wasted on Faith who was on the move again, leaving April to catch up. ‘What if he’s dangerous, Faith?’