Megan ran across to the door, pushing past him. In bare feet she ran outside to look through the car window. It was steamed up so she opened the driver’s door and squealed in shock. After slamming it shut she ran back inside.

‘What have you done? What were you thinking, Henry? You make me wait for months, telling me it all has to be just right, we can’t risk anything, and then you turn up here with a dead woman in the front seat of the van on the day half of the Cumbria constabulary are out looking for us. You fucking idiot.’

She ran to her bedroom, slamming the door shut for good measure. He nodded. She had a point. He wouldn’t argue with her, but what he needed to do was hide the body. The only place he could put it was the ramshackle boathouse next door. He went outside, turning off the lights so it was as dark as it could be. Then he walked around to the caravan, peering through the hole in the hedge. The house on the other side was in darkness as well, so it would be just fine. He wasn’t too sure how he was going to get a body through the window, but if he managed it, he could go back when he needed to and cut off her head. He wanted to leave another little present for Annie. Megan was just going to have to get a grip and help him. Between the two of them they should be able to do it. He opened the passenger door and she slumped towards him. Catching her, he dragged her the rest of the way out. She was heavy and it was a struggle. There was no way he could do this on his own. He knocked on Megan’s door.

‘I need a hand.’

He was greeted by complete silence, so he knocked again much louder.

‘I said I need a hand, so stop being a drama queen and come help me.’

‘Why, Henry?’

‘Because I need to hide the body and I can’t lift it on my own. At the moment it’s lying on our lawn and if anyone was to wander down to the shore they would get a bit of a shock. What’s done is done. I can’t change that now, but we can slow down the car crash that’s waiting to happen if you help me. Please.’

He heard some shuffling around and stepped back as she opened the door. Her cheeks were wet and her eyes were red. He didn’t say anything. She’d been the one to piss him off. She was lucky it wasn’t her body lying outside on the gravel.

‘You’d better put a jumper on. It’s freezing outside.’

She turned and pulled on a pair of leggings and a black jumper. He nodded his approval and then he went outside.

Megan, who for the first time since the day she’d met Henry had actually spent ten minutes contemplating her own mortality, followed. She blanched when she saw the body lying so blatantly obvious on the grass, but waited for him to tell her what to do.

‘Right, when I say, we’re going to carry it through the hedge to the boathouse. I’ll climb inside and open the window as far as I can, then we’ll both have to shove it through the gap.’ She nodded and walked around to the woman’s feet, not wanting to have to stare into the bloodied mess that was at the other end. It was a struggle and before long the sweat was running down Megan’s forehead and into her eyes, but they half shuffled, half dragged the woman towards the boathouse.

When they reached it Henry climbed through, opening the window as wide as it would go. After what seemed like forever, with one final shove they managed to get her inside. He didn’t catch her and there was a loud thud as her body hit the floor. Henry disappeared, leaving her standing there, shivering. A noise from somewhere in the garden made her whip her head around to see what it was, no doubt a fox or a badger, but it sounded loud. She looked around, wondering if it was a deer, but a sharp, clattering sound of claws being scratched along a hard surface made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. It sounded creepy. She couldn’t see much because of the complete darkness, but she felt as if she was being watched by something that wasn’t an animal, yet wasn’t quite human either. Something was out there. She whispered ‘Henry’, but there was no reply. Finally he clambered back out of the window, pulling it shut behind him.

‘There’s something out there.’ The minute she said it she thought about the horrible face she had seen peering through her window. What if it was some freaky person who lived in the house that no one knew about?

‘What do you mean, there’s someone out there?’

She lowered her voice. ‘Something is watching us. I heard it.’

‘Someone, something? If it was a someone I think they would have phoned the police by now and we would be about to be taken into custody. It’s probably a fox. They’re sneaky and could probably smell the blood.’

She knew in her heart it wasn’t a fox. It was out there watching them and it gave her the creeps. Henry pulled a cloth from his pocket and began to wipe the blood smears from the glass. She stayed close to him, convinced that it was waiting for its moment to pounce and use those huge, scary, black claws on her. He turned and knocked into her; she was standing so close to him. ‘What are you doing? You gave me a bloody fright.’

‘Can we go back? There’s something there.’

He nodded and led her through the hedge, then she ran ahead into the caravan. He took one last look at the boathouse window. It looked clean enough but he would check it again first thing, as soon as it was light. He didn’t want to leave a huge bloodstain running down the wood underneath it. There had been a large, blue tarpaulin that he’d used to wrap around the body. He went into the caravan and locked the door behind him.

Megan’s clothes were in a pile outside the bathroom and he heard the sound of the shower running. Taking a black plastic bin liner, he scooped them up into it, then he undressed to his boxers and did the same with his own. He would dispose of the bag in the morning when taking her to work.

He had no idea why she had freaked out so much. Maybe she had realised that if he hadn’t killed a complete stranger it could have been her. Or she could be plain jealous that he hadn’t let her be a part of it. Whatever, it would teach her that he was the one who was still in control. She might have helped him to escape but it was Henry Smith who was the infamous serial killer, a bit of a local legend. Henry felt good. In fact he felt better than he had in months because, as much as he liked Megan, this whole thing had always been about him. She had been a means to an end. He didn’t think he would be able to catch Annie or kill Will without her help, but if she wasn’t around he would die trying.

She came out of the tiny bathroom wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around her body and he nodded. Her eyes were redder than before and she looked as if she’d been crying more in the shower. It hit him just how young she was. She looked like a teenager and he wondered if she was regretting throwing her old life away for this one. He had his shower and still couldn’t wipe the grin from his face. He was back in control and in full fighting form, and this time no one was going to stop him.

Chapter Twenty-One

Will called Annie. He had to speak to her. All day his stomach had been in complete knots. He hadn’t been able to settle and they were no closer to finding Smith than they had been this morning. She answered straight away. ‘Well, hello, pretty lady; how are you?’

She laughed and it was the sweetest sound he’d heard for hours. ‘Missing you but apart from that I’m not too bad. My bodyguard has done a pretty good job up to now.’

‘Good, because I’ll kill him myself if he lets that bastard anywhere near you. I can’t concentrate. I’ve been thinking how much I want to come pick you up, get our passports and take you as far away from this place as possible. Should we run away and leave them to it, let them find him and come home when he’s back behind bars?’