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“Anni, what’s going on, you’re freaking me out,” Mabel cries, her eyes brimming and her lips trembling.

I do my best to sound gentle, to be comforting and not show how terrified I am. “I don’t know,” I answer honestly.“Something’s not right in the house and I need to make sure you two are safe. Please just stay in here until I come and get you, okay?”

She nods but her eyes are streaming. Guinevere looks pale and Keely is burrowing so far into her neck I can no longer see her face.

“Okay, listen carefully,” I address all of them but mostly Mabel and Guinevere. “This is the keypad to lock and unlock the door from the inside.” I show them the electronic pad. “To lock the door you type in 4646. Once it’s locked from the inside, it cannot be opened from the outside, no one can get in, do you hear?”

They both nod, Guinevere starting to tear up, too, as she notes the hitch in my voice.

“To unlock it, you type in 6464 and then the star button, okay?”

Nods.

“Tell me what you do,” I say calmly.

“4646 to lock the door,” Mabel says robotically. “6464 star to unlock it.”

“Good,” I say over an exhale. “Now, you’re going to lock the door behind me, and you don’t open it again until you hear my voice. You understand me?”

“You’re not staying?” Guinevere sobs.

“No, I’ve got to go and see what’s going on. My men are in danger.”

“No, Anni, stay with us, please. Please.” Keeley sits up where she rests on Guinevere’s hip, crying and shaking in fear.

“I’ve got to go, but you’ll be safe in here, I promise,” I say, the words tasing bitter on my tongue as I’m not entirely sure I can promise anything at this time.

“Okay.” Mabel sniffs. “But you’ll be coming back, right?”

“Of course.” I try to give her a smile, but it must come across as weak. She pulls me in for an urgent hug and I squeeze her tighter than I ever have before. “Stay safe and look after each other.”

I leave and push the door, waiting for the heavy metallic clunk of the lock before heading back up to the main house. I still have the kitchen knife in my hand and only now see that it’s nothing more than a paring knife with a three-inch blade. I hadn’t had the luxury of taking time to select the right weapon. I have safes dotted around the house but most carry blades as my men keep their guns on them. I have a handgun in my office, so I decide to head back there.

I walk carefully, not rushing but taking time to check my surroundings and move silently through the house. It hits me that everything is quiet, too quiet. Lee should have been trying to find me, that would be the protocol, but I can’t see or hear him anywhere. I can’t see or hear any of my men and I’m panicking. I slide along the wall to where my office door is and listen carefully for a few seconds in case an intruder is inside. Once again, there’s nothing. Turning the handle, I gently push the door open and check the room. Empty.

I’m at the doorway when the piercing siren of the fire alarm echoes through the house. It makes me jump and suck in a shocked breath just as an arm wraps around my neck from behind. I make a strangled noise, dropping my knife in surprise and grabbing at the flesh covering my neck in an attempt to pull my attacker off. My back hits a soft belly and the sickening smell of fried food and bad body odour attack my nostrils.

“I’ve been waiting a long time for this Annika,” Gary Marks’ raspy voice gravels in my ear making every hair stand on end.

I scream, flailing wildly as he walks me further into my office. “I should have killed you twelve years ago,” I seethe.

“You really should’ve.” He chuckles, nuzzling his nose into my hair. “But you didn’t, so now you have to live with the consequences, but you won’t be living for long.”

I dig my nails into his bare forearm, deep enough to draw blood and drag them through his flesh. He cries out in pain, loosening his grip enough for me to jab my elbow into his gut and break free of his hold. I go to run, but he pulls me back by my hair, my scalp burning in pain as I fall to my knees. When he releases my hair, he places a booted foot on the centre of my back and pushes me to the ground.

My face is smashed into the carpet, and my hand lights up in pain, the sticky, wet sensation of blood coating my palm. I’ve landed on the knife. I grip at it, not wanting to draw any attention to the fact I have it, my palm holds on to the blade, slicing into my skin. Pain explodes on my ankle as his boot comes down on it. I feel the bone crack before my leg tingles and my foot feels cold like the blood supply is cut off. I scream, pain taking over every function of my brain.

“Now, now, Annika. There’s no reason to make this more difficult for yourself.” He sniffs in distain. “I think you’ve had enough fun, don’t you? I’ve let you run about like some prissy little princess for long enough. Now, you need to be taken back down a peg or ten.”

“Why now?” I ask, my lips moving against the rough carpet. “What’s changed?”

His hand is back in my hair, pulling me up to a stand and turning me so I have to look into his ugly fucking face. Pain lances up and down my leg and I stumble trying to keep the weight off my injured ankle. He’s still fat and sweaty but older, hair thinning, and rosacea blooming on his cheeks. He pulls his lips into a sinister grin, his teeth yellowing and crooked.

“You’re still as beautiful as ever,” he says with an affection that draws bile up to my throat. When he reaches over to run hisfingers over my cheek, I snarl at him like a cornered wild animal and he just chuckles. “I’m going to enjoy having you one last time.” He shoves me against the wall, holding me there with one meaty hand in the centre of my chest. “You want to know why now? Well let me tell you. After you father mysteriously died.” He gives me a sardonic glare. “I lost my pay day, so I had to find an alternative.”

Despite my precarious position, I can’t help but roll my eyes. “Dirty cops are the scum of the earth.”

“Don’t interrupt story time,” he sneers, pressing harder on my breastbone. “I’ve been taking the odd bribe here and there but honestly, it’s not really been cutting it. And then just when I’m losing hope, I was approached by a mutual friend of ours.”