‘What do you mean, if you turn it into a charity school? It’s my house, last time I checked.’
‘I mean I was thinking of buying it off you first.’
‘Why? If I think it’s a good idea, I’ll do it myself.’
The pause was tense, broken eventually by Jenna.
‘This is something to do with Harville, isn’t it? Put him on.’
Deano handed the phone to Harville, who scowled throughout the entire exchange.
‘Why is Deano wanting to buy the Hall off me, Lawrence? Have you been putting ideas into his head?’
‘I haven’t mentioned the bloody place all day,’ protested Harville. ‘We’ve been talking about the talent show – I suppose that might have got him thinking. But don’t you dare drag me into your petty squabbles.’
‘Petty squabbles!’
Kayley suddenly ducked her head towards the phone and cried, ‘It’s on the Mansfield road, Jen.’
Deano, afraid for her safety, pulled her back and put his finger on her lips.
‘Excuse me, I have to go,’ said Harville hastily, ending the call and turning to Kayley with his hand raised.
Jenna stared at Parker.
‘That was weird,’ she said.
‘Oh my God, is he OK? Is he ill? Where is he?’
‘I’m not exactly sure, but there’s something off about the whole thing. He wouldn’t tell me where they were, then I heard a woman’s voice at the end shouting something about the Mansfield road.’
‘A woman?’
‘Yes, and it sounded … it sounded like Kayley. Parker, we have to find them. I don’t know what’s going on, but I don’t like the sound of it at all.’
‘Should we call the police?’
‘That might not be a bad idea, though I’m not sure what I’d tell them. Maybe we should take a trip up the Mansfield road and see if we can find out what’s what first. Do you have a computer? I’m going to check Harville on the electoral roll, see if it has an address for him.’
There was no joy on the electoral roll, so Jenna and Parker eventually decided to take Jenna’s car along the Mansfield road, in search of likely locations.
‘You’re sure you don’t want to call the police?’ asked Parker nervously, seeming to find the Bledburn landscape threatening as she peered through the windscreen.
‘Not yet,’ said Jenna. ‘But I have a feeling we might be needing them later.’
Jason’s ears pricked up as he lurked outside the door at the foot of the steps. Had that been a woman’s voice? It had sounded a bit like Kayley.
He had made up his mind earlier that he would wait for Harville to leave, then tackle him and release whoever was inside – almost certainly Deano, but also Kayley, it seemed – but a thud and a scream from the room beyond changed that decision.
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‘Get off her!’ The voice was unmistakably Deano’s, then from Harville, ‘If she can’t keep her mouth shut, I’ll have to shut it for her.’
Jason took a breath and burst into the room, kitchen knife held high.
‘Leave her alone, Harville,’ he roared, causing Harville to take his hands from around Kayley’s throat and whip round to face him.
‘Oh, for fuck’s sake,’ moaned Harville, but he looked far from defeated.