36

Lou photographed the notebook, making sure she had both digital and film images of each page. She’d resisted the urge to read, instead choosing to wait for Evan to come home first. This concerned him just as much, if not more so. She squinted over at Jack. He’d taken Evan’s order extremely seriously and hadn’t let her out of his sight since they’d left the dam. He’d even followed her to the kitchen and watched her make a banana sandwich.

Her bodyguard hovered safely outside the study. She’d been pleased she hadn’t had to ask him to do that. Jack had insisted on wanting father-daughter time, uninterrupted father-daughter time were his exact words. The compromise was the door had to be ajar. She could see Zach through the crack, just standing there watching her. The security bloke gave her the creeps.

The door opened wide. Zach peered inside. “Can I get you some coffee?”

She nodded. “I’d prefer tea, but a drink would be lovely, thank you. Dad will want coffee.”

Sirens began to wail, permeating the building. The hairs on the back of her neck rose. “What’s that?”

“The dam.” Zach strode to the radio on the sideboard and clicked it on. He tuned it rapidly to the local station.

“—mandatory evacuation of Dark Lake and the surrounding twenty mile area. I repeat. There is now a red warning in place for the Aberfinay Dam. This means the village of Dark Lake and everything within a twenty-mile radius is under a mandatory evacuation order.”

“Do we have to leave?” Lou asked.

“Sounds like it,” Jack replied. “Though I imagine Evan would tell us himself.”

“Assuming he can.”

The phone rang, and Zach picked it up. “Hello. Yes, we heard on the radio. Oh…” He covered the phone. “Boss says the alert didn’t come from him. The last one he issued was an amber alert, and that was yesterday morning.” He spoke on the phone again then held it out to Lou. “He wants to talk to you.”

Lou seized the handset and wandered over to the window. “Evan? If you didn’t issue the red, then who did?”

“I don’t have long, so I need you to listen.” He was talking fast, the words tumbling from him. “I don’t want you leaving the manor or opening the door for anyone.”

“What’s going on?”

“I don’t know. All I do know is that evacuation order didn’t come from me or my team. Someone wants the village emptied. They want the manor empty as well.”

“You reckon they’re after the box?”

“I’m afraid so. I’ll get Zach to patrol constantly. Your father can keep an eye on you. I know you don’t like the idea, but stick to him like glue for me. Just sit tight and don’t leave the main part of the house. No matter what happens. I’ll be there as soon as I can, though it may be later than I’d hoped.”

“It’ll be dark in a couple of hours.”

“I know. I also know that means the fog will spread. That’s another reason for you to sit tight. The dam is in bad shape, yes, but it’s not likely to fall down overnight. Lou?”

“Yeah?”

“I lo—” He broke off. “Give the phone back to Zach.”

Lou held the phone out, sitting on the window sill. She shivered, cold and numb. What had he almost said? It sounded like “I love you,” but what could have stopped him mid-sentence?

Zach thumped down the phone. “I have to secure this place. Please don’t leave this room until I get back.”

“Can’t guarantee that.” Lou tried to sound brighter than she felt. “But I’ll either be in the bathroom or my bedroom if I’m not here. Dad won’t leave my side; Evan said to stick to him like glue, so I will.” She crossed back to the table and resumed photographing the book.

Half an hour later, Zach still hadn’t returned. “How long does it take to lock up a house?” she asked rhetorically. “The manor isn’t that big.”

“Maybe he got lost or side-tracked.” Jack winked at her. “Like someone else I know. Want me to go look for him?”

She poked her tongue at him as she packed the camera carefully into its case. “He’s a big boy. I reckon he can take care of himself. However if he’s not back before I die of thirst, then we’ll mount a search party.”

She repacked the box, taking care to lock it again. This time she slid the key into her bra.

Jack raised an eyebrow.

“Least I know it’s safe there, Dad,” she quipped. “You’d kill any man who tried to retrieve it.”

“Too right I would,” Jack growled. “That includes Evan, by the way.”

Lou picked up the box. “This is going in my room again tonight. I can lock the door from the inside and bolt it. No one will get in.” She grinned. “You can leave the connecting door between our rooms open if you want.”

He scrunched his nose at her. “Don’t tempt me.” He paused. “Maybe I’ll bring my quilt and pillow in and sleep on your floor.”

She laughed. “It wouldn’t be the first time. Can you give me a hand with these, please?”

Lou headed up to her room and shoved the box and bags under her bed. “I still want that tea, but first I need the loo.”

“You’re not going alone,” Jack said.

“If you believe you’re coming in with me, you have another think coming.” Lou shook her head. “Just because you want to go where no man has gone before, that doesn’t mean the ladies’ loo.”

Jack rolled his eyes. “I’ll wait outside.”

She groaned. “You blokes take this protection thing way too seriously.”

“Someone wants you dead, kiddo. They’ll find a way to do it. Evan and I want to make it as hard for them as possible.”

“Fine, but you sit outside the door.” She shut the bedroom door behind her and headed down the hallway to the bathroom. “Maybe we should go and search for Zach after all. He might have got lost.”

“He’ll be fine.” Jack leaned against the wall opposite the bathroom. “We’ll go find him when you’re done.”

Lou went into the bathroom and shut the door, shooting the bolt across with a loud click. “You want me to sing? ‘Sing a song of sixpence, a pocket full of rye…’”

Jack laughed. “Nah, I’m good.”

“Maybe you should sing. I mean, I know I’m OK, but I can’t see you to make sure you’re all right.”

“You really want me to sing? ‘Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie…’” Jack launched into a very off key version.

Lou laughed. “No, please, don’t sing. I’ll be two minutes.” She washed her hands, and pushed them through her hair. Turning her head this way and that, she did a quick restyle and then dried her hands.

She unbolted the door and opened it. The hallway was empty. “So much for waiting outside the door.” She glanced up and down the corridor. “Dad? Where’d you go?”

No answer came.

“Dad!” Lou sighed. “Oh, come on. This isn’t funny. First you tell me not to wander off and then you do the self-same thing.” She stuck her hands on her hips. “If you want me to act like a grownup over being protected, this is not the way to do it.”

Laughter echoed from the other end of the hallway. “OK. If you want to play hide and seek, which, under the circumstances, is very infantile, then fine. One, two, miss a few, ninety-nine, a hundred, ready or not here I come.”

Lou slammed the bathroom door and stomped down the corridor, making sure her feet missed the carpet and hit the wooden floorboard edging instead. She flung open the door to the room in which she’d heard the laughter. “I said enough!”

The room was empty. A door disguised as a bookcase stood ajar. Running footsteps slapped against stone from behind it.

“OK. So this is how you want to play it.” She raised her voice. “I’m not amused, Dad. I have work to do. I’m bringing the rest of the stuff up from the study.”

She ran back down the main stairs and packed away her film camera. Noises came from the hallway. She huffed. For the time being she’d put this in the study safe. At least everything else was in her room. She checked her phone for Evan’s text containing the safe combination, and opened the safe. She laid the camera on top of a pile of notebooks. Did they also contain the history of Dark Lake? She made a mental note to ask Evan when she saw him.

She locked the safe then swivelled as the study door swung open. Shaking her head she strode to the door. Laughter and running footsteps came from the end of the hallway. That really was enough. Lou strode down the hallway, following the sound until she found herself at the door to the west wing.

Evan’s warning to stay out of there echoed in her mind, but no one else was around to investigate. A scream shattered her indecision. She had to go. She pushed open the door. “Hello?”

Mist or dry ice wafted over her feet. She shook her head. There was nothing there; just a product of an over active imagination. The screams came again.

“Where are you?” Lou called, making her way down the hallway. A glow came from the door at the end. The screams became louder, more insistent.

Lou pushed open the door. Flames engulfed the room. Carpet, walls, bedding, everything blazed. Smoke billowed. She raised a hand against the heat. A figure stood in the centre of the conflagration.

There wasn’t time for thought. Taking a deep breath, Lou moved one step towards the blazing room. “I’m coming.”

Someone grabbed her arm and pulled her back. The door slammed shut.

Hands swung her around.

A furious Evan faced her. “I told you to stay away from the west wing.” His voice shook in anger, his eyes blazed.

She shook herself free. “Evan, there’s a fire in there. Someone’s trapped. We can’t leave them.” She took a deep breath, and then frowned. She could no longer smell smoke. Glancing behind her, the space around the door was no longer glowing. “I don’t understand.”

“There’s no fire, Lou.” Evan’s tone was gentle now. “The door at the far end of the hallway is shut and locked for a reason.”

“It wasn’t locked.” She stared at her surroundings, not believing what she was seeing. “Wait a second. This hallway didn’t look like this a moment ago. There was wooden panelling, red carpet on the floor.” The stone walls were blackened and the floor charred. In several places there were holes, and she could see through to the level below. “Oh…”

“Be careful where you stand.” He caught hold of her hand. “One false move and you’ll go straight through the floor.”

“But…” Lou stared up at the door Evan had closed. It was burned and warped.

Evan held her tightly. “See.” He opened the door.

Lou gasped. Nothingness filled the gap in front of her. Just a burned shell outlining what once had been a tall, imposing structure. The fading light of sunset poured in from above.

“You would have fallen three stories into the basement if you’d taken one more step.”

She shook her head, desperately trying to understand what she was seeing. “Evan, I saw paintings on the wall, carpets on the floor. There was a room with a four poster bed, curtains hanging around it. Everything was on fire. I could hear the flames, even smell the smoke.”

Evan closed the door before leading her back down the hallway. He closed that door as well. He locked the door, pocketing the key. “Come on. I’ll show you from outside.”