‘Tell me where the first aid kit is!’ Holly had taken a look around the bathroom, but the slim mirror cabinet wasn’t big enough to contain it.

Penny’s bellowing didn’t let up, but Holly heard the floorboard creak by the bedroom door.

‘Are you badly hurt?’ Maggie asked from behind it.

‘First aid kit!’ Despite the blood, it didn’t look like a bullet had entered, just grazed her.

‘Best thing you can do is get to the hospital.’

Holly wiped cold sweat from her eyebrow.

‘You can say somebody mugged you in the street.’

‘I’m not leaving! We can talk but I need that kit now!’

Holly could almost hear Maggie’s brain churning.

‘OK, downstairs in the kitchen above the stove. You’ll have to unlock the door. Bolt at the top and bottom.’

But if she went down there would Maggie make an escape bid? She figured it was better to move stealthily while Penny was still yelling. Sliding herself forward she immediately flinched and looked down at her wound weeping more blood onto the tiles. The buzzing was giving way to raw pain now. The shock must rapidly be wearing off.

Holly pushed herself back to the door on her butt and pulled it open.

Penny wasn’t calming down, and the bedroom door was still firmly closed. Holly looked across the landing to the top of the stairs. She could shimmy over and carefully descend, maybe without Maggie hearing her. The bolts were another matter but, hopefully, by then she would have gotten enough of a head start.

Then she saw the two bullet holes in the plaster at the far edge of the nursery door and felt a surge of relief. Neither was inside her.

She aimed her Browning at the bedroom. Should she fire a warning shot at it? That would probably ensure Maggie wouldn’t come out. But Holly didn’t want her to know she had the gun until the right moment.

She kept it directed at the door. Maggie could be watching her through the bullet holes. Holly extended her legs from the bathroom onto the landing and hastily dragged herself to the top of the stairs and dropped down so she was sitting on the second one. Even though she only landed gently the impact accentuated the pain now jaggedly palpitating against the waist of her jeans. She restrained an exclamation and wondered if she should loosen her button. It felt like her skin was caught on barbed wire.

She had to move fast before Maggie started another dialogue and realised she wasn’t in the bathroom. Holly took her weight onto her wrists and delicately lifted herself down to the next step, clenching her jaw tight and hoping the old wood didn’t give her away.

Holly was almost at the bottom when it creaked. She froze and looked back up to the landing. Penny was still crying herself sick but she wondered if Maggie had picked up the vibrations of Holly moving down the stairs. She waited a few seconds, seeing if the sound of Penny’s sobbing would change as Maggie moved across the room to the door, but it didn’t. Whether Maggie knew what she was doing or not, there was no point in hesitating.

She pocketed the Browning. Should she remove the gloves? One was covered in her blood. She didn’t want to leave fingerprints as well, though, and decided against it. Putting the soles of her boots on the amber carpet of the dimly lit downstairs lounge Holly pushed herself off the stairs and into a standing position. She could feel the blood from the top half of her body heavy on the wound and felt suddenly woozy. Then she clocked her carving knife lying a few feet in front of her. Sorely snatching it up Holly staggered, wiped her tacky glove on her poncho and rested her shoulder on the doorframe, steadying herself and letting the dizziness subside. She hoped there were plenty of super strength painkillers in Maggie’s first aid kit.

Stretching her arm to the little brass bolt at the top of the door Holly felt the action tug at the wound. She barely gulped back a groan and quickly fumbled for the metal. It was lodged firmly in the frame. She waited, muscle trembling under her armpit, and attempted to cover the action of snapping it back by timing it with Penny’s wails.

Holly tried to ease the bolt, but it shot out hard. There was no way Maggie wouldn’t have heard.

Holly crouched and quickly freed the bottom bolt. That one wasn’t as loud but now it didn’t matter. She turned the handle, stepped into the generous kitchen and switched on the light. She limped over to the stove, dumping the knife on the flattop as she reached up to open the narrow door over the range hood.

Maggie hadn’t been lying. There was a white zip-up first aid bag inside. She tugged it out and hobbled back to the door, taking out her gun and pointing it up the stairs. She hadn’t heard the bedroom door open, and there was no sign of movement on the landing.

Penny’s blubbing was slowing now.

Holly set the bag on the breakfast bar and frantically unzipped it to examine the contents. She confirmed there were dressings and Band-Aids and found some painkillers at the bottom. She walked back into the lounge to check on the stairs again.

She halted as she noticed, in the light from the kitchen, the cluster of framed photographs on the dresser in front of her – images of Penny as a baby, some taken of her in a professional studio and others with Maggie in shot. There were also pictures of Maggie with a man.

Holly registered he didn’t appear in any of the photos of Penny. Was he the father or had the relationship ended before Maggie was pregnant? She quickly scanned the rest of the room. The decor was very feminine. No masculine clothing hanging from the hooks inside the front door. Zero signs of male habitation.

She’d assumed Maggie lived alone when she’d watched the place. And would Babysitter really have sent Holly to kill her if there was a man in the house? Maggie had walked in on Janet Braun with someone else there though. But it sounded like that had been bad timing. If she was to believe her story at all.

A click and the door shuddering from overhead. Penny had fallen silent.

Holly turned to the stairs and saw Maggie’s bare feet appear at the top. She darted back into the kitchen, partially closed the door behind her and aimed her handgun out through the gap. Maggie hadn’t been able to see her from that angle. Wouldn’t know she had the Browning.

‘You should leave now,’ Maggie said firmly. ‘Take the things you need and go. The key to the back door is in the dish by the microwave.’

Holly’s eyes shifted to it and back to the stairs. ‘How do I know you won’t shoot me from the window when I’m walking up the alley?’ She had to give Maggie the impression she was going to flee.

‘You have my word,’ Maggie reassured her.

Was she still holding Penny? The baby was quiet so it was impossible to tell. Again, if she stood at the bottom of the stairs and fired up at her would she hit the child? Or might Maggie drop her down the stairs? But surely she wouldn’t have brought Penny into their confrontation. She had to have left her in the bedroom.

But Holly reminded herself that Maggie believed she only had a knife. It was what Babysitter had told Maggie to use on Janet Braun.

‘Tell Babysitter what we discussed. That you can’t get to me,’ Maggie’s voice quavered. ‘I’m not letting you back up here now. I’ll shoot you if you come near these stairs. You know I will.’

Holly didn’t doubt it. ‘You really think he’ll let Abigail go free if I let you live?’

‘You don’t have the power to let me live. I’m just telling you what you have to do if you want to.’

Momentarily, Holly felt nothing but admiration for Maggie. She had to be as terrified as she was but was unwavering in shielding Penny from harm. Holly wished she were as resolute. And in that moment she took strength from it, flicked the safety off and stepped from the cover of the kitchen door.

She raised the Browning and took two paces to the foot of the stairs. The bottom half of Maggie’s body came into view.

Holly pointed the barrel squarely at her. And Penny.