Maggie sat on the arm of the couch and took the pressure off the dog bite. ‘She’s gone now. There’s nobody here you can fool.’ She was convinced Connor was faking.

He remained silent.

‘Cops’ll be here soon. Before we split, I could call them, tell them to take a look at this mill. Not the sort of attention the people who use it would want. And where will that leave you? Or you can just tell me everything you know about it now and we’ll leave you to make up whatever story you like about intruders.’

He still said nothing.

‘OK.’ Maggie picked up the phone from the coffee table with her left hand and dialled.

‘I told you all I know,’ he replied gutturally.

‘Thought you were still conscious.’ She tried not to let her relief register. ‘Where is it?’ Maggie replaced the receiver and supported the barrels so they were pointing at the door above him. The weapon made her nervous, and she didn’t trust it not to go off.

‘She’ll find it. But they keep it locked up.’ He shifted.

‘Just keep your face against the floor. Where’s the key?’

‘Don’t have one. And I really don’t know what they use it for.’

‘Bullshit.’ She lightly gripped her wound and cringed as it sent an aftershock of pain along her leg.

‘I don’t ask any questions.’

‘Your sister part of this?’

‘Suzy’s in a wheelchair; she can’t get down the slope.’

‘What do they do out there?’

‘Told you I don’t know. They use the waterway. Never come by here.’

‘I’ll let the police work it out then.’ Maggie lifted the receiver again.

‘Stop! Jesus.’

‘In your own time.’

‘OK… OK.’ He settled on a response. ‘I saw them down there one night. Three of them coming in on a boat.’ He grunted. ‘Two guys and a girl. She had tape around her face. Hands tied behind her back.’

‘What happened?’

‘They walked her inside the mill. Lights came on for a while. And then they left. Just the two of them.’

‘What about the girl?’

‘I hung around.’ He tried to fill his lungs but winced. ‘She didn’t come out of there.’

‘So you didn’t go down there, even though they’d left?’

‘No.’

‘OK, I’ll let the cops know you’ll finish the story up for them.’

‘It was locked.’

‘What are they hiding? You must know.’

‘I swear I don’t. It’s their business. I don’t want to know.’

Maggie stood and sucked in a breath. It felt like the dog’s teeth were still biting her. ‘Didn’t you try to get to the girl?’

‘Sure. I wanted to see she was OK.’

‘Yeah, right.’ She imagined what would have happened if he’d got past the door and she was still tied up.

‘I knocked, tried to get a response. Nothing.’

‘And when you didn’t, the next thing you did was call the cops.’

Connor didn’t answer.

Maggie was repulsed. He’d stood around while the girl had been abused or even worse and stayed silent. What else had he turned a blind eye to? ‘And that’s the only time you ever saw anybody?’

‘Yes.’

‘What really happened?’

‘That’s the truth. I hear things but I don’t go near there now.’

‘You said they’re people we really don’t want to fuck with. So you must know more about them than you’re letting on.’

‘I don’t. If you saw what they did to that girl you would have come to the same conclusion.’

‘But you said you didn’t see what they did to her.’

Connor began breathing erratically.

‘Save it.’

It eventually subsided. ‘She didn’t come out of there. That’s all I know.’

Maggie was positive he knew a whole lot more. ‘How do you contact them?’

‘I don’t. Money goes into my account.’

‘What do you know about Babysitter?’

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

She believed him. If Babysitter was party to what went on at the mill why would he send them there? Did he think Connor would finish them off? But Babysitter could have killed them himself already. ‘What about the names Tom Fresnade or Rich Temple?’

‘No.’

‘Think hard.’

‘I don’t fucking know them, OK?’

Whatever the connection was, Babysitter was lurking somewhere in between but, with time running out before the police arrived, they had to make themselves scarce. The car was still parked at the bottom of the hill, and the cops would be looking for their licence plate. ‘I’ve still got the shotgun pointing at your head.’

He cowered, covering it with both hands.

Maggie tugged on the phone. The wire tensed and popped out of the wall socket. She kept the unit in her hand and limped quickly to the door. She didn’t want Connor calling anyone, especially his friends from the mill. ‘Try anything and I’ll use it.’

‘So you’re really not cops?’ he rasped against the floor.

‘Just wait for the ambulance.’

‘Then you’re in a whole heap of shit now.’ Connor seemed amused.

‘We might not be done with you yet.’

No dogs in the hall. Maggie pulled the door behind her and quickly made for the front entrance.

---

Outside she stopped and cast her eyes around the front yard at the white domes of covered bushes. The dogs started barking at her through the fence again. Were they getting the scent of her blood? Was Babysitter watching nearby? Maggie tossed the phone.

She hoped Holly had found the mill and was on her way back. If Connor’s story was to be believed there was no way she was getting inside.

She hobbled back down the hill, gripping bush branches tightly to stop her falling headfirst. When she hit the bottom she got in the car and quickly reversed it to the end of the row of houses and tucked it around the corner.

Maggie switched off the engine. The only sound was her panting and the fizz of gunfire in her right ear. Her leg throbbed in time with her heartbeat. Through the condensation on the glass she could see both ways along the road. No sign of the ambulance.

She slid the shotgun onto the back seat. Holly had better move her ass. They were cutting it fine.