Scope swallowed; even in the cold, he felt a bead of sweat forming on his brow. He suddenly felt very tired. ‘You’re not going to kill her,’ he said firmly. ‘Just walk away. This is over. I’m not dropping my gun.’

For a long moment, the three of them stood there, rigid as statues, as if they’d been caught in a freeze-frame. It was a classic Mexican standoff, but one that both Scope and the gunman knew couldn’t last. As if to confirm the fact, way off in the distance, its sound carried by the wind, came the wail of a police siren. There was no question that, out here in such a lonely, isolated place, the siren was meant for them.

Something was going to happen, thought Scope. It had to. His finger tightened on the trigger.

And then a shot – muffled, thanks to the suppressor – rang out from inside the house. It was followed almost immediately by a second, then a third.

Scope couldn’t help it. He glanced towards the house as Jess came sprinting out the door.

Which was when the scar-faced gunman appeared from behind Amanda and fired at Scope, the shot coming so close to his face that he felt its heat as it passed. Resisting the instinctive urge to fire back and use his last bullet, Scope dived down behind the car, as the gunman let off a second round that passed right through it, exiting the driver’s side window in a noisy shower of glass.

Keeping down by the driver’s side door, Scope moved a couple of steps to the left and peered up through the back window. The gunman was trying to pull Amanda backwards, at the same time waving his gun in his direction, while trying to keep half an eye on Jess who was staggering towards him, clutching her leg. Then, in a sudden movement, Amanda broke free from the gunman’s grip and grabbed for his gun.

Reacting fast, the gunman shoved her out of the way, so there was a few feet between them, and swung round again so he was facing the car Scope was sheltering behind.

But Scope was fast too. Leaping up from behind the boot, he had a split-second advantage over the gunman, who’d clearly expected him to appear from a different spot, and he used it to take rapid aim and pull the trigger.

The shot took the gunman somewhere in the upper body. He managed to loose off a round himself, which only just missed Scope, but then he staggered backwards, clutching a spot just below the shoulder of his gun arm, a surprised look on his face.

There was a moment’s pause as Amanda, who was standing a few feet from the gunman, waited for Scope to fire a second shot, but he shook his head, mouthing that he was out of bullets. Amanda didn’t hesitate. Before the gunman could recover, she leapt forward and punched him in the side of the head, the force of her blow knocking him to the ground, although he still continued to keep a grip on his gun.

Over to his right, Scope saw movement in the doorway of the house. A figure was emerging, moving very awkwardly, and Scope immediately recognized him as the big gunman he’d shot. The lower half of his face was almost entirely obscured by a curtain of blood, and he had to lean against the doorframe to support himself. But he too still had hold of a gun and he was trying hard to lift it so he could shoot at the two women.

‘Run!’ yelled Scope. ‘My car’s up the track. Take it!’

Amanda let fly with a ferocious kick to the head of the scar-faced gunman that actually shunted him a foot or so along the concrete, then turned and took hold of Jess, who was still clutching her leg. They set off up the driveway clinging together like a couple in a three-legged race, but moving at a surprising speed thanks to the adrenalin that must have been pumping through them both.

Hearing Scope’s shout, the big man at the door turned his gun towards him and pulled the trigger. But the shot was way off and he was clearly so weak that, when the gun kicked in his hand, it almost made him lose his footing and fall over.

Meanwhile the gunman lying on the ground was leaning round facing the direction of Amanda and Jess, aiming his gun at their fleeing figures.

It was a bad mistake. Knowing he had to take his chance, Scope charged across the courtyard, keeping low to avoid giving the big guy a target. The scar-faced gunman heard him coming and turned round, raising his weapon, but he was way too slow and, without breaking stride, Scope kicked the gun out of his hand, before hitting the deck himself as a shot rang out from the doorway. He rolled over on the concrete, grabbed the gun in both hands, and took aim at the big guy, who was balancing precariously, shifting from foot to foot, looking as if he might fall at any second, the gun hanging from one gloved hand as if it was a huge weight.

Scope took his time, then fired a single shot, hitting the big guy in the chest. The gun dropped from the man’s hand, clattering on the steps, and he fell to his knees. Scope waited, not wanting to fire again so he could conserve what bullets were left, and a second later the big guy toppled onto his side, his head hanging from the bottom step, and stayed still.

Scope lay where he was for a few seconds, gun pointed towards the door, wondering if there was anyone else in there he needed to deal with. But all was silent and eventually he got to his feet. Looking behind him, he could just make out Amanda and Jess in the darkness, rounding a corner on the track and disappearing from view. The sight pleased him. They were safe now. So was Casey. He’d done what he had to do. Now he was going to have to face the consequences of his actions.

The scar-faced gunman moaned on the ground. ‘Who the fuck are you?’ he hissed through gritted teeth.

Scope walked round so he was standing above him and pointed the gun down at his head. ‘I’m a man who doesn’t like to walk on by. You killed a friend of mine. You tried to kill innocent people, including kids. I was never going to stand by and let that happen.’

‘I bet you think you’ve done a really good deed, don’t you?’ There was a mocking tone to the gunman’s voice as he spoke, and a thin smile formed on his face, causing the scar tissue to ripple.

‘I saved lives.’ He looked towards the front door. ‘Who else is in there?’

‘No one. There was only me and MacLean. He’s a copper too. Can you believe that?’ He started to laugh but it turned into a choke. ‘I’ve never been shot before,’ he continued after he’d recovered. ‘It’s funny. It doesn’t actually hurt that much.’ He moved his gloved hand away from the wound and inspected it.

The entry wound was small, and Scope knew it wasn’t going to be fatal. It crossed his mind to shoot him there and then, but the anger that had been driving him on all night was beginning to fade now. In the distance, he could hear the Land Rover he’d come in starting up.

‘That woman,’ hissed the gunman. ‘The one you’ve just saved. Amanda Rowan. Guess what?’

Scope didn’t say anything.

‘She’s a killer. She killed her husband and my boss’s daughter. Her and someone else. That’s what we wanted her for. To find out who her accomplice was. And now you’ve let her go scot-free, and no one’s ever going to be able to prove a thing against her. Thanks to you, she’s going to get away with murder.’

‘How can you be so sure she did it?’

‘The murders were meant to be the work of The Disciple. You know, that serial killer who’s been slaughtering couples down south.’

‘I’ve heard of him.’

‘Except we know for a fact that The Disciple never killed Amanda Rowan’s old man or my boss’s daughter, because we spent two days torturing him, and he admitted everything except those two murders.’ He coughed and spat on the flagstones before carrying on. ‘It was all a set-up. I almost admire the bitch.’

Scope rolled his shoulders back, trying to ease the tension in them. ‘I was just trying to save the kids,’ he said.

The gunman groaned. ‘Christ, it was all such a mess. We were just meant to snatch her and that was that. No one else was meant to get hurt. I didn’t want to kill any kids. I’m not an animal.’