Never Out of Sight: The chilling psychological thriller you don’t want to miss!. Louise Stone

Dare videos because her mum would have found them and she would have got into trouble. Apparently Zoe kept the only copies.’ Carter kept his eyes firmly on the notepad. I understood the implication, and my stomach turned over in response. ‘But so far we haven’t come across any. Our IT experts have Zoe’s laptop and they’ll let us know if they find anything, but in the meantime, is there anything more you can tell us about what might be on them?’

      I reeled with this new piece of information: what was Keira trying to hide by making Zoe keep the only copies? What had she and Zoe been up to?

      He paused, his eyes skimming the text. ‘Keira said that Zoe thought Mr Wyre was attractive and that she may have, and I quote here, “flirted a little”.’ He scratched his arm. ‘Does this sound like Zoe to you?’

      Anger churned inside me. ‘Keira told me something similar.’ I jutted my chin out in defiance. ‘Detective, what are you suggesting? My daughter is an innocent sixteen-year-old. She is like every other young girl: adventurous, interested in life. I wish Keira would stop making her sound so…’ I stared hard at him. ‘Please understand that maybe Keira is jealous of my daughter or something. You cannot just be accepting that she doesn’t have copies of these videos and that’s the end of that?’

      I rose abruptly from the chair and walked over to the kitchen tap, running the cold water on my wrists, trying to cool myself. The kitchen suddenly felt so claustrophobic and hot. It was as if I was shouting at everyone from inside a padded cell and no one was listening; no one seemed to be taking me seriously.

      ‘Look, the honest answer is I don’t know what went on in those videos and I hope she didn’t do anything stupid, but I would like to think I know my daughter well enough to tell you she wouldn’t flirt with Jerry Wyre.’

      My heart twisted at my words because they were false – as I was coming to realise, I hardly knew my daughter at all. I was having to hypothesise about my own flesh and blood.

      Carter frowned. ‘She did go back, though. To the farm,’ he clarified. ‘That suggests some interest, doesn’t it?’ He peered at his scratchy writing once more. ‘Apparently the videos show Zoe cycling to find him so that she might talk to him.’

      My head was reeling and I could feel the frustration and anger swelling inside me. My voice came out loud and with an edge of disbelief, perhaps alarm, too. ‘You are the police. Answer me this: why did Keira admit all this to you and not me? And moreover, she’s deliberately preventing us from seeing these videos of her missing friend? Why, Detective, why?’

      The DI leant back in the chair. ‘When a policeman turns up on your doorstep, it’s got to come as a bit of a shock, and she didn’t say the videos don’t exist, just that she doesn’t have copies of them. Perhaps she knows Zoe wouldn’t want you and Mr Hall to see them, or she’s protecting Zoe because of what they show her doing?’

      I shook my head in disbelief. ‘And that’s it, is it? Well, because you think a sixteen-year-old girl is protecting her friend, that’s okay, then?’

      ‘We are not ignoring anything.’ His voice was noticeably cooler, and I sensed a shift in his attitude towards me. I realised how dark it had become, so I got up to draw the curtains and switch on some lamps.

      He took a deep breath. ‘Listen, Mrs Hall, as I say, we are investigating everything you’re telling us but...’ He eyed me. ‘I feel, if you don’t mind me saying, Mrs Hall, that you’re holding back on me.’

      My heart leapt into my mouth. ‘What do you mean?’

      ‘I mean, you and Stephen don’t seem entirely happy. I’m sorry for being blunt but I’m trying to get a clear picture here of Zoe’s life.’

      I remained silent. ‘We have our issues, but then, doesn’t every couple?’

      ‘You told me earlier that you haven’t spoken to each other properly in a while?’

      I shrugged, tried to display a level of nonchalance and then decided that DI Carter was too clever for that: he would see through it. ‘Okay, so we’re not in a great place, but if you’re trying to suggest that I’ve strayed elsewhere then you’re very much mistaken.’ I clamped my mouth firmly shut and looked at him, defiant.

      ‘I would never suggest that.’ His eyes watched me coolly.

      ‘I mean…’ I spoke quickly. ‘I have no evidence that Stephen has strayed.’ I looked away: I could feel his eyes piercing the side of my head.