A Twist of the Knife by Peter James

to come in?’ he said as she pulled up. She wanted to, very much. Wanted to give his parents a piece of her mind.
    ‘I’ll help you with your shopping,’ she replied.
    He turned imploringly to Kate and she could see again that he was frightened.
    ‘Would you like to stay with us?’
    ‘Stay with you?’ She felt a sudden prick of anxiety, the boy’s fear transmitting to her. Her curiosity about his parents was increasing. ‘I’ll come in with you.’ She smiled at him. ‘What’s your name?’
    ‘Daniel Hogarth. What’s yours?’
    ‘Kate Robinson.’
    He ran up to the front door and knocked loudly. A girl of about seven with black hair in a velvet band opened it indignantly. ‘We’re not deaf, you know.’
    The boy whispered and she looked at Kate. Kate lugged a couple of bags out of the boot and the two children carried the rest.
    There was a huge Christmas tree in the hall that rose up the stairwell; it was beautifully decorated, with real candles which were flickering and guttering in the draught, and the base was surrounded by finely wrapped presents. There was a smell of wood smoke that made Kate nostalgic for her own childhood.
    She followed the children into a kitchen, where there was a pine table at which a girl of about five in a pinafore and a boy of about the same age in a striped jersey and jeans sat, the girl reading, the boy furiously pressing the keys of a small electronic game.
    ‘This is my brother, Luke, and my other sister, Amy,’ Daniel said. Then he looked at Kate solemnly. ‘You will stay with us for Christmas, won’t you?’
    Kate laughed, then realized the boy was serious. ‘It’s sweet of you, but I don’t think your mummy and daddy would like that.’
    The children at the table turned towards her. ‘Please don’t leave us,’ the little girl, Amy, said.
    ‘Please don’t go,’ Luke added. Tears filled his eyes.
    ‘If you leave us,’ Daniel said, ‘we won’t have Christmas. Please stay and let us have Christmas.’
    The kids looked clean, well nourished, no bruises. And yet there was an overwhelming sense of sadness in their faces. She fixed her stare on Amy, her heart heaving for them. ‘Where are your mummy and daddy?’
    Amy looked silently at the floor.
    Kate’s imagination went wild for a moment. Were their parents dead somewhere in the house and the kids were too afraid to tell her?
    Shivers as hard as needles suddenly crawled across her skin. She began walking back towards the front door. Daniel ran along beside her and tugged her hand. She opened the door and noticed to her surprise that it was snowing outside; fat, heavy flakes were settling on the drive.
    ‘Kate, if you stayed with us, maybe we could have Christmas after all.’
    ‘What do you mean, Daniel?’
    ‘We’ll never get to open our presents if you go.’
    She looked into his frightened eyes and patted his cheek tenderly. ‘I-I’ll be right back, OK?’
    ‘It only works if you stay,’ he said forlornly.
    ‘What only works?’
    He shrugged and said nothing.
    ‘I won’t be long, I promise.’
    Tearfully, Daniel closed the door behind her. Kate climbed back into her car and turned the ignition key. Nothing happened. She tried again, then again, but the battery was dead.
    Exasperated, she got out, then noticed to her surprise that all the lights in the house had gone off. Sharp prickles of fear again raked her skin, harder than before. Had they tampered with her car?
    She swallowed, the grip of fear tightening around her. Then she started walking quickly down the drive, turning her head and staring back at the darkness every few moments, her leather shoes inadequate, slipping on the settling snow.
    The tunnel of trees seemed to be closing in around her and she broke into a run, her heart pounding, her chest feeling as if it were about to burst.
Just a prank
, she thought.
Just a prank
. But it wasn’t just a prank, she knew.
    Headlights crossed ahead of her. The main road. Kate ran faster, past