"Stop that or I'll fucking kill you," he yelled.

Kate thought about how much she hated him, fed that hate until it boiled inside her and bit harder, tasting the coppery tang of his blood in her mouth.

"You fucking bitch."

His hand moved over her face, pinching her nose. It didn't take long for her lungs to burn. She swallowed blood, Jack's blood, and then had to let him go to grab a deep, frantic breath. Jack slammed her back against a tree, keeping his arm across her throat.

"You bitch. Look what you've done to my arm. I'm so fucking angry with you, Kate. You and the boy are going nowhere. You're my wife. He's our son. We stay together."

"He's not our son. You snatched some random child from his parents."

"He's ours."

"How did you know what he looked like? Where he'd be?"

"I knew because his mother is a creature of habit, like you. You eat your lunch in the park every day and she goes to the same McDonald's on the same day, every week. Their little treat. I watched her like I watched you." Kate tried to squirm free, but he jammed his knee into her stomach. The blood she'd swallowed, spewed from her throat, dribbling over her chin.

"You're going to learn to do as you're told and you'll teach him to do the same.

I warned you and warned you. I thought you were smart. Now you'll have to learn the hard way."

Jack twisted her around, pressing her face against the rough bark of the tree and pinned her there, his hand on the back of her neck. He ripped away the top of her dress and something sharp scratched across and then down her shoulder.

Only Kate knew it was more than a scratch. A warm feeling spread down her back, as though she'd been touched by a ray of sunshine, until a biting pain gripped her and her knees buckled.

Jack turned her to face him and wiped the blade across her stomach to leave a red smear on the front of her dress.

"That's the first letter of my name. You piss me off again and I'll carve the rest. Now, shut the fuck up about me letting you go." He dragged her to the car by her arm and pushed her in the back.

Jack slumped in the driver's seat and yelped. He lifted himself up and tossed the toy car over his shoulder.

Tommy wriggled, trying to open the buckle. "I want to get out, too."

"Shut up," Jack yelled.

Kate shook so hard, her teeth chattered. Tommy's bottom lip trembled as he stared at her. Jack started the engine and headed back to the road. Tears dropped from Kate's face.

"What's wrong?" Tommy asked.

She couldn't speak.

"Mommy's been silly and hurt herself," Jack said.

"I want to get out."

"Soon," Jack said. "Hey, let's see how many blue cars we can count." Kate reached for her glasses and then fastened her seatbelt. Her back was on fire. She sat forward trying to keep it away from the seat and away from Tommy.

"You got red juice on your face," Tommy said.

Kate wiped her mouth.

"Are you looking for blue cars?" Jack asked.

Tommy's gaze swung between Kate and Jack.

"That's one," Jack said.

Kate shivered. She had to stop making him angry. He wasn't going to let them go. She had to wait for the perfect opportunity to escape and until that came-cooperate. Tommy's parents would understand she'd done her best.

"Blue car," Tommy shouted.

"Two," Jack said.

Eventually it grew too dark to make out colors. Tommy drifted off to sleep.

Jack drove into storm. Jagged cracks lit up the sky and for the tiniest fraction of a second revealed glimpses of another world. Kate wondered if she'd be better off dead.

Despite the tempting aroma of stuffing and roast turkey emanating from his sister's kitchen, Nathan tried to worm his way out of staying for the meal. He failed. Elisa took him into the kitchen and sent her husband to keep her parents occupied.

"What's the matter, Nathan? Can't you be civil for one evening?"

"You'd all have a better time if I left."

"No, we wouldn't. I want you here. You're my brother. This is a family celebration."

Nathan ran his fingers through his hair. "I'd rather leave."

"I don't care what you'd rather do. I've spent the entire day getting this meal ready. You've no idea how much work it is supervising Bob. I've put up with a backache and sore feet and I've done the potatoes exactly how you like them. You are not leaving until you've had two helpings of everything, otherwise Bob will be eating leftovers for days."

"I really do have important things to do." This time Elisa said nothing, just stared. Nathan couldn't miss the hurt and disappointment in her eyes and gave in.

"Okay, okay. I'll stay. Happy?"

"Only if you go in there and be nice to Mom and Dad. Take a bottle of wine and send my dear husband to help me."

"Can't I help?"

"Nathan!"

He picked up the wine and went into the lounge. "Elisa needs you, Bob."

"Her wish is my command," Bob said with a laugh. "She currently weighs more than me."

"Don't let her hear you say that," Inez said.

"More wine?" Nathan approached his stepmother.

"Thank you, Nathan."

Nathan had discovered Inez wasn't his natural mother when he was twelve.

He'd had to take a birth certificate into school, he couldn't remember why now.

He'd removed it from his father's office without asking and there the name had been-Elizabeth Beranson, not Inez Ayala. He thought it explained everything.

Why Inez preferred Elisa to him. Why he didn't look anything like her. Nathan demanded to see his real mother, as he'd called her, much to his father's annoyance and had been told she was dead. Because his father never lied to him-ever-Nathan believed him.

He offered the bottle. "Dad?"

"No, thanks."

What a surprise, Nathan thought. He didn't want anything from him, not even a glass of wine.

"How are things, Nathan?" Inez asked. "Is business good?"

"It's okay."

"Are you sure you're managing without a partner? It's not too dangerous on your own?" she asked.

"I'm fine."

"You know, if there ever was a situation where you needed someone to watch your back, you could ask your father."

"I'm sure I could," Nathan said.

Elisa shouted from the kitchen, "He'd ask for help in a pig's ear."

"You were saying you might have some business to put Nathan's way, weren't you, Will?" Inez said.

"I already have more than I can cope with," Nathan said.

"We're going to have everyone over for Christmas dinner at our house. Elisa and Bob will have the baby by then, so they can't deal with a crowd here. We want you to come, don't we?" She turned to smile at her husband.

"Nathan knows he's welcome."

No, he didn't. And suddenly the idea of Christmas without Alison sent an ice-cold dagger into his heart.

"I'm going away at Christmas." Nathan wondered where that had come from, though it was a good idea.

"I know Christmas will be hard," Inez said.

"I don't want to talk about Alison." Nathan flinched at the sharp tone in his voice.

"Nathan, your mother is just making conversation, you-" Will began.

"Nathan, Elisa needs you," Bob called from the door.

Elisa glared when he went in. "You are so selfish. Try to be nice. Take this plate of vegetables into the dining room and tell everyone they can go sit down." Nathan knew she was right. He was being selfish, but he couldn't help it. The moment might have been over, the day finished, but the memories simply lurked beneath the surface, waiting for exposure. Fine if they're good ones, things he wanted to remember, precious fossils worth digging up, but these were memories Nathan wanted blasted into oblivion.

"I'm leaving," he muttered.

"No, you are not. You can't run from this, Nathan. Get your act together," Elisa snapped.

He survived the meal because Bob and Elisa kept steering the conversation from quicksand to solid ground. When the beeper went off on his cell phone, pre-programmed in case he hadn't already escaped, Nathan made his excuses. Elisa wasn't fooled, but he saw she was too tired to argue and felt bad. His father went outside with him.

"Inez is trying her best, Nathan. Why can't you?"

"I don't need her to try."

His father's eyes turned to stone. Nathan clenched his fists behind his back.

"This isn't just about what you need, but it's obvious you're too bitter and twisted to see that," Will said.

Nathan swallowed hard. "You want me to forget about how she treated me when I was a kid."

Will gave a short laugh. "What did she do? Beat you? Starve you? Not clothe you? Forbid you to go out? She was a great mom."

"I just wanted her to love me like she did Elisa." Nathan blurted out the words and wished them back.

"She tried, Nathan. She's trying now, and this isn't about Inez. You're the one with the problem, not us."

"I...I can't...."

"Can't what? Let her love you? Love her back? You have to let people love you, son."

"Is that right?"

"Maybe that was what was wrong between you and Alison. Deep down you don't want to let anyone see how you feel. You always hold something back."

"I always came when we were fucking."

Will recoiled. "Is that the level you've sunk to?" Nathan didn't reply. He knew he shouldn't have said that. He'd left himself wide open to a mouthful from his father. He could feel it coming, like a volcanic eruption.

"Your life's a mess. You're in a job you hate. You've had done to you what you're paid to watch other people doing. You hate me, you hate Inez, and you hate yourself. You stand there and let it eat you up. You're acting like a pathetic loser. For God's sake grow up before it's too late." Nathan stepped up to his father so their faces were inches apart. His body was rigid with tension. "Fuck you."

"What do you want to do? Hit me?" Will asked. "Go on if it makes you feel better. Hell, it would be worth it if it made you feel something. You want me to say I'm sorry I told you your mother was dead? Okay, I'm sorry. I'm sorry you found out I lied, I'm sorry it's hurting you, but I'd do exactly the same again if I thought there was a chance of keeping it from you. I did what I thought was best at the time. You never got the chance to know her, and I know you regret that, but I don't. She deserted you, Nathan. Elizabeth walked out and left us. It's as simple as that. Don Thompson was rich and she wasn't prepared to wait for me to make partner. Get over it. Get on with your life." Elisa came outside. "What's going on? Nathan? Dad?" His father put his arm around Elisa and kissed her head. Nathan turned and walked away.

It was after midnight and no longer Thanksgiving. Luke hadn't felt the need to go home and eat the pre-packaged turkey dinner he'd bought, but he made sure Gil got back in time for his meal with his wife and four kids. Gil invited him to stay, but Luke declined. This was family time and he'd be intruding.

He sat at his desk rubbing his eyes. On the board in front of him was a photo of Kate Evans. Something about the girl's disappearance touched Luke. Whether or not she'd gone of her own accord, she'd asked for help and he didn't want to let her down. They needed more information. He'd already requested phone records.

Maybe someone had been pestering her. He'd speak to her colleagues at the library after the holiday and see if they'd heard her talk about this guy Jack.

Tracing the origin of the flowers could be the key to her disappearance. One of his colleagues, a keen gardener, had identified the individual elements of the bouquet. The list was pinned up next to the photo-carnations, gerberas, stargazer lilies, chrysanthemums, iris, waxflower filler and salal. He hadn't even heard of the last two.