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Rocco stopped. Bruno stopped.

‘Hey, Bruno, what are you doing here? Is Frankie with you?’ The dog looked up at him as Rocco realised the full ridiculousness of talking to a dog and asking it questions. Rocco looked round for Frankie, but there was no one there. He looked at his watch and saw it was almost nine. Frankie never walked the dogs this late, but he remembered Frankie saying Bruno was staying with her while his owner was away.

Had Bruno escaped and found his way to Rocco’s?

Rocco got out his mobile and tried to reach Frankie but it went to straight to her voicemail.

He called Valentina.

‘Hey, I’m trying to get hold of Frankie but her phone’s off. Do you know⁠—’

‘She’s out. And can’t be reached for the next couple of hours, so don’t try.’

‘Do you know where⁠—’

‘Nope.’ She hung up.

He pocketed his phone and studied Bruno who looked up at him balefully.

‘Come on then, looks like you’re coming home with me.’

They were walking up the garden to his decking when Rocco heard someone calling to him. He turned to see a woman under the light at the bottom of his steps, still on the beach. She was waving at him.

Thinking it must be a neighbour, he raised his hand in greeting then let himself into his house. Bruno bounded happily alongside. Rocco locked the doors. Then using his control panel on the wall, rolled down the shutters and turned off the garden lights, just to make sure the neighbour realised he didn’t want visitors.

Willow sat on the countertop beside the leftover takeaway, looking down at Bruno. Growing up with an assortment of dogs coming and going courtesy of Frankie, Willow was unfazed by canines and treated them all with the same indifference. Any overexcited mutts got a swift paw to the nose, thwarting further forays into her personal space. Bruno stretched up his neck and gave Willow a long and tentative sniff before Willow, in a form of acceptance, dunted her head against Bruno’s ear before she jumped off the counter and sashayed over to the sofa where she curled up on her favourite cushion.

Despite Frankie not being contactable, Rocco sent her a message to let her know Bruno was safe at his.

Rocco was tipping the leftovers from takeaway cartons into the bin when there was a pounding on the bifold doors. Rocco gave a start and Bruno sat up, ears cocked.

Surely the woman hadn’t followed him up from the beach?

Rocco checked the security camera app on his phone.

Despite the grainy footage, he recognised her as the woman from the chemists The patronising one that had given him a hard time about his water jug.

Dear God! She either took her aftercare very seriously or she was a bit crazy. Was she stalking him? Bruno padded over to the door and stared at it. Rocco was thankful he’d rolled down the shutters so the woman couldn’t see in, but nonetheless he felt quite unsettled.

She banged on the glass again.

‘I know you’re in there.’

Rocco walked over to the doors and called out, ‘I’m a bit busy at the moment. I have friends around.’ The place was completely empty apart from him, Willow and Bruno, but Rocco figured it wouldn’t hurt if she thought it was teeming with people. ‘It’s also private property,’ he added.

‘If you don’t let me in, I’m calling the police.’

If anyone was calling the police it should be him, he thought.

The woman was clearly unhinged. Although Rocco felt a degree of sympathy for her mental health issues, he also felt a little scared. Suddenly his idyllic and secluded lochside property felt lonely and isolated, with him locked inside, a sitting duck.

‘Technically, you’re trespassing,’ he shouted back.

‘That’s nothing compared to the crime you’re committing!’

What on earth was she talking about?

‘If you don’t let me in by the time I count to five, I’m phoning the police.’