her side. He ambled slowly behind her, snuffling into the bushes and enjoying the crisp, frosty air. His mood changed as they approached Hyland Gallops. Hackles raised, he began to snarl and run ahead of her. In the distance she could see Victor and a second man standing by the lake shore. Victor was wearing his waxed jacket, a check shirt and peaked cap, his trousers tucked into wellingtons. The second man, dressed more casually in jeans and an anorak, was staring through a theodolite mounted on a tripod. She was familiar with the instrument. Luke used one for measuring angles and distances. The use of it on Hyland Gallops could mean only one thing. Victor was surveying the land he would inherit when Jack died.
He had not been back to Hyland Hall since his unexpected and unwelcome visit at Christmas. The two men were standing still as they waited for her to approach them. She had to call Caesar to heel twice before he came to a halt.
‘What are you doing here?’ She spoke with an authority she was far from feeling.
‘Well, good day to you too.’ Victor doffed his cap and inclined his head towards her. ‘To answer your question, I’m just doing as you asked and being patient.’ He took a step closer to her and gestured towards the Gallops. ‘This is just an initial reconnaissance.’
‘Both of you are trespassing on land that doesn’t belong to you.’
‘You mean land that doesn’t belong to me yet,’ he said. ‘How is my uncle, by the way?’
‘If you don’t leave immediately, I’m contacting the police.’ She held up her phone as a warning.
‘By all means, do so.’ Victor waved a dismissive hand towards Caesar, whose lips were drawn back from his fangs, the yellow and black hairs bristling on his face. ‘That beast needs to be kept under control. I’m amazed you allow him near your children. Don’t you care about their safety?’
His bluster didn’t fool her. He was just as unnerved as his companion by the dog’s nearness. She kept her hand on Caesar’s collar but the second man was already dismantling the tripod.
Ignoring Sophy, he spoke directly to Victor. ‘I don’t trust the look in that dog’s eyes. We can do this another day.’
‘There won’t be another day,’ she warned them. ‘Otherwise, I might not be able to control Caesar if he decides to protect his master’s property. Enough damage has been done to it already. Fly tippers, poisoned trees, no wonder Jack’s estate is dying… but you wouldn’t know anything about that, of course.’
The air between them seemed denser. The jut of his cheekbones and his eyes, blue ice, warned her that her thoughts, if spoken aloud, would gather their own momentum.
‘You’re quite right, I don’t,’ he replied. ‘What I do know is that under your care, my uncle wanders at night and has collapsed on more than one occasion. He was alone in the house when that ceiling fell. He also strayed from the house when you were missing and could have drowned in Marsh Lake. I’m compiling quite a detailed report on your negligence for his medical team.’
Caesar growled low in his throat, his tension rippling through her arm.
‘Good day to you, Sop-hi-a.’ He turned and sauntered towards his companion.
She ignored the gritted emphasis on her name and waited until the men had disappeared before returning to Hyland Hall.
‘Victor was on the Gallops with another man,’ she said when she brought Jack’s breakfast up to him. ‘I think he’s a surveyor.’
‘That’ll be Jason Woods,’ said Jack. ‘Small man with a moustache, thinning hair?’
Sophy nodded and sat down beside his bed. ‘Has Victor been ringing you, Jack?’
‘I get the occasional call to check that I’m still alive. His calls don’t bother me.’
‘Tell me if they do. We can easily block his number.’
‘That won’t be necessary. I can handle my nephew.’
Returning to the kitchen, she stared at the kitchen wall where Victor had cracked the plaster with his fist on the night she arrived. His venom escaping before he reined it back and set about moulding her to his will.
It was after midnight when Luke returned from the Oasis. The journey from Cork to Dublin and back again would have taken all his energy and she was surprised when he rang to see if she was free to talk.
‘Do you mind if I come up to the house now?’ he asked.
Was this going to be a repeat of Christmas Day, she wondered, and, if so, how would