Excerpt from GAME OVER

     There was a parking space right in front of the house, for once in a blue moon, and for a moment he wondered if that was ominous. Then he told himself not to be a fool; and not to appear one, either, by driving past it and parking further away, which was what he would have done had he been alone. But after all, if they were following him, they knew by now where he was going - would have known it as soon as he turned into the road. He parked, told Joanna not to get out until he opened the door, checked all the mirrors minutely, then got out and went round to her side. The day-empty street mocked his precautions. A car went past and he tensed, but it was a silver Peugeot with a young woman driving it.

     'Okay,' he said, letting Joanna out. He helped her to her feet, and as her face reached a level with his, he saw that she was nervous now. 'This is silly,' he said. 'I'll buy you some new clothes.'

     'You will not,' she said. 'That would be silly.'

     He walked up the path with Joanna behind him, scanning the house for any signs of change, scanning the path for any hint that anyone else had been there. He got the key out, inspected the lock and the door, turned it cautiously, and let himself in.

     The door opened without resistance, and a tiny alarm bell rang in his head before he realised what it was: there should have been a heap of junk mail impeding it, but there was no mail at all lying there. How many days in the year was there nothing in the post? He couldn't remember a single one, except for bank holidays. He had stepped in as he thought this. The windowless hall passage was always dark, and Joanna, stepping in behind him, reached automatically for the light switch, just at the instant that his nose and brain, working separately, suddenly joined forces in a flash of horror. His hand shot out, grasping her wrist, and he turned her with its leverage and pushed her with his whole body back out of the door.

     'Gas!' he said as he ran her back down the path. She stumbled because he was pushing her, but he had his arm round her now and bore her up as well as along. Out of the gate, across the pavement. There was a big plane tree growing opposite the next door house, and he pushed her into the shelter of its trunk. 'Stay there,' he snapped and flung himself at the boot of his car.

     'Bill! What are you doing?'

     He rummaged frantically in his tool kit and found a big screwdriver.

     'Bill!' Joanna cried, her voice rising in terror as he headed back to the house. 'Bill, don't!'

     'Stay there!' he flung over his shoulder.