‘Either way we’d go to jail.’

‘I’ve thought about that, of course, but Aidan, I’d rather be locked up for the rest of my life knowing my boy is healthy than have my freedom but watch him die, wouldn’t you?’

Aidan looks his wife in the eye and gives her his answer.

Chapter Eighty-Eight

Ryan

Yes.

He can’t believe Aidan has said yes.

He can’t believe Aidan is his father.

He listens to the squeak of a trolley. Lucy softly singing ‘Hush little baby’ the way she had over and over in the car the night she’d taken him, and he’s never heard anything more chilling.

The chink of something metal.

Hot breath near his face.

‘Relax,’ Lucy says. ‘It’ll all be over soon.’

Chapter Eighty-Nine

Connor

Connor doesn’t get why the Find My Friends app has shown his dad at the old hospital, but according to his mobile he’s still here so Connor finds a way inside. The building is huge, but it’s also dusty and there is a clear line of footprints for Connor to follow. He winds through the corridors until he pushes open a double door and there they are. His parents.

‘Connor. What are you doing here?’ He hears the panic in his dad’s voice. He glances over to Mum, who doesn’t say anything. There’s an odd expression on her face, a sense of calmness he hasn’t seen in such a long time. ‘You need to leave.’ Dad is pacing towards him. ‘Now.’

‘What’s going on?’ Confused, Connor takes a step back, his eyes searching the room.

Then he sees Ryan.

‘You’ve found him!’ Excited, he runs over to his friend, skidding to a halt as he sees the way he’s blindfolded. Gagged. Vomit rises in his throat and he swallows it down. Why aren’t his parents helping? The walls closing in, the ceiling pushing down. Light-headed, he clings to the side of the trolley Ryan is lying on.

What is going on?

‘Is he…’ He can’t say the word. But he gently touches Ryan’s chest with one hand, reassured by the movement of his ribcage.

‘Mum?’ Tears pour from Connor’s eyes. ‘Mum, help him. You’re a doctor, for fuck’s sake. Dad?’ It is when he turns to face his father that he sees his brother on a second trolley.

‘Oh God. No.’ His knees buckle as he stumbles towards Kieron.

He runs towards him, half expecting his eyes and mouth to be sewn shut but they aren’t. Like Ryan, he looks as though he is asleep.

‘What the fuck!’ Terror is knocking his heart against his ribcage. He doesn’t understand this. Any of it. Why aren’t his parents moving? Speaking. Where are the police?’

He pulls out his phone.

‘No!’ his dad says sharply. ‘Don’t call anyone.’