“They’ve released him. He should be home any minute.”

Connor went to the bathroom. Kane heard him being sick. Anne made some calls, came back, shaking her head grimly.

“No sign of her yet,” she said. “Listen, I think we’re going to try to leave here, get off this island . . .”

The front door opened and Thomas appeared, silhouetted against the headlights of the vehicle that had dropped him off.

“Edward,” he said.

“Are you okay?”

“Just about. There are people going crazy looking for you.”

“I could do with lying low for a while.”

Thomas looked to his wife.

“They won’t come on here,” Anne said.

“Not for now.”

Anne went and spoke to the uniformed men outside. Kane heard them address her as “ma’am.” She returned.

“They say there’s a stolen vehicle here.”

“That’s me. You can tell them to take it.” Kane gave her the keys. Anne looked at them as if she was about to say something, then went and passed them to the men outside.

“We can stall them, at least,” she said, shutting the door.

“Where did you go?” Thomas said.

“He found Connor up at Devil’s Ashpit,” Anne said.

Thomas took a deep breath: “Looking for Lauren.”

“That’s right. What do you know about the place?” Kane said.

“I know the kids have always said there’s something odd up there, and when Petra went missing, I told the police they should take a look. Which I don’t believe they ever did.”

“I want to take a closer look myself,” Kane said. “But I need metal-cutting tools.”

“There’s no way you’re getting back out there tonight. You won’t get much farther than the gates of the base. Seriously, they’re all over this place. What happened at Devil’s Ashpit?”

“We went in,” Connor said, appearing from the bathroom.

“Into the old control building?”

“We went in and there’s a basement or something. That’s really secured. Edward thinks we should look there.”

“I think it’s worth checking out,” Kane said.

“I told you,” Connor said.

“Okay. Tell me about this basement.”

“My guess is there’s extensive underground space,” Kane said. “Someone’s locked the access hatch but used it recently. I’ve got a bad feeling about it.”

“Fuck. What would you need to get in?”

“Something heavy-duty. Ideally an oxy-fuel torch. Maybe a circular saw or angle grinder.”

Thomas nodded, thoughtful.

“I can give it a try,” he said.

Anne frowned. “Using what?”

“There’s a plasma torch in the boat hut. There’s a hacksaw, too. It’s worth a shot.”

“You’d go back to Georgetown now? That’s crazy.”

“Everyone’s by the police station. The port’s empty.”

“On your own?”

“You can’t go alone,” Kane said.