Glad that the heating was still on, because he was shivering from head to toe, Frank lay on top of the bed and listened as Nick corralled the sluggish girls out of their room and down the stairs. Usually the man spent a little time in there after administering the injections, and from the disgusting things he’d heard through the wall, Frank hadn’t needed to guess what he was doing to them – or, rather, what he was making them do to him. The guests had obviously eaten into his fun time tonight, and Frank heard the front door opening and closing, followed by the sound of the van driving away.

Several minutes of silence passed, and then Irena’s bedroom door opened and closed. Scrambling into a sitting position, Frank tapped on the wall.

‘Irena . . .? Are you there?’

‘Yes, I am here,’ her voice came faintly back to him. ‘But I do not want to talk, so go to sleep, Frankie.’

‘I just need to know you’re OK,’ he said. ‘Did that man hurt you?’ Grimacing as soon as the words left his mouth, he said, ‘Sorry, that was a really stupid question. I know he’s hurt you, because I’ve seen the blood. But how bad is it?’

‘I will survive,’ Irena replied.

‘I’m so sorry,’ Frank said guiltily. ‘I should have helped you, but there was nothing I could do to stop them. They showed me a picture earlier. It was of Evan. They’re holding him somewhere, and he was hurt, and they said they’d kill him if I tried to help you. I’m so sorry, love.’

On the other side of the wall, Irena sighed. Then, her voice flat and drained of emotion, she said, ‘Is OK, I understand. I need sleep now. Goodnight, Frankie.’

‘Night,’ he replied, keeping his ear pressed against the wall until he’d heard the squeak of her bedsprings.

Turning round when all was silent again, he lay back and threw his arm over his eyes. At the beginning of this nightmare, he’d thought that Irena could hold her own with Karel, but it had all been a facade. Karel had always held the power, and she had played the part of the loving, dutiful partner to perfection, probably desperately hoping that, one day, he would actually see her as something more than a slave he’d granted favours to. But now he’d switched his attentions to the younger girl and had shown Irena that she meant nothing to him, she seemed to have given up.