Tom saw who was calling and answered the phone quickly. ‘Gail! Where the hell are you?’

‘Wouldn’t you like to know?’

He could hear that she’d been drinking, not a lot, but enough to slur her speech.

‘My mother rang. She says you had an accident and ran away from the police.’

‘She’s an interfering bitch. It was just a little misunderstanding. All sorted now.’

‘It can’t be. The police are still looking for you.’

‘More to the point, have you looked for the children lately?’

His blood ran cold. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Think they’re safe behind those big walls with broken glass on the top, do you? Well, I got in easily enough and I got the kids out too.’

‘I don’t believe you.’

‘Go and look for them. I’ll call back in half an hour and tell you what I want you to do.’

‘Gail, don’t—’ He looked at the now silent phone, stuffed it in his pocket and ran across to the cottage. No sign of Jane or the children there. He saw Craig crossing the yard and yelled out, ‘Have you seen Jane?’

Craig turned round and Tom’s face must have shown how anxious he was because Craig ran across to join him.

‘What’s the matter, mate?’

Tom explained.

‘I saw Jane taking the kids to play in the back garden. They’ve played there before. I’ll show you.’

He led the way, exclaiming in shock at the sight of the still figure on the bench and kneeling beside her. ‘She’s been hit on the head.’

Tom knew at once who’d done it. ‘I’ll call for an ambulance. Where’s Jez?’

‘In his studio.’

‘He told me he was going to visit Sophie. Didn’t he call for an escort?’

‘No.’

Tom held up one hand to stop him speaking. ‘Hello. Yes, we need an ambulance. An old woman’s been attacked, hit over the head, I think. She’s unconscious.’ He gave them the address.

‘Better not move her,’ Craig said. ‘She’s breathing OK, but you don’t know if the blow injured her neck or spine. I’ll run back and tell someone to open the gates for the ambulance, then I’ll try to find Jez. You’ll be all right on your own here, won’t you?’

Tom nodded. ‘My wife’s ringing back in half an hour. I wasn’t thinking. I should have asked for the police as well the ambulance.’

‘I’ll call Kevin.’ Craig got his mobile out and keyed in a number, speaking into the phone as he ran through the garden.

Tom looked down at Jane, feeling sick at the sight of the poor woman. Gail was in serious trouble now. She’d gone beyond reason. She’d not been the same since that psychotic episode when she was smoking pot.

He could only pray that she wouldn’t hurt the children.

Jez’s mobile rang as he was just finishing a piece of cake. ‘Damn! I thought I’d switched that thing off.’

‘Better answer it,’ Sophie said.

He looked to see who it was, frowning as he saw that it was Craig.