I looked again at the lock of hair. It was trembling, as was the whole piece of paper, as was my hand, arm, all of me. But I wasn’t shivering out of fear. No, as the room receded and blackness surged forward to blot out everything but the awful quivering note, it was rage and not fright that rushed through my entire being. Somebody had cut off a piece of my mother’s hair. That wouldn’t have caused her pain in itself, but I knew how much she would have hated the threat attached to the act, and not just because the threat was directed at her: she’d have put two and two together and understood that the ransom note with her hair stuck to it would be delivered to me. She always puts me first, so she’d have been most worried about the effect the note would have on me. Dad, too, would be beside himself. He hates losing control. Being held hostage would be his worst nightmare come true.

I fought the shivering, forced the page to stay still.

Amelia had read the note upside down. That didn’t surprise me: if you stare at your phone long enough she’s likely read that over your shoulder too. I didn’t object today. Xander understands that reading another person’s mail is inappropriate. Gently he asked, ‘Well, what does it say?’

‘Some creep claiming he’s taken Jack’s parents hostage, and demanding money – $75,000, weirdly – in exchange for their release,’ said Amelia. ‘Plus a bit of Janine’s hair. Allegedly. I mean, it does look like hers but …’

She petered out as I passed the note to Xander. ‘See for yourself,’ I said through gritted teeth.

I watched his face, my mind leapfrogging itself. After I’d found and freed my parents from the scum who had sent me this note, what would I do to them in revenge? Turn them in to the authorities ultimately of course, but – my blood really did feel like it was boiling in my veins – only after I’d personally made them pay. I realised I was bouncing on the balls of my feet, my face tight with anger.

By contrast Xander remained calm. ‘Wow. I’m sorry, Jack,’ he said, handing the piece of paper back to me. ‘But listen, at least there’s a way to get your folks to safety. I know $75,000 is a lot of money, but your mum and dad could pay more than that if they had to. And Langdon can put up the money now. Call him.’

‘Why that amount though?’ said Amelia. ‘I mean, it doesn’t even divide neatly in two. Are they saying your dad’s worth more than your mum? Or maybe it’s the other way around.’

‘Possibly that’s not the point,’ said Xander kindly.

‘The note says to call the number straight away, meaning before calling anyone else,’ I said.