‘The heads on the spikes. He did it all himself. Get him to show you them.’ He slapped the steering wheel in celebration. ‘La bestia!’

‘Yeah, I’ll be sure to check that out at the earliest opportunity, thanks.’

‘Oh man, you gotta see it! He cut off all their heads. Man, did that send a message. You ever cut off anyone’s head, Rhiannon?’

I pinched my belly fat, trying to imagine it gone. ‘That’s not my name.’

‘Yeah, but did you ever cut off anyone’s head?’

‘Yes. Two people.’

That pulled him up. His eyes widened in the rear-view which he had angled so that every time he looked up he could see me. ‘You did?’

‘Yes. A female paedophile and my baby’s father, if you must know. Though they were both dead at the time.’

‘Whoa. So you Beauty and the Beast, huh? La bella y la bestia!’ He laughed uncontrollably, even though again he’d failed to produce the desired response. As a last attempt, he clicked the glovebox, ostensibly to pull out a stick of gum, but gum is not what I saw. I saw gun – a semi-automatic pistol and a box of bullets. He took out the gum and shoved a stick in his mouth, looking at me in the rear-view mirror before shutting the compartment.

‘Always on alert, chica,’ he winked. ‘Always ready for the fight.’

I batted my eyes. Paco still hadn’t pushed the right button. But it was a ticking timebomb and one day I knew, without any doubt, that he would.

Friday, 15 February – Hacienda Santuario – the day before surgery starts