‘Oof!’ He dropped the gun, but wasted no time in bending to retrieve it. Jarvis brought the slat down on the guy’s head and he immediately hit the ground, sprawled and out for the count. Jarvis picked up the gun and stepped over him to head out of the front door. Libby put my arm round her shoulder as we moved to follow him. Jarvis held out a hand behind him to stop us coming any closer. Libby and I froze. Warily, Jarvis looked up and down the street.

‘Quick!’ he urged.

Libby and I waddled forward.

‘Can’t you move any faster?’ asked Jarvis impatiently.

‘We could if you bothered to help,’ said Libby. ‘Troy’s hurt his ankle. We’re going as fast as we can.’

‘For heaven’s sake.’ Jarvis strode back to us, grabbed my free arm and placed it round his shoulder, his hand on my waist.

‘Let’s go,’ he snapped.

‘Wait,’ I said, pulling away from him. ‘We still don’t know who you are?’

Jarvis’s eyes widened. ‘You have got to be kidding me.’

‘For all we know, you could be the accomplice of these guys and you’ve now decided to cut them out and take the ransom money for yourself.’

‘We don’t have time for this,’ Jarvis argued.

I hopped back, removing my arm from around Jarvis’s shoulder and ignoring the pain that flared through my lower right leg. Libby moved to stand beside me.

‘Troy has a point,’ she said. ‘Show us some proof that you are who you say you are.’

‘Bollocks to this!’ said Jarvis, digging through his jacket pockets. ‘D’you want to be rescued or d’you want to rot in this dump? Your choice – and the door to option one is rapidly closing.’ But, with a huff, he did pull out his phone and start tapping on the screen. Turning it round, he showed a text-message exchange between him and Libby’s dad. Libby and I both leaned forward to read it. Then he played the start of a voicemail message left for him by Callie. My sister’s voice rang out: ‘J, it’s Callie.’

‘Happy now or would you like a DNA sample as well?’ asked Jarvis.

‘There’s no need to get snide. We had to check – you could’ve been anyone,’ I replied.

‘Troy, I’m working on behalf of your sister. Libby, I’m working with your father to bring you two home safely and, just so you know, I’m not loving the ingratitude. Now, are you two coming or not because I am this close to driving off and leaving both of you behind?’ Jarvis moved past us and returned to the front door to check if the coast was still clear.