After driving for the best part of an hour, Jarvis turned into the driveway of a private detached house surrounded by fields on one side and woods on the other. I peered around as much as I could, but there were no other houses nearby. Jarvis pressed some kind of small device in his hand and the up-and-over garage door began to open. Moments later, he reversed into the garage and the door shut behind us. So much for legging it at the first sign of trouble. The garage light was on, activated by the door opening I guessed.

Jarvis switched off the engine and opened his door. I tried mine. Still locked. Jarvis moved to Troy’s side of the car. To my surprise, he opened the back door. Ohmigod! We’d been wrong about this guy. He was on our side. Jarvis beckoned for Troy to get out.

‘You’re letting us go?’ Troy asked, stunned.

‘Just you,’ said Jarvis.

Those two words put saliva in my mouth and sent an arctic chill down my spine.

‘Hang on.’ Troy frowned. He stayed seated next to me. ‘What about Libby?’

‘Liberty has to stay. You can go.’

‘T-Troy—?’ Was that really my voice, so shaky and filled with dread? Troy and I had made a pact that if just one of us had the opportunity to get away, then we would take it. Here was Troy’s chance. But why would Jarvis keep me but allow Troy to leave? All kinds of scenarios ran through my mind, every one of them petrifying.

‘Don’t worry, this is part of the plan,’ said Jarvis, turning his attention to me. ‘The kidnappers were after you, Libby. Not just your mum and her lover and his brother, but the ones who took over from them.’ Jarvis answered the question in my mind. ‘So, until the actual person who ordered the kidnappers to kill your mum and her accomplices is uncovered, you’re not safe. I’m just following your dad’s orders. Troy, you need to leave.’

I was really confused now.

Slowly Troy shook his head. ‘Libby and I leave together or we stay here together until my sister and Libby’s dad come for us.’

Troy wanted to stay with me? After everything he had said about when one of us got the chance we should grab it with both hands and run with it? Literally.

‘Troy, go. This is your chance to get away,’ I told him.

‘I’m not leaving without you,’ Troy said firmly.

‘Don’t be ridiculous. Look, I haven’t got time for this.’ Jarvis was getting more aggravated by the second. ‘You need to go. Now.’

‘No. I don’t think so.’

‘You fool! I’m doing you a favour here.’ Jarvis’s face was beginning to turn not just red but puce.