Trembling, Meg put the phone down on the table, fed Daphne, then poured herself a large whisky, really worried where all this was going and how much danger she, her daughter and Cassie and God knows who else that she cared about were in.

She sat down at the table and drank a large gulp. Thinking. Staring at the photograph of the two happy girls. Feeling so desperately alone and scared. And aware that anything she said might either be listened to, live or recorded. She sipped some more, then stared in surprise at her empty glass.

Did I just drink that?

Sod it. She refilled her glass and sat back down. Feeling emboldened, suddenly, she picked up her own phone and dialled Laura. Hell. They hadn’t spoken in over a week, she was entitled to call her daughter, damn you, you evil shit.

To her relief, Laura answered almost immediately. ‘Hey, Mum!’

‘How are you, darling?’

‘Oh my God, Mum, it’s so good to hear you! I sort of shouldn’t tell you this cos I know you will worry but we were a bit freaked out. Don’t panic though, we are totally fine now, I promise.’

‘What, darling, what on earth has happened to you?’

‘Oh, honestly, Mum, chill, it’s nothing major. We just had a couple of beers and we were both out of it – I mean after just two beers. We think they were spiked – apparently you have to be really careful about that here. We’re on the lookout from now on. We both felt really strange until this morning. Thank God we got back to our rooms OK and just slept it off. Apart from that, we are having the best time!’

For some moments Meg felt in the grip of fear. She desperately, desperately wanted to tell Laura to come home. But she couldn’t, and even if she did plead, Laura wouldn’t agree. Instead, lamely, she said, ‘Please, please, be careful, Laura. It’s really important you look after each other. Promise me you will.’

‘We will, we will. We’re fine, Mum.’

And she really sounded as if she was. From her voice, she seemed so happy, so carefree. They chatted for several minutes, as Laura wanted to know how all her pets were. Then she asked, ‘So, how’s jury service? Have you got a really nasty villain?’

Meg hesitated before replying. ‘Well, I can’t really talk about it, I’m not allowed to.’

‘Is it a murder trial?’

‘I can’t say, darling. So, what are your plans?’

‘We’re going to this place tomorrow everyone says is amazing – a gorge that goes into rapids – and we’re going to do a zip wire right over the rapids!’

‘Zip wire? Isn’t that dangerous?’

‘Mum! Honestly!’ There was reproach in her tone. ‘If it was really dangerous, would I do it?’