We were in a hotel room. I was trying to keep a brave face. Talk it up to Molly, like it was a treat. Beth was a bit more savvy. She knew something was wrong. She wasn’t overly comforted by either the suite we had or the access we had to the swimming pool. She was clingy – not that I could blame her.

We could have stayed at home, the police had said. They’d given us the panic phones, put in the alarms and were increasing patrols even more, but Paul and I had decided to get some space from the house. For the night, at least. Until the doors were properly repaired and security lights had been fitted. I’d little desire to spend any time in his company, found it hard to look him in the face but I forced myself to act as if everything was normal. The girls needed some sense of stability.

We’d packed what we needed and drove with Paul to the police station, where I’d picked up my car and he went in to ‘help with the inquiry’.

I’d driven us to the hotel, my eyes darting to the rear-view mirror for any signs that we were being followed. I’d parked close to the hotel door, wondering if it was wise that my car was in clear view but not wanting to take the risk of parking in any secluded corners.

The woman at reception had been full of smiles and welcomes.

‘Just a wee break, is it?’ she’d said while I filled in the paperwork.

I’d nodded, looked back to where the girls were sitting on a sofa in the lobby. Molly hugging her favourite pony as if she’d never let it go and Beth was looking as if she could faint at any moment.

I’d handed over the paperwork and the receptionist had read through the details.

‘Oh, you’re local,’ she’d said, her eyebrow raised a little.

‘We are,’ I’d said, refusing to be drawn any further, much to the apparent disgust of the receptionist.

‘And how long will you be staying?’ she’d asked.

‘I’m not sure,’ I’d told her. ‘Tonight, anyway … obviously. And tomorrow, maybe. Is it okay to confirm in the morning?’

‘I’ll have to check with the computer if we have availability,’ she’d said and tapped her long acrylic nails on the keyboard in front of her, pulling all sorts of ‘I’m thinking’ faces before finally looking up. ‘Well, yes, at the moment we do have availability for the family suite tomorrow night, but if a confirmed booking comes in …’

‘We’ll deal with that then,’ I’d said.