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Chapters (62)
  1. Title
  2. Copyright
  3. Contents
  4. About the Author
  5. About the Book
  6. Dedication
  7. Your Worst Nightmare
  8. ONE
  9. TWO
  10. THREE
  11. FOUR
  12. FIVE
  13. SIX
  14. SEVEN
  15. EIGHT
  16. NINE
  17. The Answer to All Your Prayers
  18. TEN
  19. ELEVEN
  20. TWELVE
  21. THIRTEEN
  22. FOURTEEN
  23. FIFTEEN
  24. SIXTEEN
  25. SEVENTEEN
  26. EIGHTEEN
  27. NINETEEN
  28. TWENTY
  29. TWENTY-ONE
  30. TWENTY-TWO
  31. TWENTY-THREE
  32. TWENTY-FOUR
  33. TWENTY-FIVE
  34. TWENTY-SIX
  35. TWENTY-SEVEN
  36. TWENTY-EIGHT
  37. TWENTY-NINE
  38. THIRTY
  39. THIRTY-ONE
  40. Somebody Else’s Child
  41. THIRTY-TWO
  42. THIRTY-THREE
  43. THIRTY-FOUR
  44. THIRTY-FIVE
  45. THIRTY-SIX
  46. THIRTY-SEVEN
  47. THIRTY-EIGHT
  48. THIRTY-NINE
  49. FORTY
  50. FORTY-ONE
  51. FORTY-TWO
  52. FORTY-THREE
  53. FORTY-FOUR
  54. FORTY-FIVE
  55. FORTY-SIX
  56. FORTY-SEVEN
  57. FORTY-EIGHT
  58. FORTY-NINE
  59. Sunlight on Water
  60. July
  61. September
  62. Acknowledgements

‘Rotten, dead, stinking fish. Leon’s a good man, a heart of gold.’ He picks up the remains of his pint and raises his glass. ‘Happy holidays.’

Naylor chinks her glass to his.

‘Happy travels. Drive safely.’

‘Sometimes you need a break,’ says Ron. ‘But make sure you both come home ready to get stuck back into the fight.’

FORTY-NINE

FORTY-NINE

28 June

Crown Court Trial, Day 21

Ron’s not taking the kind of interest in the Ferrers trial he would have a year ago. There’s too much to do readying the van, chrome to be polished, crockery to be bought, maps and ferry schedules to be pored over.

It’s been a while since he’s caught the Six O’Clock News, but he’s sat down for ten minutes while June is putting the finishing touches to dinner. The credits roll, and there it is in the headlines, lead item on the BBC, a summary of the abduction and Evan’s miraculous return, and now the lengthy sentences handed down from the trial.

A set of mugshots flashes up on the screen. Four unremarkable-looking men with no apparent links between them, dissimilar ages, dissimilar backgrounds: Brian Birch, a middle-aged engineer from Essex; Daniel Kawcznski, a good-looking young man, a care-home assistant from Bolton; Peter Clive Sewell, a red-headed Scot, most recently working as a gas fitter; and Neil Roper, clinically obese and unemployed, a one-time IT specialist from Letchworth.

Nothing to link them but their predatory appetites.

Ron switches off the TV. In the kitchen, June’s spooning food on to their plates. Ron takes a bottle of sparkling wine from the fridge and holds it up for her approval.

‘This time tomorrow, we shall be far away from all this,’ he says. ‘And I think that warrants a bit of a celebration.’

Sunlight on Water

Sunlight on Water

July

July

Much of what they owned in Berkshire didn’t seem right for their new lives. A small removal van carried personal possessions and little more: clothes, jewellery, books, the washing machine to replace Dora’s antiquated model, their beds and the TV.

There are a couple of boxes from Evan’s bedroom too, books, games and posters, the contents of his desk, and he’s been upstairs a while, sorting through it all. When he comes downstairs, he’s carrying a photograph mounted on card.

‘Look what I found,’ he says.

Claire is at the kitchen table, working on her laptop, surrounded by jars of preserves. She makes no pretence at being capable of making jams and chutneys, but there’s talent amongst the women in the village, and Claire’s making it her mission to form and promote a co-operative and get their produce into stores. Amongst the jars there’s one of pale-gold honey, harvested by Evan (with help from Helen Trewitt) from his first hive.

‘What is it, kiddo?’