Jerome sucked his teeth and laughed. ‘No way! You’re gonna have to come up with something better than that. Crazy bitch.’

‘I did. I swear.’

He scowled. ‘So where’s the reward then? And where’s the kid?’

‘There was a problem.’ She told him what had happened after she’d left Alice’s house with Frankie.

Jerome listened, as Georgia spoke in a silence broken only by the sound of RiRi licking herself enthusiastically. ‘So it ain’t that insane doctor guy and his mental missus, the ones who took the other two kids, then she topped herself?’

Georgia shook her head. ‘No. But I still know how we can get the money.’

She explained. Jerome nodded slowly. The cogs were almost audibly whirring behind his eyes.

‘Can I go now?’ she asked timidly, after some time.

Jerome was lost in thought,

‘Text me that photo before you go.’

She whipped out her iPhone and immediately obliged. Jerome scrutinized the photo on his Galaxy.

‘You better not be shitting me,’ he said suspiciously. ‘If I find out this is just some random photo, you’re a dead girl. You know that, right?’

Georgia nodded vigorously. Something about the expression on his face made her involuntarily release more urine, and she cringed. She’d left a wet mark on Jerome’s seat. Thankfully he didn’t seem to notice.

‘You got yourself a reprise. Temporary, anyway. A week, tops. And if I don’t get that four grand in a week, the interest’s up to fifty per cent. Understood?’

Once Jerome had driven off, Georgia’s legs refused to hold her any longer. She sank onto the sandy gravel of the car park, the wet patch on her crotch liquid fear. She had no idea if she’d just taken steps to get her out of the shit, or dropped herself further into it.

She put her head into her hands and howled like a baby. Just like Frankie had, the night she had taken her. She cried so long that she didn’t notice that all the other cars had gone, and the deer had vanished into the dusky long grass to sleep for the night.

Nor did she notice the distant sound of a car returning and parking a little way away. She didn’t hear Jerome’s heavy footsteps until he was almost next to her, and Rihanna started to snarl. She jerked her head up and scrambled to her feet, but it was too late. For a moment they stood opposite one another. Jerome’s face was implacable.

‘Changed my mind,’ he said. ‘Thought about it for a while, didn’t I. It’ll look better if you ain’t involved. Oh – and you pissed in my fucking car.’