‘No. It means someone else switched them off. There’s only one explanation: Branko despatched Arken from Glasgow to get to them. He will want to get in contact to make his demands. I’ll have to switch my phone back on in case I have a message. Start clearing everything up, we need to get out of here.’

Pet nodded and began packing her equipment up as Tom grabbed his iPhone and switched it out of airplane mode. Its connection was indicated by a buzz as a text message arrived from a number he knew to be Zjelko’s. With a sense of dread, Tom opened the message and saw that a video clip was attached.

Wordlessly, he pressed Play and the clip immediately filled the handset’s screen in sharp clarity, showing four figures in the kitchen of Cameron and Shona’s home. Cameron was blindfolded, his hands pinned behind him, secured by some means to the radiator at the side of the room. Shona was on the floor on her knees, facing away from the camera. Her wrists were fixed behind her back by what looked like zip-ties. Her wrists were pulled upwards and her head forced down by a burly male, who was wearing a balaclava. Another masked man towered over Shona with an automatic pistol tucked into his belt. Tom’s heart sank when he saw that the man had a pair of pruning secateurs in his hand.

‘No!’ Tom screamed pointlessly at the small screen, realising with horror what was about to happen. The man with the secateurs grabbed Shona’s left little finger and, without hesitation, closed the blades around the digit. He then paused to stare at the camera and, even through the balaclava, Tom could see the grin on his face. He clamped the blades shut and Shona emitted a piercing scream, bucking in agony as blood flowed and the severed digit dropped to the carpet. Cameron started to thrash against his bonds at the sound of his wife’s scream. Suddenly, the clip was over.

A mix of fear, rage, and hatred rose in Tom, almost threatening to overwhelm him. He forced it down, aware that it was a time to think clearly, not emotionally. He breathed deeply, trying to organise his thoughts, as he spoke quickly and decisively.

‘I’ll have to call Branko but he’s going to want the SD card. I need to buy some time as it’s in the post to Buster. I can always burn another copy from my phone, but I don’t intend handing it over in any case. There’s no way they’re going to let any of us live, whether they get the card or not.

‘I’m going to phone Zjelko now. Can you cell site Arken’s phone and get me any intel you guys have on him or his associates?’

Pet nodded and retrieved her laptop from its bag.