‘She’s investigating you,’ said Amber.

‘I’m flattered,’ he murmured.

He disengaged himself from the embrace. Amber stood aside obediently. Reaching behind him, he pulled out a knife with a long shiny Bowie-style blade. He tested the edge with his thumb. It looked sharp. Raising his eyes, he grinned at Bailey.

‘She has nice hair,’ he said, peering at her scalp appreciatively. He glanced at his sister. ‘You chose well.’

‘She kind of chose herself,’ said Amber.

Bailey felt her guts twist in dread. She writhed and struggled, but to no avail. Her bonds were too tight.

This was it.

This was the end.

She cursed her bad luck.

So much for Mel’s tiger protecting her.

Be careful it bites.

Those words returned now, washed up like flotsam on the shores of her panicked mind. What had Mel meant? Had she meant anything at all? How could the tiger bite? It was only made of paper.

For protection.

Mel liked to protect herself because Mel was paranoid.

They don’t call her Crazy Mel for nothing…

Be careful it bites.

Protection.

Now Bailey understood.

She prayed that the origami tiger was still in her back pocket where she’d put it after Mel had given it to her. She’d forgotten all about it up to now.

Stretching and twisting herself, she managed to poke her fingers into her back pocket. With the tips of her fingers, she could feel the edge of the folded paper. Thank god it was still there.

If only she could get a grip on it. She didn’t have much time. A matter of seconds, maybe a minute, if that.

Amber looked down at her squirming. She gave Bailey a look of mock pity.

‘Don’t worry it’ll all be over soon.’

Bailey got a grip on the origami tiger between her thumb and forefinger. She eased it carefully out of her back pocket. If she dropped it now all would be lost. She pressed her finger against the folded ridge which formed its back. She felt a sharp jabbing sensation as it sliced into her fingertip. Never before had she felt so pleased to feel pain.

It was just as she had suspected. Mel had hidden a razor blade inside the origami tiger. A razor blade – Mel’s favourite form of self-defence.

Gripping the tiger firmly, Bailey began to awkwardly saw through the mesh bag which bound her wrists.

She glanced up at him from her sedentary position on the floor. Leonard was beginning to walk towards her, the knife dangling loosely at his side.

She needed to stall him somehow. She needed to think of something to say. Anything.

‘Is that just a normal wig or is that a scalp you’re wearing?’ she stammered, trying to force a conversational tone into her voice.

‘Just a wig,’ he said, looking faintly amused.

He was getting closer. Four metres away… three metres away… two metres away…

Bailey sawed furiously at her bonds. With her hands tied behind her, she was working blind, but she could feel the individual strands of mesh giving way beneath the edge of the razor.