Before Jack headed for London, he had one final conversation with Bevan. ‘I’m going to give Charlotte my mobile number and I want you to give her yours. But Charlotte’s not the weak one; Annie is and Charlotte will do anything to protect her. She needs to feel safe, so I want her to only communicate with us in the first instance. I’ll then feed the relevant information on to everyone else. I’m also going to get a burner phone; you’ll have that number, too. But just you.’ Although Bevan was listening intently, Jack could see that she wasn’t sure about the ethics of following his instructions above those of his senior officers. ‘Bevan, you’re one of the smartest, most painstaking officers I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with. We’re so close to the end. I need you to be my patient, logical brain over here, whilst I’m in London. Please. Help me to help Charlotte get out of this in one piece.’

Chapter 17

CHAPTER 17

Jack let himself into the house and was met by silence. He didn’t call out in case Hannah was sleeping, but as he was hanging up his coat, Hannah’s little smiley face appeared around the door frame, floating about four feet off the ground! Penny was hiding as best she could, but Hannah was heavy and so her ‘little joke’ didn’t last long. Jack rushed forwards and scooped Hannah into his arms – she beamed and gurgled and kicked her legs so hard that she pushed herself away from his body. Although Jack and Hannah saw each other on Maggie’s phone daily, he hadn’t held his daughter for days.

‘She changed, hasn’t she?’ Penny said proudly. ‘You don’t think they can change much in less than a week, but . . . I’ll put the kettle on. You two catch up.’

Jack followed Penny into the kitchen, as she nattered away. This was something Penny always did when there was a serious conversation to be had at some point in the immediate future. She had to work herself up to it. When she was ready,