Jameson could feel Harry watching him. ‘It won’t do any good to ask him.’ Harry had no memory of living near St Albans and he’d certainly freak out if he heard his kids had done a runner. ‘Just carry on as planned.’ He made his words as ordinary and unemotional as possible. Hopefully Harry would assume it was an unrelated call.

‘Won’t do any good to ask me what?’ Harry said when Jameson hung up.

‘Huh?’

‘You said it won’t do any good to ask him.’

Jameson put his jacket on and checked for his actual car key. ‘Different case. Nothing to do with you. Let’s go.’ He knew Bloom would be trying to bring Seraphine back to share whatever dubious intel she claimed to have, and he had no interest in hearing her lies.

His phone buzzed and he saw he had four missed calls and a voicemail from Karene. He listened to her pleas and checked the call times. She had last called seven minutes before Vic, either just before or just after she got off the bus. He dialled her number. It rang for a while then went to voicemail.

‘Everything OK?’ said Harry.

‘Absolutely.’ Until he knew what was going on, he was keeping this quiet. Hopefully Karene had been sensible enough to follow his advice to stay visible and if in doubt to call the police. Until Vic confirmed whether they’d made it back to Caroline’s house there was nothing he could do.

63

Bloom caught up with Seraphine on the other side of Portsmouth’s Victoria Park. ‘We had a deal,’ she said.

Seraphine stopped and faced her. ‘And what was that deal?’

‘That you would tell us everything you know about who is after Harry and I would let you see Jameson.’

‘Very clever, Augusta. You know I meant more than simply seeing him.’

‘That was our deal. I did not break the terms.’

‘You didn’t tell him I was coming.’

‘You saw how he was. There’s no way he’d have been there had he known you were coming.’

Seraphine looked up at the sky. ‘You’re a clever woman, Augusta, and I can’t argue with your logic, but I’m afraid what you did was not in the spirit of the agreement.’ She met Bloom’s gaze again. ‘So, until you find a way to give me what I want, the deal is off.’

‘We’re perfectly able to solve this ourselves. I cannot and will not sacrifice Marcus.’

Seraphine began walking again. ‘Maybe you already have.’

‘This is over, Seraphine.’

‘If that’s your choice.’