Bloom shook her head.

Caroline and her shadow stalked back into the living area. ‘Tell me where they are right now or I’m calling the police.’

‘Show us where your phone says they are,’ said Jameson.

‘It. Says. They’re. Here.’

‘It doesn’t make sense,’ Bloom said to Jameson.

‘You’re really going to pretend someone has taken them rather than tell their own mother where my idiot ex and his witch have stolen them to. Who the hell do you think you are?’

‘Jake has a smartwatch,’ said Robin. Everyone looked at him and he shuffled his feet a little. ‘You only have Jake’s watch tracked to here. Sophie’s phone is switched off or out of range,’ he said to Caroline.

‘Could Harry have brought the watch back here?’ Bloom said to Jameson.

‘Or … Can I see the tracking app?’ he said to Caroline. When she looked reluctant, he said, ‘It may be that whoever has them missed the watch. Jake was wearing a long-sleeved hoodie. If he’s bright, he’ll have kept it hidden.’

Caroline frowned but took her phone from her coat pocket, typed in the access code and opened the app. She handed it to Jameson. He studied the image and then took out his own phone and laid them side by side on the kitchen table. ‘Your tracking app shows them to be on this street, but if we take a closer look at where we are on my phone …’ He typed in the postcode for their location and then zoomed in and converted the image to satellite. ‘We are here, just past the school.’ He showed everyone then converted back to the map and zoomed out. On Caroline’s phone he then zoomed in to the exact location flag for Jake’s smartwatch.

‘That’s further away from the school,’ said Bloom.

‘Oh, come on. It’s on this street. Where else would they be on this street?’ said Caroline.

Jameson spoke to Bloom. ‘Well they’re not here, so I guess somewhere very near. Walking distance.’

‘You think someone took them from St Albans and brought them here?’ said Bloom.

‘Too crazy?’ he said.

‘Yes,’ said Caroline, her patience clearly at its limit.

Bloom thought about it. ‘But if Seraphine’s involved, then nothing’s too crazy.’

‘Let’s go then,’ said Jameson.

69

The interior was overly elaborate, with marble columns, crystal chandeliers and a sweeping staircase. Harry followed Seraphine and Abdul into a room at the rear of the building. Despite the high-backed chairs, no one made a move to sit down and instead the three of them hovered on the thick red and gold rug. According to Seraphine, they were about to meet Antony Bello. His uncle, Jacob Bello, was the founder of God’s Liberation Army, a group known to operate in the Central African Republic and the Sudan. Antony was the obvious successor.