Her mother’s tone was urgent. ‘Took her? What do you mean he took her?’

‘The bastard broke into the house and took Lottie from the bed while I slept right there next to her in my bedroom at the back of the house. I left the kitchen window open, just slightly, on the latch. I forgot to close the damned thing after boiling some soup. It was a warm night. Why wouldn’t I leave it open? We live in a low crime area. And he took full advantage. He broke in and took her away!’

There was a second’s silence. ‘Are you sure?’

Megan’s voice betrayed her frustration. ‘Yes, of course I’m sure. I couldn’t be surer.’

The response was immediate this time. ‘Have you rung him?’

Megan unlocked the car, jumping into the driver’s seat to escape the rain, which had started falling more heavily again. ‘Yes, I’ve rung him. And I’m at the flat now. But there’s no reply, and his car’s not here. I’ve searched the entire street. I don’t know what the hell to do next. I’m starting to panic, Mum. This isn’t like anything he’s done before. If he’s capable of breaking into the house, what else is he capable of? He must be having some sort of breakdown.’

Megan detected a hard edge to her mother’s voice when she spoke again. A hard edge she hadn’t heard for quite some time. ‘Right, now you listen to me. I want you to go straight to the police station, and I want you to tell them exactly what’s happened, word for word, as you’ve told me. Make it official. If Dale gets into serious trouble, he’s brought it on himself. If he’s locked up, that’s down to him too. It’s no more than he deserves.’

Megan paused. When she spoke her tone was reticent, ‘Do you really think that’s necessary?’

‘Dale’s broken into your house. Think about what you’ve told me. He took that little girl in the car and drove when he was drunk. He put her life at risk. And you don’t even know where she is. It’s time to put her first. She’s the only thing that matters now. What’s Dale capable of? You asked the same question yourself not a minute ago. You need to get Lottie back before she comes to any harm, deliberate or otherwise. Go to the police station and tell them everything. I can’t say it any clearer than that.’

Megan dropped her chin to her chest, exhaling slowly as she started the engine and turned on the wipers. ‘Yes, okay, I know you’re right. I’ll go straight to the police station right now. If someone had told me the idiot was going to do something as stupid as this, I wouldn’t have believed them. It’s got to be down to the drink. It’s twisted his mind – addled his brain. The man needs professional help. I could slap him sometimes and slap him hard. He’s breaking our hearts.’