Sara stared at her, willing her to open her eyes so she could see if this was the truth. The hardware was ruined, but what about the backup in the Cloud; what about the copies that were already out there, being shared by God knows who?

The sound of footsteps made her look up, and she got to her feet, caught Hailey’s arm and led her away so Fiona couldn’t hear.

‘I had a good look in her car,’ Hailey whispered. ‘There’s something that could be a backup drive in the boot, all wrapped up in plastic. I didn’t touch it, didn’t want to leave fingerprints.’

‘A remote backup? God, I never thought of that. Do you think she was coming up here to hide it till all the fuss died down?’

Hailey nodded. ‘That makes sense.’

‘Did you call the police?’

Hailey looked at her. ‘You sure you want me to?’

Sara swallowed her fears of what might lie ahead for her. ‘Do it,’ she said. It was the only way she’d be able to live with her conscience. How could she act to save herself when all those other women were being robbed of their dignity, molested without even being aware of what was happening? ‘Who knows what Matt can do in terms of starting it all up again? And I don’t trust Fiona as far as I can throw her, not with that much money at stake. It’s got to be stopped. Properly finished.’

‘I’m proud of you,’ Hailey said, her eyes gleaming. She walked a little way down the hill to make the call, while Sara chewed at her lip, thinking about what would happen next. She wasn’t ready to deal with the police. The kids. I need to make sure they’re okay.

She waited for Hailey to finish.

‘Can I borrow your phone? I need to ring Matt. I’ve no idea what state he’s in, or where he is, and he’s got Ezra.’ Her voice sped along, propelled by the overwhelming desire to be with her children. ‘And then I need to check on the girls, tell them—’

‘Hey, calm down.’ Hailey held out her phone. ‘You take this. I’ve got my work phone in the car, so you can contact me on that.’ She gave Sara’s arm a reassuring squeeze. ‘Go and get the girls, ring Matt, do whatever you’ve got to do to make sure those kids are safe. I’ll stay with Fiona, make sure the police know what’s been going on.’