“No,” he said. “It won’t be dangerous, at least not for him. I wouldn’t have asked him if it was.”

“And then? You’ve been gone all day.”

“Like I said—I went to see Takashi.”

Her stomach dropped at the mention of that name. “Where?”

“At the tower block,” he said, then smiled. “I have some good news.”

She reached for his arm. “Yamato?”

He nodded. “I saw him.”

“Oh my God,” she said, feeling her knees weaken.

He guided her back to the bed and encouraged her to sit down.

“How is he? Is he okay?”

“He’s fine. They have him in an apartment.”

“What was it like?”

“Very nice. It’s just below the penthouse.”

“How was he?”

“He seemed happy enough.”

“What was he doing?”

“Playing.”

“Are they feeding him?”

“I’m not an expert, but he looked healthy. Here—you tell me.”

Milton took out his phone, selected the video and handed it to Sakura. She pressed play and immediately gasped as she saw Yamato’s little face. He was playing with two Transformers, banging one robot into the other. She was buffeted by dizziness and felt her eyes filling with tears.

“See?” he said. “He’s fine.”

She breathed in and out, trying not to cry. “It’s the first time I’ve seen him properly for weeks.”

“You’ll see him for real soon.”

She scrubbed back on the footage, watching his face as he concentrated on his game. He was biting the corner of his lip, and she remembered how he had always done that, all the way back to when he was a toddler. She blinked back her tears and felt a wave of love that threatened to sweep over her.

“It’s okay,” Milton said, his hand atop hers. “This is good news. You’ll have him back soon.”

“What did you say to Takashi?”

“I’ve made a deal with him. You and Yamato for the sword. I need to get it for him, and then he promised to release Yamato to me and to leave you both alone.”

Sakura felt befuddled by emotion: the prospect of seeing her son again was intoxicating, but she realised that it was almost perfectly balanced by her fear for Milton’s safety.

“Furokawa is worse than Takashi,” she said.

“I know he’s dangerous,” Milton said. “I spoke to your father about him. Everyone has a weakness, and I know his. He’ll give me the sword and no one will be hurt.”

“How can you say that?”

“Do you trust me?”

“Yes,” she said. “Of course.”

He took her hand in his. “So trust me.” His smile broadened. “It’s nearly over. You’ll have Yamato back by this time tomorrow and you’ll both be safe.”