Alfie, seeming angry with himself, said, ‘It’s not me you should be worrying about. It’s the little boy. I had him, Franny. I was holding his hand but then I froze. I saw Barry in the distance, and I just froze. I fucked up and now the boy’s in trouble.’

‘How do you know?’

Irritated and frustrated, Alfie snapped. ‘Come off it, Fran, what the fuck else will he be? If Barry’s got anything to do with him, then it’s bad news. Look, do me a favour and have another look around will you? Make sure he still isn’t here?’

‘Alf, seriously, there’s no one around. I already checked when I was looking for you. I think the best thing we can do is to get you back home. Clean up that wound – it looks nasty.’

‘Forget about me. Please, Franny, just go. I saw the look in that boy’s eyes and no doubt about it, the kid’s in trouble.’

Having left Alfie in the car, Franny, with Mia heavy on her mind and with the constant feeling of sickness in her stomach, made her way into another of the warehouses. Like the other ones, it was empty and dark, crumbling and deserted and she walked along carefully, not wanting to nick herself on any of the sharp edges of the broken bottles, nails or rusting metal strewn around.

Certain there was no one about, Franny, guided by her phone torch and the moonlight, made her way confidently through the back corridor of the warehouse; the double doors creaking and swinging open. She peeked into all the rooms where weeds and grass grew in the corners and the sleet fell through from the broken ceiling. They were all empty and looked like no one had been in them for years.

Thinking she’d head back to the car in the next few minutes, Franny frowned as she thought she heard a noise. She swivelled around quickly but there was nobody there. She stared into the darkness, feeling a chill coming over her.

‘Franny! Franny!’

Her chest became tight and she backed away, banging into a discarded sheet of metal, which was leaning on the wall. It tumbled to the floor, clattering and echoing around the large, derelict warehouse.

Alarmed, Franny squeezed her eyes shut, rubbing her head, trying to stop herself trembling, trying to stop herself thinking of Bree … She had to pull herself together. She had to think of what Alfie had said. It was just the wind. It was just the wind … Yes, that was all it was and allowing her imagination to mess with her head wasn’t doing anyone any good.

Exhaling, she opened her eyes and began to back away, back to the safety of the car, back to Alfie. But her phone battery suddenly died, and the light cut out, leaving her standing in nothing but darkness.

‘Franny.’