‘Everyone is fine,’ Kyle butted in before Rory could speak. Thea couldn’t be sure, but she thought she saw Rory redden. ‘But the trial has been stopped, to be on the safe side. Ms Maxwell has stepped down and Aspire, the company that actually owns Ing Enterprises, have sent a team to take over.’

Moses stirred in his pretend-sleep, muttered something and shifted in his seat.

‘Safety is of the utmost importance,’ Kyle continued smoothly, in a voice used to getting attention. ‘There has been a small fire, probably caused by one of the clients in their hallucinatory state, so we are evacuating the island. Clients first, of course.’ He smiled that hook smile.

‘And Moses?’ Ethan said.

Kyle flicked a glance to him. ‘Well, he is a bit of a surprise to us all, but that is a private matter for Ms Maxwell and the company to deal with between themselves.’

Thea didn’t believe him. Aspire must have known that Delores was parading a fake Moses, surely? She closed her eyes, squeezed her lids shut for a minute, trying to think it all through.

‘Thing is, we don’t have much time.’ Kyle stood up and opened the rucksack he’d brought with him. Inside was a box. ‘We need to get the discs off you. Boat’s waiting. We have warm clothes and boots in the truck. You’re getting off the island.’

‘Wait.’ Thea blinked a few times, as if that would help her think. ‘That’s it? Delores is being held somewhere and everything is okay now? What about the tech? What it does, what it can do?’

Rory frowned, puzzled. ‘What do you mean – what it can do?’

‘What it can do is now no one’s business except the owner of the tech. Which is Aspire,’ Kyle said. ‘Ing Enterprises have been negligent and foolhardy with it. Aspire is a safe pair of hands, rest assured, Miss Mackenzie.’

Thea thought of the memory stick in the tiny slit pocket of her leggings. It was a good moment to tell Rory about it. She might not get another moment like it. But there was Kyle by his side, with his sharp eyes and sharper smile.

She stayed quiet.

Kyle opened the box. Inside were what looked like an expensive set of the kind of headphones a pretentious DJ would wear.

‘What’s that?’ Ethan asked.

‘It’s how we get the discs off. I see you have already worked out how impossible it is to remove them without help,’ Kyle said as Ethan put a hand to the bandage around his head.

Rory had fallen silent, Thea noticed.

‘It’s really easy.’ Kyle offered the fancy disc-removing headphones to Thea to have a look. ‘Doesn’t hurt.’