‘So Moses tested it on himself, scrambled his brain and Delores needed money so she sold it to Aspire.’ Though, Thea realized, Delores had continued to look after Moses, had made sure he was hidden, yes, but safe and cared for. Kind of. ‘They’ve probably fixed any problems,’ Thea said eagerly, wanting to believe it.

Ethan stayed silent.

In the afternoon a little FM radio picked up a local channel playing old songs and if Thea squinted with her brain she could almost believe that she and Ethan were a happy couple enjoying a weekend break in a cottage picked from PlacesInTheMiddleOfNowhere.com.

They found tins of custard in the cupboard and heated them up, dunking biscuits in them to really make sure they made up for any sugar restriction they’d had back at the Centre. The pain in her shoulder had dulled and she tried to keep it fairly still, hoping it would get better on its own. Luckily, there were painkillers in the medicine box that had been left on the counter.

She couldn’t help wishing Rory was with her. He’d probably have had a chocolate bar in his pocket and his laugh would have instantly made her feel like things could be worked out. Though, she had to admit, he would have been rubbish at getting a gun from an armed guard.

‘My mother is probably haranguing the Centre right now, if they’ve allowed her call to go through,’ Thea said. ‘She thought it was a cult.’

Thea pictured her mother at the helm of a small motorboat, nosing it through the waves, the other women stood behind, heading to the island to rescue her. The post-menopausal army.

Ethan had been quiet up until that point. ‘So is it just you and your mother?’

‘Yep. We don’t live together, or anything.’ She wasn’t quite sure why she added that so quickly. ‘I’ve got my own place, but yeah … just me. What about you?’

‘I was married. Once. Didn’t work out.’ He paused and Thea didn’t think he would say any more. But he cleared his throat. ‘We met before I joined up. It was good then but being in the army meant I was away a lot, too much really. And even when I was home, I was always kind of still away, half the time – y’know?’

What Thea knew about marriage she’d got from books, but she nodded sympathetically.

‘I don’t blame her,’ he quietly said. ‘Between the nightmares and the sleeplessness, the memories … there wasn’t any space for anything else. For her.’ He looked down. ‘I wasn’t the same person she met.’ He sighed. ‘So, I’m on my own now.’

They were silent for a while until Thea looked up and caught him gazing at her so intently, she began to squirm.

‘Don’t you think that’s odd?’ he said.

‘Well, lots of people get divorced—’