The Stones sat together on the sofa, Richard holding his wife’s hand. Elaine sat on the other side of her daughter as if they were propping her up. The one-sided conversation they could hear sounded promising. The cars had reached the farmhouse where the van had been sighted and Radford was waiting for an interim report from the officers on the ground.

Time appeared to be moving slowly, when in reality everything was unfolding very quickly. Radford, pacing the room, listened intently to what was happening, his expression mostly unreadable, then suddenly he closed his phone and sat down opposite Richard and Martha, his face grim.

‘I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but my officers have found the body of a young boy,’ Radford said.

Martha dropped her head into her lap and sobbed. Richard too, had tears running down his face and Elaine looked pale and in shock.

‘There’s been no identification yet, so we don’t know it’s Danny...’

‘Don’t be ridiculous, how many boys have gone missing in this area? It must be Danny, don’t give me empty platitudes!’ Richard was furious with the detective for being so crass. Why would the man give them false hope when they had found their son’s body?

The minutes ticked by – the two women wept quietly. Graham approached Richard and asked if he should call their GP who could perhaps give Martha a sedative. Richard shrugged the suggestion off. What they needed, and the only thing which would make them feel any better was to find the men who had killed their boy and make them pay for their deed.

41

DAY 6

Danny was startled by the sudden noise and knew instinctively it was a gun. For an instant he froze, looking back toward the house, the white van, and his friend lying motionless on the floor. He could be dead, Danny thought, and the cold stark reality elicited a guttural moan from somewhere deep inside him.

It should have been me – Lewis was trying to save me.

The thought hit Danny hard and hot tears streamed down his face. Things seemed to move in slow motion then, and he watched helplessly as Sally, screaming, fell to her knees beside her son. Danny knew he must do something. Every instinct in his body was telling him to go back to Lewis, but his mind reasoned that Lewis would have been shot for nothing if he didn’t escape.

Danny ran towards the wood. In his haste he tripped and fell against a large tree. Breathless, he hugged its trunk as if the very solidness of it could protect him. Greedily he gulped in the fresh cold air while thoughts of his parents flashed through his mind. Danny was desperate to know what had happened. Had his dad handed over the money?