Martha could hardly breathe, her body heaved with sobs of relief. Richard and Elaine were on their feet and almost at the door before Suni could give the sketchy details the inspector had shared.

‘I’ll drive you there.’ Suni correctly judged the family were too emotional to drive safely.

They arrived at the Royal just twenty minutes behind Danny and were allowed into the tiny cubicle where a pretty young nurse was bathing his cuts.

When he saw them, Danny reached for his parents, fresh tears flowing again. ‘Mum, Dad!’

Martha and Richard were beside him instantly, hugging the son they thought they would never see again.

The three of them clung to each other for several minutes, crying and laughing. The nurse tactfully left, although Suni remained in the background, listening to what was said in case anything significant came out to help them apprehend the kidnappers.

As it happened, very little was said at all.

‘Did they hurt you?’ Richard’s face was creased in concern.

Danny shook his head. He sniffed back his tears then wrapped his arms around his mother again.

‘Hush, Danny. We can talk later – you’re safe and that’s all that matters.’ Martha flashed a warning look at her husband.

Elaine moved forward to hug her grandson then stepped back, remaining silent to allow him space with his parents. Martha stroked his head, mumbling how delighted they were to have him back. She needed the physical closeness as much as Danny did.

Richard too, held onto his son’s hand and smiled at the sight of him. During the darkest times they had wondered if they would ever see him again.

There would be time for talking later – the immediate priority was to get Danny checked over by a doctor. After that, and probably a night in the hospital, they would take him home so they could begin to help Danny recover from his brutal ordeal.

46

DAY 6

While Radford and Foster raced to pick up Danny, Dave Bennet was on his way to visit Hayley Parks’s family. There was no fresh news to impart other than the possible lead in Bristol, but he wanted to keep the family informed and reassure them that the police were still looking for the kidnappers – and there was always the chance that Hayley may have remembered something new.