‘What?’ Rob replied. ‘We’re going to lose them.’

‘You said they wouldn’t do that,’ Matt said, fighting the urge to shout at him. ‘You said they would avoid motorways.’

‘Looks like I was wrong,’ Rob said. ‘Call the police. Now. Tell them what’s going on, and where they are.’

‘M56, direction Manchester, just joined at junction ten,’ Brenda said. ‘Tell them that.’

Matt picked up his phone and dialled 999.

‘Emergency, which service do you require? Fire, police or ambulance?’ the dispatcher said, her voice brisk and calm.

‘Police. It’s urgent.’

Another voice came on the line. This time it was a man. ‘Hello. What is the nature of your emergency?’

‘It’s a kidnapping,’ Matt said. ‘It’s complicated.’

There was pause. When the man spoke again his tone was more urgent. ‘OK. What is the location of the emergency?’

‘It’s not fixed. I’m in a car. We’re following the kidnapper. They have my wife.’

‘Sir,’ the man said. ‘This is not a hoax, I hope?’

‘No!’ Matt said. ‘And it’ll take a long time to explain. Time we don’t have. My kids were kidnapped and the ransom was my wife. We were following the car she’s in, but we lost it.’

‘Where exactly are you, sir?’ the man said.

‘On the A49, heading towards the M56,’ Matt said. ‘That’s where the car went. It’s on the motorway, heading towards Manchester.’

‘Can you repeat that?’

‘The car we are following – the car with my wife in it – just went onto the M56 at junction ten, and is heading towards Manchester. But we can’t see it any more. Our drone can’t keep up.’

‘Your drone?’

‘Never mind. It’s a blue Golf.’ He gave the registration. ‘You need to find it. Soon.’

‘What’s your name, sir?’

‘Matt Westbrook.’

‘And your address?’

‘Twenty-four Pepper Avenue, Stockton Heath.’

‘I hope this is not a hoax, Mr Westbrook.’

Matt took a deep breath. ‘Look,’ he said. ‘It’s urgent. And it isn’t a hoax.’

‘OK,’ he said. ‘We have your number. I’ll put out an alert. We’ll do everything we can.’

Matt put the phone down.

Rob glanced at him. ‘There’s a fair possibility it ends here,’ he said. ‘Going on the motorway is a big mistake. There are cops on that motorway right now and there are cameras on every exit. There’s nowhere they can hide.’

‘I hope you’re right,’ Matt said. ‘Because if not, I’m getting the feeling I’ll never see her alive again.’

Annabelle

When she came round this time, she realized the car was no longer moving. The searing pain in her shoulder, however, was ever present.

She opened her eyes. It was dark out, although there was the glow of lights somewhere outside.