‘I’ll explain when I’m back.’ He paused. His voice was tense and serious. ‘I’ll be there any minute. I need to know you’re OK.’

‘I’m fine. But it doesn’t sound like you are. What’s going—’

‘I’ll be right there,’ he interrupted.

The phone went dead. Annabelle leaned on the table. Matt was running? Why wasn’t he in the car? And why did he think she might not be OK?

What the hell was going on?

She held one hand to her stomach. Sweat prickled on her brow. The sick feeling was back.

Although this time it was not only the cold. It was worry.

2

She heard footsteps outside the front door a few minutes later and went to open it. He was standing on the step, a shopping bag in each hand, a packet of pasta poking out of a hole in one of them. His face was flushed and he was breathing heavily.

Her chest tightened in alarm. He had sounded terrible on the phone, but he looked worse.

And not only was he not in the car. He was alone.

‘Matt,’ she said. ‘Where are the kids?’

He stepped into the house. His expression was rigid, but there was a wild look in his eyes. She realized with a start that it was fear.

‘Sit down,’ he said. ‘You need to sit down.’

‘I don’t need to sit down,’ she said. ‘Where are the kids? Tell me where the kids are!’

He took her elbow and guided her into the living room and onto the sofa. Her tea was still on the carpet beside it.

Matt sat next to her. He was no longer breathing heavily; now he was taking short, shallow breaths. It could have been the running, but it looked more like he was trying not to panic.

‘Matt,’ she said. ‘What’s going on?’

He blinked, his expression almost puzzled. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

‘Matt! Where are the children? Tell me!’

‘They’re gone,’ he said, his voice breaking. ‘The children are gone.’

Matt

She didn’t react for a few seconds, then, as the words registered, her mouth fell slightly open.

‘Gone?’ she said. ‘What do you mean gone?’

He swallowed. His heart was racing and his mouth was dry and it was hard to speak. Annabelle was staring at him, her eyebrows knitted together in a deep frown.

‘I …’ he started, ‘I went into the shop to get the stuff. I left the kids in the car—’

‘Oh my God.’ Her eyes widened. ‘Matt. What happened?’

‘I wasn’t gone long, maybe only a few minutes. I checked out of the window and they were OK, but—’

‘Matt, what are you saying? Tell me what happened?’

‘—after I paid and went outside the car was gone.’

‘Gone?’ He could see his words were not fully sinking in. ‘How could the car be gone?’