She pressed send. Seconds later the reply came.

Not possible. I do not want your children. If you do as I say, they will be returned unharmed. If you do not, you will never see them again.

Annabelle closed her eyes. Her stomach contracted and she retched. In her hand the phone buzzed.

This is the only option. You have one minute to confirm these arrangements or it is off.

Rob read the message. ‘You have to go with it,’ he said. ‘This guy means business.’ He paused. ‘I’m sorry to be so blunt, but that’s how it seems to me.’

‘You sure?’ Brenda said. ‘If the children are hurt – or killed – there’s no deal. The only way the kidnapper gets what they want – Annabelle – is by keeping the kids safe.’ She put her hand on Annabelle’s arm. ‘We – you – could call their bluff.’

‘No,’ Annabelle said. ‘I’m not calling anyone’s bluff. Not when the price of getting it wrong is the lives of my children.’

‘Annabelle,’ Matt said. ‘We can’t do this. I can’t let you.’

‘You have no choice.’

He stared at her. ‘I can’t lose you,’ he said. ‘I can’t.’

‘I know.’ She reached for his hands. ‘But there’s no alternative.’

She typed a message.

Confirmed.

When the reply came, there were no words, just a set of GPS coordinates. She read them to Matt and he typed them into his phone.

The door opened and Mike walked in. He was followed by Tessa.

Matt held up the screen to show the map.

‘That’s it,’ he said. ‘That’s where it is.’

2

So, finally, the plan was this:

They would go to the rendezvous and follow the instructions they had been given. She would be defenceless and near-naked and alone. They would hope that their children were returned to Matt.

And then Brenda and the drones would follow her. She had three drones – enough for two hours – so they should be able to follow Annabelle until the police were informed and could go and get her.

She sat in the passenger seat. Matt drove, following the directions on the screen of his phone. They were in her blue, ten-year-old Golf. She was wearing a black dressing gown. Underneath she was naked. She had an image of the police stopping them and asking why she was dressed like that; it would be quite hard to explain.

Despite Matt sitting next to her, and all the activity at the house, she felt totally alone. In less than half an hour she’d be – what? A prisoner? Dead? She had no idea, and that terrified her.

Matt’s phone rang. The name of the caller came up on the screen.

‘It’s Sammy,’ she said.

‘I’ve not spoken to him in a while,’ Matt said.

‘You want to answer?’