My whole future rests on this. I can’t take the risk of someone telling. I can’t go to prison. I would die. Literally die. If someone thinks they know something, I need to know who. And what they plan to do.

Muster point M is a grim spot, just below the waterline, in what would normally be just above the crew area. With no passengers here while we’re on lay-up, we’ve spread out to use all the nicest places around the ship and there is no one down here. Normally we’re tucked away in dingy cabins off the I-95 without any natural light or air, squashed in like sardines. The muster point is next to some steps which take you up to a deck on the waterline where you can get into a lifeboat in an emergency. I feel a bolt of panic as I wonder if that’s why whoever it is has asked to meet me here – are they planning to throw me overboard if I don’t agree to their terms? I’m fit and reasonably strong, but there are plenty of men on board much bigger than me, so it’s entirely possible that whoever is trying to blackmail me could beat me in a fight. Fuck. Fuck. I should have thought this through and brought a weapon – a knife or something. I glance at my watch, ten past midnight. Where are they? Are they trying to wind me up? Is it a double-bluff even – someone who is trying to work out for themselves if I’m behind Lola’s disappearance?

I look along I-95, which seems to go on forever on a boat of this size, broken only by huge doors which will close automatically in case of fire or flooding. You wouldn’t want to be down here when anything like that happens. Doesn’t bear thinking about.

I’ve turned the lights on in my section of corridor but looking further along, it quickly fades away into darkness. With the boat stationary and all the people on board hanging out in the luxe guest areas, it’s uncharacteristically silent down here and I’m not sure I’ve ever felt quite so alone. I picture again Lola falling into those vast, black waters and a wave of nausea crashes over me. Along the corridor, something clatters.

My breathing quickens and I start to hyperventilate. Slow down! I tell myself. Inhale, one two three. Exhale, one two three. Inhale, one two three. Exhale, one two three.

But it’s not working. My chest constricts and my hands start to tingle. I feel like I’m going to faint. I’m going to die, down here, alone, and no one knows where I am. Is that what they planned? Did they get me here so that …