Julian clenched his fists, reaching the middle of the living room before a wave of helpless frustration brought him to a standstill. Where, after all, was he going?

He had done a lot of hard talking to even be here. The aborted call from Alison had been a very real indication of trouble to him, but had been difficult to parlay into hard currency for anyone else. If Royce hadn’t been a friend, if Julian hadn’t banked a fair amount of goodwill in the office, this might all have taken longer—not that haste had helped. He’d known Alison’s phone was still in the apartment—at her insistence, they’d arranged to be able to track each other if necessary. There it was, on the floor at the kitchenette’s edge. It was still perfectly intact, because she kept it in an armoured case intended for construction workers.

There was a startled yell from one of Royce’s people, and Simms bolted from the bathroom to claw at Julian’s legs, complaining bitterly. Julian felt more of a kindred spirit with the animal right then than ever before. What the hell, basically?

Royce was looking at where Alison’s locks and chains had been battered away from the frame by their actions, a gouged and splintered woodscape. “Bloody hell, no half measures, isn’t it?” he complained. “The windows are all double locked too, you know. From the inside. If this wasn’t on the third floor, I’d be looking for hidden cellars and attics. Secret bloody doors.”

Julian nodded. The impossibility of the whole business should have been getting to him, but it couldn’t make any headway. The cold knife blade of Something’s happened to Alison dominated everything. He wanted to grab hold of the very air and tear it open in case she was hiding there, just out of reach.

“We’ll get the forensics boys in,” Royce said. “And we’ll get out, to avoid trampling anything else.” He shook his head. “I’m sorry, Jules. I don’t understand it. Someone’s playing games, is all I can think, right? Someone in your line of work?”

Julian nodded absently. “Thank you, Kier. Look, I better arrange for someone to look after the…the goddamned cat. She’d, she’d want that.”

“I’ll leave Hendry here with you, in case you need anything,” Royce said diplomatically.