These were loving, honourable people who’d never encountered the domineering force of someone like John Santino until the day he swooped in to snatch their daughter. They’d been taken by surprise, not equipped for this fight.

‘And since you’ve been coming to the court, has she talked to you?’ Anita asked.

Rob shook his head, too upset to speak.

‘He’s always right there next to her,’ explained Trish. ‘Or the sister. Rob reckons Brooke’s too scared of them to talk to us.’ And now Trish was the one fighting tears. ‘Is it better to think your daughter hates you or better to think your daughter is scared to death?’

Rob leaned across the table, eager to convey something to Anita. ‘Look, I feel bad about what I said to you a minute ago, when I said we didn’t care about the trial. We do care.’

‘We think about that poor girl he killed,’ said Trish. ‘We think about her all the time.’

‘Of course,’ said Anita.

‘And now our daughter is pregnant to that bastard.’ The rage was seeping up into Rob Lester’s throat, tightening his vocal cords. ‘What are we supposed to do?’

‘Mr Lester, I would hate it. I’d want to kidnap her and try to talk sense into her.’

Anita was tempted to blurt out everything she knew about John Santino, but she couldn’t. Not because of the journalistic ethics, breaking court rules and all that, but because it would only cause these parents more pain, futile pain, given there was no clear way for them to rescue their daughter from danger.

But she did say, ‘Mr and Mrs Lester, I don’t know what’s going to happen. Hopefully this man will go to jail and you’ll have a chance to reconnect with Brooke. And even if he’s acquitted, the baby might be—well, let’s hope the baby helps you all to reconcile. What I would suggest you do, as soon as the trial is over—talk to the police about John Santino. Talk to this man …’ Anita tore out a page from her notebook and wrote down Detective Rohan Mehta, then his mobile number.

Rob Lester took the scrap of paper and nodded his thanks.

Trish squeezed her husband’s hand. ‘We’ll be at the court when the verdict comes in—whatever happens. Even if Brooke won’t talk to us, she’ll see us. She’ll know we love her. She’ll know we’re there if she needs us.’

Anita rang Paula that night and described her meeting with the Lesters. It felt important for Paula to know that if Santino was sent to jail, Brooke wouldn’t have to rely on the Santino family. She had her own doggedly loving family to support her and the baby. Paula agreed it was a reason to be hopeful.