Face against the window, looking back as the river and the money fell far behind, Nick tried to digest what the hell had just happened.

‘Base, it’s gone,’ he heard someone yell. ‘He took a call and just lobbed the money and the phone right out the window, quick as a flash. Bridge over the River Don. Money is in the River Don just past New York Stadium.’

White Coat, who was on his feet and holding a radio by his mouth. Not a kidnapper at all. A police officer. Across ten feet and a dozen heads, both men leaned against glass and stared at each other.

‘So where the hell is my daughter?’

When Bennet pulled up in the car park at Meadowhall Interchange, Nick walked away from White Coat without a word. He seemed to fall more than climb into the back seat. Bennet climbed in and said, ‘Why did you refuse to answer the tactical team’s questions?’

‘Is my girl dead?’

Bennet turned to face Nick. ‘Don’t think like that. I told you how this might go down, do you remember?’

‘No. What do you mean? You knew this was going to happen?’

‘No, nobody knew what would happen. I apologise for being blunt, but we couldn’t expect these people to carry your daughter about with them. We believe that once the kidnappers are clear, someone will either call us with details of where to find her, or she’ll be let go in a street somewhere. Someone will find her, take her to a police station, and you’ll get her back.’

Nick really wanted to believe that, because it made sense, but paranoia created major doubt. ‘That’s the way it goes, is it? Every single time? No third option?’

Bennet gave a careful, analytical look. ‘Stay off the Internet, Nick. Trust me.’

‘You mean you promise?’

Bennet started to drive. He didn’t answer the question, but said, ‘You refused to talk to the tactical team. Why?’

Nick lay down across the back seat and scratched his forehead with all ten fingernails, as if trying to coax away a headache. ‘Tactical team. Is that why I don’t recognise that guy you stuck on the train? Why did nobody say there were a bunch of strangers following me around? So how many people was it who watched my daughter slip through their fingers?’

Bennet started the car and pulled out of the car park. ‘DCI Miller was in joint-command, but we used a ransom kidnap call-out team from the National Crime Agency. They’re trained for this kind of surveillance—’

‘Forget that. I’ll decide how many people I’m suing later. There was a quad bike near the river. What do you know?’

‘We’re looking for the quad. We’ll try to find CCTV, witnesses, the usual. We’re going back to all the places you’ve been. We’re working hard to—’