‘We have to do this the way the kidnappers said,’ Miller announced. She had a map on her phone. ‘Six-mile journey. Busy areas. The car will pass a thousand people, and it only takes one of them, my friend, to make a call and report a breach of the rules.’

‘No way. Don’t you see something is up here? Why her? They want someone small and frail they can overpower. They’re going to try something. This sounds like bullshit. No way she’s going on her own.’

‘Someone has to bring the money, and, apologies, but the kidnappers and I share the same idea. We’d both prefer that someone not be a big, angry father. You’re staying here, Nick.’

‘No damn way.’

‘Please, Nick, think about the risk—’

‘And the risk to both of them if something happens? Are any of you people thinking about that?’

‘Stop it, Nick,’ Anna snapped. ‘They’re right. I’m going on my own. We’re not taking any risks that could hurt Josie, okay? We’re not. The police will be watching on camera. I’ll be fine.’

‘Cameras?’ he spat. ‘YouTube is full of proof that cameras don’t stop people getting murdered.’

‘Nicolas!’ Jane yelled. It silenced the room.

Anna slipped out, with her sister hot behind.

Nick found them seated at the kitchen table. Jane told him not to come in if he planned to continue the argument.

‘Just think of it like going to school to pick Josie up,’ he said. It was his way of admitting submission. He sat next to Jane, across from Anna, and flicked a salt pot. It skidded across the varnished wood and she caught it.

‘Believe me, I really don’t want to go there on my own. But don’t you see I have to?’ She flicked the pot right back at him. Jane moved her chair back, as if to remove herself from a private moment.

‘I do, yes,’ he said, which was a total lie. ‘I’m sorry. I just don’t like it.’

‘Neither do I. But we have to do it. And don’t try to follow me. We can’t do anything they might think is a trick. We do whatever they want to get Josie back home, okay?’ She flicked the pot back and he caught it.

‘Ace,’ he said.

It made her smile. Salt tennis was a game she played with Josie, who thought every unreturned shot she made constituted an ace. But she quickly lost her smile and he knew why: she’d never played this game with Nick. Because it was always Josie. And now it was Nick because there was no Josie.

He flicked the pot, but she ignored it and it crashed to the floor. ‘Stay here? Please.’

He nodded. It felt like condemning her. At that moment, Bennet appeared in the doorway, like an alarm call. She stood.

‘Time to collect Josie from school.’