‘Something’s badly wrong,’ she said. ‘I know Dan and Malin aren’t in Australia.’

He stared at her in silence. ‘I think it’s best if you accompany me to the station, then I can take a proper statement from you.’

Tina swallowed. ‘Okay.’

He turned and walked towards his car. Tina followed; her car was parked just in front of his.

‘I’ll drive myself,’ she said.

He shook his head. ‘No, you won’t. Get in the back seat.’

Tina had never had any dealings with the police, didn’t know what was common practice. But just as she knew something wasn’t right about Dan and Malin’s trip to Australia, she knew something wasn’t right about this situation.

She didn’t dare walk along the pavement past the Saab. Instead she stepped into the road, intending to approach her car that way, but the police officer blocked her path.

‘Didn’t you hear what I said? You’re coming with me. Otherwise I’ll bring in my colleagues, have you arrested.’

Tina’s entire body was shaking.

‘Fine,’ she said. ‘You do that.’

Her response took him by surprise; he’d obviously been expecting her to cooperate.

She took her chance and tried to run past him. She didn’t have a plan, she just wanted to get into her car and lock the doors. However, he was too quick for her. He grabbed her arm and opened the door of the Saab with his other hand.

‘Get in,’ he hissed.

His breath smelled of tobacco.

‘What are you doing?’

The voice came from a man on a bicycle who’d stopped a few metres away. The grip on Tina’s arm loosened.

‘Nothing,’ the police officer said. ‘It’s just a misunderstanding.’

A misunderstanding?

Tina gave the cyclist a long look, silently begging him to stay where he was until she was safe.

‘I’ll take my own car,’ she heard herself mumble. At the same time she happened to glance at the back seat of the Saab.

A bobbled blanket, a newspaper. But what really caught her attention and made her heart skip a beat was the pair of green Wellingtons, standing on the floor behind the front seat.

Chapter 10

Ten minutes. It needn’t take any longer than that. After an endless night with no rest and a morning filled with arguments with the kids, Malin was ready to jump out of the window. If it had been possible to open a window, of course. So she decided to take a shower. Ten minutes. Surely she could leave the kids alone for that amount of time? They’d stopped fighting and were sitting in front of the TV watching a film. There was no point in even thinking about lessons; none of them could cope with that, including Malin. Not when she was putting all her energy into keeping them alive. Herself and the children. And Dan.