‘Hi – I don’t know if you remember me? Tina.’

She smiled, but strangely enough the smile just made her look sad.

Noah shook his head, searched through his chaotic memory. Tina. Tina? No, he didn’t recognise the name.

‘I’m sorry, I don’t. How can I help?’

Tina suddenly seemed unsure of herself. ‘Maybe I shouldn’t have come here . . . I feel so stupid.’

Her uncertainty gave Noah confidence.

‘There’s no need to feel stupid,’ he assured her. ‘So where did we meet?’

She fiddled with her handbag. ‘At your brother’s.’ She started to cry, a pathetic, feeble little effort. And then she whispered the words Noah had been longing to hear for months.

‘Am I the only one who’s wondering? Is no one else concerned? I’m so worried that something’s happened to Malin and Dan.’

Chapter 2

The television was yelling and shrieking. The children were watching a film. Again. The same film. The first time they’d watched it Malin had decided to switch it off after only a few minutes; it was much too unpleasant. But now, just like so many other things, it no longer mattered.

She had often thought that they ought to pull themselves together, that nothing could be more dangerous than giving up, allowing it all to end in disaster. Her brain stopped, stuck fast on the word ‘end’. Because who knew how this was meant to end? Not Malin or her family, and that was what filled her nights with the most violent nightmares. Malin had even started thinking about her father; she missed him.

So very, very hard to bear.

All the relationships they hadn’t had the chance to conclude, to acknowledge.

Noah. Noah must be feeling terrible right now.

Everyone else thought they were in Australia, but Noah must have realised something was wrong. Dan had been smart to begin with, before he lost the battle with his demons. He had persuaded their kidnapper (how difficult was it to take that word seriously under normal circumstances?) to leave a key in Noah’s mailbox, said that Noah would start asking questions otherwise. In fact the reverse was true. They’d planned to leave a key with their neighbour, not Noah – he already had one. As did Tina, Malin’s best friend.

But she probably believes we’re in Australia, living the dream.