He blinked at the display, trying to concentrate. Through the windscreen the traffic streamed past almost without a break, mainly large HGVs building up speed as they moved away from the port. Danny fired his Mercedes and crawled slowly past the windows of the bar, hoping his lank-haired friend wasn’t taking too much notice of what people did after they stumbled away from the premises. He stopped at a junction, looking right to where he had a view of Dover Castle lit up in the distance. He had taken his family there plenty of times. Sharon, Jamie, Callie and him. A complete unit. A vivid memory pushed its way through the fug of alcohol: it was sunny, they were sitting on long wooden benches for a jousting re-enactment in the grounds of the castle. A court jester had come out between the rounds to keep up the atmosphere, and picked on Danny. They had all laughed together, their smiles lit up by bright sunshine. It was one of many memories he had of being part of a happy family. It was just last summer. It seemed like a lifetime ago.

A horn blared.

It snatched him back to the cold February night. His rear-view mirror was full of headlights. He had got lost in his thoughts. So much for blending in.

He dropped down the hill on the Jubilee Way to go against the flow of the lorries. The last part of the road had stilts to support it where it burst out of the famous white cliffs, with the Port of Dover a muddled mess of lights and activity around its feet. The sea presented as a solid mass beyond it with an occasional pulsing light to break up the nothingness. The road curved round to bring him down to sea-level and a row of tired-looking bed and breakfasts lined the right side while a white-stone promenade washed in bright downlights made up the left. Danny soon turned away from the sea where a new development of shops and restaurants stood – a development that no doubt played its part in making the rest of the journey bleaker, as he picked up a one-way system that led him through the town centre. Here he passed boarded-up shops, many with ‘TO LET’ signs reaching out with the same forlorn hope as a thumbs-up from a hitchhiker.