He tried to work out exactly how long he’d been out of action for, but the time-lapse between the moment of his kidnapping and now was too hazy. More than likely long enough for concern to be raised back home in Glasgow.

Then another thought struck him, even more forcefully. His captors had his mobile and wallet. They therefore knew who and what he was. They’d demanded to know why he was here in London. What he knew about Go Wild. They would have examined his mobile. Discovered everyone he’d messaged or spoken to in the run-up to his abduction.

And Ava Clouston, investigative reporter and one-time co-worker with Mark Sylvester, was on that list.

McNab had a sudden flashback to having his head yanked back by his hair and various names shouted at him.

Had Ava’s been among them?

Fear that it might have been roused him still further. How the hell could he warn Ava that they might in fact be looking for her? Even as far away as Orkney.

He had no memory of her mobile number. He didn’t even know her address up there.

But he knew someone who did.

60

Ava came to and was shocked to discover she was lying on the couch in the semi-darkness. When had she fallen asleep?

She remembered working at her laptop, redrafting her material to fully include Nadia’s description of how Go Wild recruited people for locations in Ibiza, for the luxury yacht Hibiscus off the coast of North Africa and, of course, for the recently discovered ghost ship, the MV Orlova.

Everything was there in as much detail as possible. To that she’d added what had been found on the Orlova by the police and what her source believed had happened on board the virtual gaming ship.

The biggest revelation, and one she hadn’t yet shared with Rhona, was Mark’s belief that the male victim was Damian Charles Lloyd, son of Lord Alfred Lloyd, a serving cabinet minister. The girl, Mark had said, was likely Damian’s current girlfriend, Penny Addington.

It appeared Damian Lloyd had a chequered history and had skirted police involvement in his activities on numerous occasions, mainly through the intervention of his family. Penny was one of the county set, with little on record, except for the fact she was a keen fencer, something Damian had also taken part in.

If Mark was right, then a cover-up was already in action, and in his opinion the Met were involved.

Ava dragged herself to her feet and went to shout upstairs. She’d told Dougie to stay at the boathouse until dark and, judging by the silence, they’d followed her instructions. Just to be sure, she went up to check their rooms, to find them both empty.