‘We can’t let you just wander about Glasgow. You were both in danger in Orkney. That hasn’t changed,’ he’d said. It was then she’d pointed out that the identity of the Orlova witness hadn’t been made public. Neither was it known that they’d both given statements to Police Scotland or that Nadia was even in Glasgow.

After that, McNab had reluctantly agreed to their outing, but ordered that they shouldn’t leave the shopping centre. ‘We can’t be certain news of you being here isn’t already out there,’ had been his final words.

Ava, accepting a coffee from Nadia, changed the subject. ‘Did you drive through the night?’

Firash nodded. ‘I’ve done the journey many times. We have relatives who have a restaurant in Glasgow. I’ll take you there sometime when this is all over.’

When this is all over.

Ava welcomed those words, even though she wasn’t sure if they would ever be realized.

Her heart began to slow as they eventually departed the city centre, then its outskirts, finally joining the main road heading south. Knowing they were definitely on their way, she relaxed and, closing her eyes, eventually drifted off, to dream she was back on Orkney with her parents still alive.

In the dream, her father was asking what she planned to do about Dougie and the farm, and she was telling him about Tommy Flett and how everything would come out all right in the end.

When she resurfaced, Firash had Afghan music playing and he and Nadia were having an animated conversation about it. To hear Nadia laugh was a wondrous thing, Ava thought, and closed her eyes again so that she might listen to their chat, but leave them free not to include her in it.

Eventually, as silence fell, she roused herself and asked Firash where they were.

‘Passing Oxford,’ Firash told her. ‘Not long now.’

‘Have you been in touch with McNab since he left London?’

‘He asked that I keep him posted on Jack Winters, so I’ve messaged him a couple of times,’ Firash told her.

‘Is he likely to contact you when he realizes we’ve gone?’

Firash shrugged. ‘It’s a possibility. If he does, I’ll at least find out what he’s thinking about your disappearance.’

‘We won’t be able to keep him in the dark for long,’ she said.

‘We’ll tell him where you are as soon as possible,’ he promised, then hesitated. ‘McNab knows they couldn’t have kept you in Scotland for long. You were always going to go south because of the suggested threat to national security. McNab or his boss couldn’t have prevented that.’

Knowing Firash was right, Ava moved her thoughts to Dougie.

As soon as Erling learned she and Nadia were missing, he would go and see Dougie. How would her brother react?