And it proved to be a joyous occasion. There was an overwhelming sense of happiness and relief. We knew we had a lot to be thankful for. We were all together as a family and Aidan was alive and recovering well. The doctors were now saying that they were confident he would regain full use of his arm within months, or perhaps even weeks.

I even felt the strong presence of my father and I could almost hear him telling me how proud he was of me for bringing the nightmare to an end, even though I’d crossed a line in order to do so.

I still hadn’t told anyone, including Aidan, about the miscarriage. Maybe in time I would, but I didn’t think they needed to know just yet. It was something I hadn’t yet come to terms with myself.

On Christmas morning we exchanged gifts, and the one that Aidan gave to me lifted my spirits still further. It was an engagement ring, and it came with a bended-knee proposal.

‘I want us to get married, Laura,’ he said. ‘We’ve put it off long enough. But what’s happened has made me realise that it’s time we tied the knot and started a family.’

This, of course, was music to my mother’s ears and when I said yes she started to cry.

It made me realise that this was the start of our journey back to normality. It was going to be long, hard and painful, but I had every confidence that we would get there in the end.

EPILOGUE

The Sinaloa cartel struck two months after Christmas.

Rosa Lopez was returning to her cell from a meeting with her lawyer at which she’d been told that a date had been set for her trial.

The news added to the weight of her depression and made her want to spew up her guts.

She was still finding it hard to accept that her life was over and that she would never be free again.

Prison life had already taken its toll. She’d lost a stone in weight and her skin had become tight and pasty. Even so she was still the most attractive woman on the high-risk wing. The others were mostly fat old hags or ugly young bitches with crude manners.

Some of them were hanging around on the landing as Rosa walked back to her cell. As usual she drew comments and wolf whistles.

One woman who was on remand for killing her baby son asked Rosa if she wanted her pussy licked. Another said, ‘You’re our hero, gorgeous. Shame you didn’t kill more fucking coppers.’

Rosa had so far preferred to keep to herself. She’d spent most of her time lying on her bed thinking about Alice Green and the life she could have had with her.