I shake my head. Doesn’t she realise I’d have told her? But as I take in her face, I see that she’s clinging to hope that the police are unnecessary, that Hollie is just going to turn up; that the nightmare will be over. But as my mother well knows, some nightmares are never over.

Chapter Ten

Elise

‘The police were here earlier.’ When Andrew comes in that evening, I watch his face carefully for a reaction to my announcement, and I see the split-second freeze before he continues as though the visit meant nothing. ‘They wanted to know when we last saw Hollie. It isn’t at all like her to run off like this.’

‘That’s nonsense, Elise, as you well know. That girl doesn’t care who she upsets. Look at her now – wasting police time when they have better things to do.’

That he could be so utterly callous in the face of a teenage girl’s disappearance appals me. But before I can respond, my phone buzzes. Seeing an unknown number flash up on my screen, my heart is in my mouth. Turning away, I answer it.

‘Elise Buckley.’ I listen for a moment, glance at Andrew, then walk a few steps away from him. ‘I’m sorry … I can’t talk right now. Can I call you back?’ I speak as quietly as I can. Ending the call, I put my phone down, but when I turn around I find Andrew standing just behind me.

‘My God.’ His words are mocking, a look of faked disbelief on his face. Surely he knows I see it for what it is, a deflection of attention away from him and onto me.

‘Whatever you’re thinking, it isn’t that,’ I say wearily, knowing there’s nothing Andrew would like more than to point his finger and find me guilty, as if my having an affair would somehow validate his own extra-marital activities.

‘Tell me who that was, then.’ He barks it out, an order he expects me to obey. As he steps closer, his presence is suddenly menacing.

‘No.’ Shaking my head, I hold my phone behind my back.

‘Give me your phone.’ Holding his hand out, he tries to snatch it from me.