Donna walks into the kitchen. ‘How are you holding out, Sal?’ My tears have dried up but the pain in my heart is piercing every inch of my soul. I turn to answer her but there are no words, so I shake my head. Donna reaches out and grabs my shoulders. Staring straight into my eyes, she speaks in a slow definite tone.

‘You will find her, Sal, nothing bad is going to happen to her.’ Her words stick to me, I won’t let them go.

Back in the front room the main hub of the investigation continues. It’s two in the morning now, still no Amber. Burke is going from phone to laptop to maps to things I know nothing about. Kenny is in his room being questioned by someone else. I have to go, I have to find her.

I throw a rope around everything I know so far, pull It together and try to make sense of what could have happened. How did Amber end up in that woman’s company? She’s no fool. Amber is not going to get into a car with a stranger. Then it hits me like a stray arrow. Maybe Joyce is not a stranger. Maybe Amber has already met her. After all she seems to have met everyone else. If Amber didn’t know this woman, why would she go with her? Get into a car or whatever happened. It’s just not Amber!

‘Kenny.’ I push open the door of the playroom and see a woman in uniform writing in a notebook. Kenny must think he has been dragged into the dark ages. Notebooks that don’t plug in.

‘Kenny, how often did you meet Joyce?’

The woman turns to look at me. ‘Sorry, we’re in the middle…’

‘How often did you meet Joyce, Kenny?’

‘I… I…’

‘Kenny?’

‘Just the once…’

‘Was Amber with you when you met her?’ Tom has come into the room and is standing behind me. Both of us waiting as Kenny lowers his head.

‘Yes.’

Chapter Forty-Five

It’s four in the morning now and there’s still no sign of Amber. Every beep and call offering empty hope. Amber’s phone cannot be tracked by the police. So they are now searching Kenny’s phone to see if they can get contacts from the messages Joyce sent him on Facebook. It’s all down to technology at the minute, combing fields with dogs has yet to come.

Donna is making me drink coffee. Keeping me alert. I’d rather drift off to sleep and never wake up. Live in a dream world where nothing goes wrong, where Amber lives with me. Then I remember Cian and Aaron, the poor guys don’t know what’s going on. With Donna in tow, I go to their room and fill a bag of clothes to send in to Rena’s.