‘What do we do now?’ Anna says with her ear to the door. ‘There’s no sound.’

‘Hold on…’ Sienna is back on her phone, checking the Airbnb site again. According to the bookings, apartment 10 is still available to rent at the moment. So she’s not in there.

‘Let’s go to 15.’

My heart is not able for this. Amber could be anywhere. She might not even be in this building. We’re wasting precious time. Amber could be injured or worse. If that woman has done anything to my baby, I will find a bullet for Donna’s gun.

Outside apartment 15, Louise asks has anyone got a hair clip. Seriously, five fucking hairdressers and no clips? But Donna pulls one out of her hair. Louise fiddles with it. Holding it up to the lock before saying. ‘Will I?’

‘I’m not sure that’s gonna work,’ Anna says. ‘There’s bolts and all sorts of security things on doors nowadays.’

‘Just someone do something or I’m calling the police.’ I’m hopping from one foot to the other, sorry that I didn’t tell Burke. We haven’t a clue what we’re doing.

‘Do you want me to knock?’ Louise whispers at Anna, through gritted teeth.

‘Try it. Try it.’ Donna moves forward watching Louise manoeuvre the clip. Sienna puts her arm around my shoulder and squeezes me. At this stage I don’t know if I’m crying or not. Is my face wet from old tears or new ones? ‘Hurry, Louise. Hurry.’

‘Click.’

‘What the fuck?’

Louise looks at Anna and whispers, ‘You’re welcome.’

Pushing gently on the door, Sienna is the first to creep inside, quickly followed by the rest of us. Donna squeezes my shoulder. My body rattles. My heart thumps. No one is saying anything. Tiptoe. Tiptoe.

The hallway is tiny, wooden floorboards, grey walls, a door. Sienna places her hand on the handle and nods at me. I nod back. The room is dark, scrambling on the wall she finds a light switch and presses it. The first thing I see is the body on the sofa.

Donna moves over, it’s not her, she says, too big. The body turns when they hear Donna’s voice. It’s Joyce McCarthy. I run over to her, grab her, shaking her arms, her head, her shoulders anything I can get a grip on. ‘Where is she? Where is she?’

I can hear my voice, a witch, howling in the night. The woman manages to pull out from my frenzy into a standing position holding her hands in the air as Donna points her gun. I run at her. Then stop, look around the room.

There’s nothing in the room except the TV and the sofa the woman was lying on. Her hair is splayed all over her face. Her eyes stare out from behind the veil. She says nothing.

‘Where is she?’