‘Holy shit, Baarda,’ Connie whistled. ‘Do you think you might be suppressing some anger beneath that super-polished exterior?’

‘Not at all. I obviously hadn’t been meeting her needs, she’d made that pretty clear, so what was I to expect? I have to take my share of the blame.’

‘Careful with that,’ she said. ‘Taking the blame for someone else’s choices lets them justify their deviancy with no checks or balances. You want to let her off the hook that easily?’

‘You don’t know her, and you don’t know me.’

Connie looked back at him. His neck was strained as he drove, his hands a vice around the steering wheel.

‘I’m sorry, that was rude. I’m never rude. I hope you can …’

‘Stop,’ Connie said, her voice only a whisper above the engine’s purr. ‘The apology should be mine. Let’s call it quits with the personal revelations for today, okay?’

Baarda’s mobile rang. He put the call on speaker.

‘Sir, we’re being bombarded with requests to comment from the press. I don’t know how it leaked, but they know about our missing person, including her identity and her connections.’

‘Shit,’ Connie muttered.

‘And Elspeth’s husband just received the call. There’s a request for five million to be paid in fifties. We have forty-eight hours. Elspeth Dunwoody’s voice could be heard in the background saying, “Please help.” It’s confirmed as her. Her father-in-law’s been informed. We’re working on tracing the call and the payment details.’

‘Very good,’ Baarda said, closing the line. ‘Well, that’s you off the hook. Looks as if we’ve got all we need.’

‘Except Elspeth,’ Connie muttered. ‘What are the statistics on getting her back alive in these circumstances?’

‘We work on an average of fifty to eighty live UK kidnappings per year. Most of them resolve successfully.’

‘How many don’t?’

‘A handful,’ Baarda said. ‘Deaths usually occur while we’re closing in and the kidnapper panics, then concludes it would be easier not to leave any witness who could identify them.’

‘Poor Elspeth,’ Connie said. ‘I hope she doesn’t know that.’

‘We’ll do all we can,’ Baarda said. ‘The contact is a positive sign. I’m hopeful that we’ll get her back unharmed.’

‘I’m glad you’re feeling hopeful, but I very much doubt Elspeth is right now. Wherever she is.’

Chapter Four

‘Marry me,’ the man said.