‘Excuse me, Miss.’ A hand pinches my elbow, too close to the injured spot not to have known. ‘Have you seen a little girl playing alone anywhere near here? I’ve lost my daughter, Kayleigh…’

I jerk to a stop, paralysed with pain.

‘Now move,’ comes the order, his bulk butting up against me.

I crumple into the hand at my arm as I realise it’s the barrel of a pistol, not another finger, that’s digging into my ribs. We march 252as one along the path towards the giant willow tree, lit lush and extravagant by the glare of the sun. Anyone watching would think we were a couple locked in embrace, hip-to-hip. I dare not twist even a millimetre to look for Dominic.

‘Who are you?’ I pant as I walk, the gun bruising as it prods. Willow rustles across my face as we duck between the boughs. There’s a sudden release as he drops my arm and turns, blank face and forgettable hair meaningless to anyone but me. I freeze, eyeing his hands in his pockets, one bulging with pistol, and take a deep, juddering breath. It’s now, Marie. Now! Don’t prepare. Begin!

‘I asked you a question. Who are you?’

‘Perseus,’ he whispers, thin line of lips hardly moving, a swish between the boughs. Nothing else moves, not even the fronds draped around us.

‘And me?’

‘You’re Medusa, of course.’ His tone, suddenly bird-song light. ‘The gorgon with her eyes of stone, her crown of snakes.’

I step towards him, straightening up. My phone lies idle but listening, just left of bullseye.

‘I’ve got what you need,’ I say, eyes running over his empty face, white, expressionless. ‘But I want something from you.’

Shadow falls over me as he steps forward. I have to purse my lips to stop even a hint of anticipation in my expression. He’s so close we’ll be able to hear his breathing on tape. And finally his face starts to animate, the notion I could possibly try to threaten him too much to take.

‘You owe us, sunshine,’ he spits. ‘Not the other way around. Did you forget how you made it so big in the first place?’

‘I want my ID papers back, and I want them now. If you show me proof you’ve reset everything, unfrozen my bank accounts, the whole lot, then I’ll tell you everything you need to know to bury this.’

My gaze flicks to his pocket. I don’t believe it’s just a fist making it bulge. I jump as he pulls out a small, two-way radio.253

‘Perseus,’ he mutters into it, eyes not leaving mine. ‘Contact made.’

‘Papers,’ I say, forcing myself to hold his stare. Dominic’s close, I tell myself. Just two more minutes. That’s all we need. And then it will be over.