‘The girl you saw is my daughter.’

‘I told the copper everything I know.’

‘Please.’ She wants to grab him, shake him down. ‘Please, tell me where they were heading?’

She watches his eyes sink in thought. Quick, quick! There’s no time for this. There’s no time. Her breath is coming in fits and starts. She watches him clocking it, alarmed. Please not now, not now. She holds herself still so as not to alarm him, watches his jaw relax.

‘You could try behind the shit shed. Abandoned boat shed down there in the undergrowth. Hole in the fence back there, you can get into the industrial park. Spare wood there sometimes for the brazier. Didn’t want to say nothing in front of the police in case they tell the owner. Handy, that hole in the fence.’ He tips his head towards the scene of the explosion. ‘Police cordoned off the whole area though. They wouldn’t let you through if you was the Queen.’

‘Thank you, thank you.’ She can drive around, hit the streets. She pivots and walks away, briskly, feeling for the van keys in her pocket, not wishing to arouse anyone’s interest. Last thing she wants is the police getting involved. No time for that. The moment she is out of sight she breaks into a run. The van is where they left it. She jumps in and starts the engine and is about to pull out into the road when she hears her own voice from earlier this evening asking Nevis to turn on share location.

I’ll think about it.

She pulls out her phone, taps in her passcode, goes to settings.

And there it is.

Nevis’s phone. A blue dot moving too fast for Nevis to be walking. They must be in a car, she thinks. She watches as the blue dot comes to a halt then starts up again, heading through the streets of Clifton towards the suspension bridge.

Chapter 55

Honor