‘Really?’ he said, raising one eyebrow in surprise. ‘About time. Don’t do anything until I get there.’

Bailey feigned disinterest but was secretly wondering who he was talking to.

He turned to look at her whilst still talking down the phone. ‘Yeah, she’s with me right now actually. Just finalising some arrangements with her.’

Bailey was genuinely curious now. Rick smiled inertly at her.

‘Sure, okay,’ he said to the person on the other end of the phone. ‘See you in a bit.’

He ended the call.

‘Who was that?’ said Bailey.

‘My mother.’

‘What did she want?’

‘She says she’s got a little treat in store for you.’

A vaguely ominous feeling descended upon Bailey.

‘Get in your car and follow me,’ said Rick. It sounded more like a command than a request. Unless she wanted to risk messing things up at this crucial stage of the operation, Bailey knew she had no choice but to obey.

47

Rick drove fast, aggressively, bullying other smaller cars out of the way. He travelled in a circuitous and unpredictable manner, presumably to throw off any potential surveillance, and Bailey sometimes had trouble keeping up with him.

The rain was now coming down more heavily, spattering on her windscreen, the wipers flicking industriously from side to side.

Somewhere on the outskirts of Romford, just past a derelict gasworks, he turned off into a grim-looking industrial estate. Big boarded-up warehouses that had seen better days interspersed with wide stretches of cracked weed-strewn concrete. The whole place looked to be completely deserted. Driving along behind him, Bailey was suddenly hit by a flashback to her torture session in the scrapyard at the hands of the car theft gang. Just like that place, this was far enough away from civilisation to ensure that your screams would never be heard…

The car wobbled as her hands suddenly went weak on the steering wheel, the horrific memories forcing themselves unbidden upon her.

She inhaled sharply, clenching the steering wheel and, with the greatest effort, forced herself back into the present. To succumb to that toxic disabling fear right now would not be productive… and could even be fatal.

Rick eventually slowed and turned into the loading bay of one of the large disused warehouses. The brickwork was covered in mould and big rusting metal shutters covered the entrance where the goods would have been unloaded. There were three other vehicles parked there – a white Transit van, a dark blue Jaguar XJ6 and a silver Audi TT.

Bailey parked next to him and switched off the engine. She sat there for a few moments breathing deeply, attempting to regain her composure fully. Still she wondered if this was a trap and whether she should make a break for it right now.

Rick climbed out of his Range Rover and jumped up onto the platform of the loading bay. He turned and beckoned at her. She hesitated for one last moment before getting out of her car, locking the door and going to join him.