bag. That’s all I know.’
He studies me, his eyes narrowing, as if trying to decide whether to believe me or not.
‘What I can’t work out, is why this place isn’t already crawling with cops.’ He holds up the coin-sized tracker between his thumb and forefinger, turning it over in his hand. ‘If they know where we are, why haven’t they kicked the door down ten minutes ago?’
‘Maybe they’re biding their time.’
He stares at me for a moment before his face creases into a small, joyless smile.
‘Nice try, Ellen. But I think not.’
‘Why would the police be tracking her anyway?’
‘Who else would it be?’
‘I don’t know.’ I shrug. ‘Unless . . . maybe Kathryn put it in there so she could find her way back to Mia?’
He grunts. ‘Unlikely.’
‘Why?’
He shakes his head, frowning.
He lays the GPS device flat on the table and smashes it with the butt of the knife. The metal case comes loose, revealing tiny circuit boards inside. He hits both pieces again, until they are cracked and bent out of shape.
‘What are you going to do?’ I ask quietly. ‘With us?’
‘Don’t worry yourself about that,’ he says, his voice a flat monotone. ‘It’s best if you don’t think about it.’
‘It’s rather difficult to think about anything else.’
‘If you really want to know, I’m waiting for dark,’ he says. ‘Then the three of us are going to go for a little drive. Somewhere nice and quiet, out of the way.’
My chest tightens, fear settling like a heavy weight on my breastbone.
‘Then what?’
He ignores my question.
‘Dominic?’
His head jerks up. It’s the first time I’ve used his name.
‘I’d advise you to tread carefully,’ he says.
‘Please just let her go. I’ll do whatever you want, but let Mia go. We can drop her off somewhere.’
He shakes his head, a small movement full of finality. ‘You don’t know who she is, do you?’ he says. ‘You don’t have the first idea.’
‘No. But I know she’s three months and one week old today and that she should be with her mother. She needs to be with her mother.’
‘That’s not going to happen,’ he says, looking away.
‘You think just because you’re her father, that gives you the right to do whatever you like?’
‘I’m doing what needs to be done.’
‘Please, Dominic.’ I soften my voice, making an effort to lower it. ‘You don’t have to go down this road. Mia is innocent in all of this, You know she is.’
‘Things have gone too far already.’ He tucks the gun into the waistband of his jeans. ‘Too much water under the bridge.’
‘I know you’re angry but you—’
‘Enough talking,’ he says, holding a hand up. ‘I have to go and fetch something. You need to put her down now.’
I put some sofa cushions onto the floor and lay Mia gently down on them as she sucks contentedly on one of her muslin cloths. Dominic gestures to me to sit back down in the chair, binding my hands with the duct tape again, then holds something up in front of me. My mobile.
‘What’s your unlock pattern?’
I tell him and he traces the pattern with a thick index finger. The phone comes to life, the screen filling with a picture of my tabby cat, Dizzy.
‘You can’t get out of this room, but in case you get any ideas about trying to, just remember that I know everything about you now, OK?’ He points at the phone. ‘I will come looking for you and I will find you. A day or a month from now, you’ll wake up one night and I’ll be standing there, at the end of your bed. Do you understand?’ He slips the phone into the pocket of his jeans.
‘Yes,’ I say. ‘But I can’t look after Mia properly with my hands taped.’
‘I won’t be gone long.’
He puts the hood over my head again and the world goes dark, the fusty smells of the fabric filling my nose. Dirt, sweat, blood. I sense him leaning in close, his voice in my ear, hard and low.
‘Don’t move from that chair,’ he says. ‘Scream if you want, but this whole complex is abandoned and due for demolition next year, no one’s near enough to hear you. Miles of corridors and old studios, lots of sound-proofing, car parks on every side. I’m locking this door from the outside and there’s no other key.’
I hear his heavy footsteps crossing the room, the sound of the door closing and locking, his steps retreating into the distance and then nothing. Silence apart from