‘Come on, Harry, love,’ Shanni was whispering. ‘Settle down. Let me cuddle you.’

He didn’t. His eyes watched everything, supremely distrustful…

‘I’ll stay awake with Harry,’ Shanni suggested. ‘You try and sleep first. Maybe it’s not such a good idea for both of us to sleep.’

‘I think it’s a great idea,’ Nick said thoughtfully. They were whispering into the dark and Len seemed to neither know nor care. ‘This isn’t like the movies. The police know their business, and at least one of the officers out there is personally involved. There’s no chance they’ll come storming in, guns blazing. Unless Len makes any stupid moves we’ll still be here tomorrow, and he’s not desperate yet.’

‘You know about this? About hostage situations?’ For the first time Nick heard a note of fear enter her voice. She wasn’t as tough as she sounded, he thought. But, then, neither was he. This wasn’t a game.

‘I’m a criminal lawyer. I’ve coped with the aftermath of hostage situations and I know the last thing the police will do is escalate the situation. They’ll keep talking. And waiting. They can change shifts and they’ll act like they have all the time in the world.’

He smiled across into her worried eyes with what he hoped was his most reassuring smile. He watched her face as she thought this through, and the fear eased a little.

‘So tonight Len won’t sleep and tomorrow he’ll be overtired as well as terrified,’ he went on. ‘Therefore…we sleep now, so we have our wits about us tomorrow.’

‘It sounds sensible,’ Shanni whispered into the dark. ‘You hear that, Harry?’

‘Daddy,’ whispered Harry, and Shanni closed her eyes. It hurt.

‘Wendy’s waiting outside for you, sweetheart.’

‘Daddy,’ Harry said, and his voice broke with a tiny sob.

‘Where’s his dad?’ Nick asked.

‘Dead,’ Shanni said shortly. ‘Car accident.’

Oh, no…

He didn’t get involved. He didn’t! But after that one tiny sob there was nothing else. Harry was holding his grief all to himself.