‘No idea, I’ve never seen it before.’
‘It’s a GPS tracking device,’ he says. ‘Decent quality, too. Any idea how it found its way inside the toy?’
‘Mia had it on the train with her earlier, along with all of her other stuff in that 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. Sheneedsto 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?’
