"London," he said.

Keeping the gun on him she searched him and found car keys and a wallet. She took a step back.

"You tell your boss.. .You tell your boss..." she began. She didn't want him to tell Richard anything. She threw away the keys and kept the wallet. She ran back to the caravan park and banged on Big Dave's door until he appeared bleary eyed, confused.

"Rachel, what.. .what time is it? Jesus, what time is it? Thresher gets me at six, it must be nearly-"

"Dave, I need the Subaru, Richard's found me. His goons are flying in from over the water."

Dave was pushing sixty five and first thing in the morning he looked a lot older than that. His face was greyer than his hair and his eyes seemed far away.

"Dave," she said, looking at him, squeezing his shoulder through his denim shirt.

"What? Oh. The Subaru?"

"Yeah."

He nodded, went inside the caravan, brought the car keys and a roll of money.

"I don't need it," she said.

"Take it."

"No."

"For G.o.d's sake, take it, get the girls something."

She put the roll in her pocket. She kissed him on the cheek. "It wasn't peelers, Dave, he sent muscle, b.l.o.o.d.y Russians or something, they killed Thresher," she said.

Dave staggered a little, recovered, shook his head.

"Guy's a nutcase."

"I know. I better go. I'm sorry about Thresh. He was a good dog."

She kissed him again and ran back to her caravan.

"Girls, are you ready?" Rachel called as she vaulted the cinder block steps.

"Sue won't get dressed," Claire said.

Rachel looked in.

Claire was ready. Standing there with a stuffed suitcase, wearing three shirts and two jackets. Sue was naked.

"Jesus Christ, Sue, you're not even dressed!" Rachel said.

The goon's mobile rang in her hand. She pressed the green b.u.t.ton.

"Misha, we're here, where are you?" a voice said in a c.o.c.kney accent.

She put her finger to her lips so the girls wouldn't speak.

"Misha, where are you? We made it, we're here."

She hung up and looked outside. At the bottom of the dirt road behind l he Toyota there was now a black Range Rover. Two men inside, maybe more in the rear.

"Claire, go to Dave's car, get in the back, put your seatbelt on," Rachel said, fighting the panic.

"What's wrong with our car?"

"They might know our car. We're just going to try and drive past them."

"Mum they'll see us."

"Do as I say, Claire, get in Dave's car and put your seatbelt on," Rachel said calmly. It wasn't hard for Claire to see the fear in her mother's eyes. There was only one way in and out of the caravan park and unless they made a desperate run through the woods they were going to have to risk it. Rachel gave her the emergency bag which was always packed with underwear, money, Snickers bars and the laptop, Richard's laptop - the only insurance they had.

"Go!" Rachel said.

Claire ran out and Rachel wiped the tears so Sue wouldn't freak out.

Sue wasn't paying attention anyway, standing there sucking her thumb looking at Dora the Explorer on the TV set.

Rachel knew there was no time to do the usual minefield walk with her. She went to the bathroom, grabbed a beach towel and wrapped Sue in it. "Come on, honey," she said. "You can get changed into some of your sister's clothes."

"Wait a minute, where are we going?" Sue asked.

"Don't worry about it."

"I don't want to go!" Sue insisted.

"Honey, it'll be fun, now come on," Rachel said.

"I've got no clothes on!"

"You can wear your sister's."

"I don't want to wear her clothes, they won't fit me!" Sue said, wriggling from her mother's grip and falling to the floor.

Rachel could feel a scream welling up inside her. She ran to the door jam. The men had parked and were coming up the dirt path on foot. Two of them, both in T-shirts and aviator sungla.s.ses which definitely meant private muscle not coppers.

Sue had picked up the TV flipper and put on SpongeBob.

Rachel grabbed the beach towel from the floor and wrapped it tight around her.

"No!" Sue yelled.

Rachel picked her up and ran outside.

"Mum! Stop it! This is a good one!"

Sue didn't weigh much but she fought all the way, wriggling, scratching, biting.

Rachel opened the rear door of Dave's Subaru Outback and threw her inside.

"Get Sue's seat belt on," she ordered Claire.

Sue was screaming "Noooo!" at the top of her voice.

"Would you just shut up!" Rachel said.

"You better get moving," Dave said. He had pulled on a dressing gown and he was carrying a long-barrelled shotgun.

She nodded, got in the car, put the key in the ignition.

Stick shift, Jesus, Richard had always bought automatics, how did these things work again? Clutch and brake. She turned the key, stalled the car.

Ahead the men coming up the path identified her.

They pulled something out of their pockets and began running.

"I see them," Dave said.

She turned the key, let the clutch out easy. Sue leaned over, grabbed a chunk of her hair and tugged hard. Rachel screamed and the car stalled again.

"Stop it!" Rachel shouted. "Claire, hold her down!"

The two men were close, twenty yards, less. They were wearing medallions round their necks and the black T-shirts said "Licenced Bounty Hunter" in yellow letters across their chests - which of course counted for absolutely nothing in Northern Ireland.

"I don't want to go!" Sue yelled.

"Mum, I'm scared," Claire said.

"Come on girl," Rachel told herself. She turned the key. "Clutch out slow, petrol in slow," she muttered. The engine caught. She drove forward. The men were here. Big white guys, moustaches, salt and pepper hair on the first, the second younger, meaner.

The younger one jumped on the bonnet, smashed the driver's side window, leaned in through the broken gla.s.s and sprayed her with Mace.

Her retinas burned.

"Aaaahhh!" she yelled.

She slammed down hard on the accelerator. The Subaru leapt forward.

She heard the shotgun tear the air.

She couldn't see.

Thumping on the windscreen.

The kids yelling.

She tried to open her eyes but they were flooded with tears.

She heard Dave shouting.

She grabbed the steering wheel.

It was a straight drive, except, she remembered, for the big Toyota.

"Claire, tell me when to turn so I don't hit the truck!" Rachel yelled.

"Mum there's a man on the windscreen!"

"Tell me when to turn!"

"Now! Now!"

The car went into a pothole, shuddered. She felt Claire's hand on her neck.

"I think he's got a gun!" Claire cried.

Pain from her burnt pupils. She blinked open her eyes, swerved to avoid a caravan, closed her eyes again, grabbed the bottle of water in the cup holder, opened the bottle with one hand and threw it in her face.

Rachel let go of the wheel for a second and rubbed the Mace out of her eyes as best she could. If she squinted she could see a little but what she saw wasn't good. The bounty hunter/private detective was desperately holding onto the windscreen wiper with his right hand and trying to point a Taser at her with his left.

They were at the entrance to the caravan park now near Stu's cabin.

"Give it up b.i.t.c.h!" the man yelled, finally getting a good grip on his Tazer and pointing it through the broken window.

The shotgun blast had brought Stu and Stacey out. Stu was standing there naked, covered in tattoos, holding a hurley stick. She'd never been fond of Stu but when he took a side he took a side and he went all in - especially for his customers.

"Pull over!" the bounty hunter yelled again.

She shook her head.

"I'm authorised to use-" he began before Stu clubbed him in the back.

He b.u.mped off the car and Stu kept hitting him in the rearview.

"Thank you, Stuart," she said and headed east for the crossroads.

They drove to Coleraine, stopped at a petrol station and filled the tank.

A little further along they found a McDonald's.

She wondered how long Big Dave would hold the men before having to let them go. How many hours did she have? It couldn't be too long or he'd be looking at a kidnapping charge.

The girls ate their food. She couldn't touch hers.