They hadn't spoken since, which didn't help, and the longer time had gone on the harder it had become to re-establish contact. She regretted this because, despite the fact that she'd made the break, she missed him.

Now, though, seemed a good time to finally make that call. She speed-dialled his number, having never got round to relegating it to her standard contacts list.

She felt an unexpected jolt of nerves when he answered.

'Hey Tina,' he said, sounding pleased to hear from her, 'long time no speak. How's life back on the streets?'

'Same as it is in SOCA, I expect,' she answered, forcing herself to sound cheery. 'Too many bad guys. Too few of the good ones.'

'But you're enjoying it though, yeah?'

'There's plenty of action, that's for sure.'

In truth, it had been a big disappointment – something she really should have expected, given that she'd worked out of Islington before. Virtually all the crimes she dealt with, from domestic burglary right up to murder, were depressing, sordid affairs where the identity of the perpetrators was obvious immediately, and unfortunately there seemed to be a never-ending stream of them.

But she didn't say any of this to Mike. Instead, they made the usual small talk, and she was slightly saddened that it lasted only a couple of minutes before fizzling out.

'So, to what do I owe the pleasure of your call?' he asked when the inevitable silence arrived.

Tina told him about the kidnapping, going through the details methodically, trying hard not to miss anything out, and feeling better to be getting down to business. 'I don't know what to do, Mike,' she said. 'I still can't get hold of the girl, and Fallon doesn't strike me as a bullshitter. That's why I thought I'd run it by you.'

'You need to build on what you've got,' he replied after a few moments' thought, 'because it's nowhere near enough for the bosses to take seriously. First thing I'd suggest is to get the CCTV footage fast-tracked.'

'Easier said than done.'

'Well, you know Matt Turner works over at the FSS now?'

Matt Turner had been a colleague of theirs at SOCA until he was seriously injured during an operation the previous year.

'No,' she said, suddenly feeling very much out of the loop, 'I didn't.'

'He moved to their hi-tech unit a few months back. I think he got tired of the desk job at SOCA, and he's never going to recover enough for fieldwork.'

'It's a pity. He was a good guy.'

'He still is. Get your footage over there and tell him it's urgent. And if it turns out it has been doctored then you're definitely on to something, and by the sound of it, something big. And have you checked out the doorman at her apartment building yet? Because from what you're saying, they couldn't have done it without his help.'

'No, I haven't,' she said, knowing she should have thought of that. 'That would mean three people involved, which seems a lot.'

'True, but you can't discount it. See if he's got a record. That'll at least give you something to go on.'

'I will, but I don't think my boss is going to let me spend much time on it. We're snowed under at the moment.'

'But if it's happened – and from what you've told me my feeling is that it has – then he's going to need to act. Speak to him. See what he says. He might surprise you.'

Tina doubted that very much. Like most senior officers, DCI Knox was interested in hitting Home Office targets, and that meant dealing with the crimes that were right in front of them and easily solvable, not ones that required extensive resources and might not even have taken place. 'Thanks,' she said. 'I'll do that.'

'Let me know how you get on. Seriously. I'd be interested to find out.'

'Thanks. I will.'

'I'd help myself, but we're snowed under as well right now. I guess that's par for the course in our line.'

'It's all right, Mike, I wasn't after your help. Just your advice. And you've been more than helpful.' He had too, but then he'd always been one of the best detectives she'd worked with.

'We aim to please,' he said, but this time the cheeriness in his voice sounded forced.

There was an awkward silence. Tina asked him what the team were working on at the moment.

'The usual,' he answered. 'Trying to bring down another of the Mr Bigs.'

'Who's it this time? Anyone I know?'

'Yeah,' he said, his tone sounding reluctant. 'Paul Wise.'

Tina swallowed hard. Mention of Paul Wise's name still made her jaw tighten and her stomach knot. If there was one person she could blame for doing so much to wreck her life, it was him, even though they'd never met. Wise was the bastard behind the murder of her former boss and lover John Gallan. A multi-millionaire businessman with his finger in all manner of unsavoury pies who'd managed to evade justice all his life and who was as close to untouchable as any criminal she'd ever come across.

'How come he's suddenly back on the SOCA agenda?' she asked, hearing the strain in her own voice. 'I thought everyone had given up on pinning anything on him.'

'No one's going to give up on Paul Wise, Tina.'

'And what's he doing now? I thought he was based out of the Turkish part of Cyprus, far away from the long arm of the law.' She knew damn well he was. She'd checked enough times.

'He is,' said Bolt, 'but he's been diversifying now that property development isn't as lucrative as it used to be. Now he's into large-scale heroin smuggling into the UK. That and prostitution.'

Tina snorted. 'As classy as ever. Are you close to getting him yet?'

'The honest answer's no. But that doesn't mean we stop trying. We've got a lot of resources aimed at him now. It's only a matter of time.'

She didn't know whether Mike believed this or not, but she didn't. Britain didn't even have an extradition treaty with the Turkish part of Cyprus, and the moment it got one Wise would be off somewhere else where he couldn't be touched. Men like him always seemed to be one step ahead of the law. She would still like to have been involved, though, and it suddenly irked her that she was out of it.

'If you do get the evidence to take him down, make sure you let me know, OK Mike?'

'You'll be the first I tell, Tina. I promise.'

She could hear the warmth in his voice, and she knew then that he would. 'Thanks. I appreciate that.'

'Take care. And don't give up on your case. Follow your instincts.'

I always do, she thought as she said her goodbyes. And it usually gets me into trouble.

Have you ever felt that you're moving in a parallel universe to everyone else? Where everything you do takes on a dreamlike quality? I experienced it once before as a student when a group of us took magic mushrooms – my one and only foray into hard drugs – but even then I knew that what was happening wasn't reality. I was far less sure of that now, and for the first time in my life I began to question my sanity. I've had some tough times in my life, tremendous highs followed by leaden, black lows, but I've always felt in control. The things I was hearing now, however, were confusing me so much I was wondering whether last night had happened at all.

But I had been in Jenny's apartment because when I went back it felt completely familiar to me. And my jacket, along with my mobile phone and wallet, was definitely missing.

I needed to clear my head, so after I finished talking to Tina Boyd I drove up to Broxbourne woods and went for a much-needed walk, enjoying the solitude after all the drama of the past twenty-four hours.

I hadn't got very far when Dom called. He asked me if I'd had any news. 'I've been worried about it all day.'

'Some,' I said, and I told him what I knew.

There was a pause at the other end of the line, and I sensed what he was thinking. For a while, when I first got back from France, I'd gone into a real depression. I'd slept badly, found myself unable to work, and almost stopped eating entirely. At my lowest point I didn't get out of bed for three solid days, and I lost more than a stone in weight. I don't think it was a breakdown as such, but I know that Dom was worried about my mental health. He'd even talked to my dad about what he should do, without informing me. Eventually I fought my way out of the worst of it without need of outside help, but I was sure Dom was feeling the same concerns about me now. I hadn't seen him for a few weeks so in his eyes it was entirely possible, I suppose, that I had relapsed.