‘I’ll need a photo,’ Dave says.
‘Okay. I’ve got a few on my phone.’ Thankfully, Eva took a few selfies with Sadie, so I can lift them from her private Instagram feed. ‘I’ll forward them to you. Does that mean you’re both on board?’
‘Sure, why not,’ Dave replies, inclining his head.
‘Are the girls okay?’ Gary asks with a frown. ‘She didn’t hurt them, did she, this nanny?’
‘They’re fine,’ I say, swallowing down the words. ‘They’re with Robert at the moment. I just… I need to find her.’ I try to keep my voice as neutral as possible. The urge to go off on a rant is strong, but I’m trying to keep this on a professional level. Like I would with any other job. The othergreatertemptation is to ask them to track down Robert and the girls, but I don’t want my staff to knowallmy private business. And at least I know my children are safe. And I really believe he’ll be true to his word and bring them back. I’ll find Sadie first, then deal with my husband next. Of course, there’s always the possibility that Sadie is with Robert and the children. But that doesn’t even bear thinking about.
‘I hope it goes without saying that I want this kept quiet. I don’t need the rest of my staff knowing—’
Dave raises a hand. ‘I’m offended you’d even ask.’
I manage a grim smile. ‘Thanks. Can you make this your top priority?’
‘Above regular work?’
‘Yes, but don’t let clients suffer. If you need to hire some temps, that’s fine.’
‘Is she still in the country?’ Gary asks.
‘I honestly don’t know. I guess she might have gone abroad.’
‘You better hope she’s still in the UK,’ Gary says. ‘It’ll be harder to trace her if she’s gone overseas.’
‘Let’s assume she’s in the UK,’ I reply, wanting this desperately to be true. If she’s here, then the chances are she isn’t with Robert.
‘What sort of timescale we talking?’ Dave asks.
‘Today wouldn’t be too soon,’ I reply.
‘Ha. That might be tricky, but we’ll give it a good go,’ Gary replies. ‘Send us the photos and everything else you’ve got – her old phone number, emails, messages. Nothing’s too trivial, okay?’
I nod, feeling a tiny bit lighter. If anyone can find her, these guys can.
After a nail-biting and distressing week of little sleep, I finally get the news that I’ve been waiting for. Dave and Gary have found Sadie. Working together with a freelance team, they eventually managed to track her down via a security camera in west London, using facial recognition technology. Once they found her image on a few cameras, they narrowed her location. Then travelled up to London to confirm where she’s living.
Now, back in my office once again, they’re briefing me on their discovery.
‘She’s got no regular internet presence,’ Gary says. ‘Nothing at all. She also has no registered phone or email. So it got me thinking—’
‘Before we go on,’ Dave interrupts, ‘are you sure you want to know all the details? We weren’t exactly… by the book with this.’
‘I’m sure,’ I reply, scratching at my ear. ‘You didn’t try to make contact with her, did you?’ I’m suddenly worried that they might have scared her off.
Dave gives me a look. ‘Give us some credit, boss. We’re confident she’s got no idea we’re watching her.’
‘I definitely want all the details.’ I lean forward in my chair, nervous but excited that I might finally be getting somewhere. This has been the longest week of my life. Robert leaves me text messages each day to say that he and the girls are fine, but he won’t answer my calls. Neither will Diane. And Amelia has had no luck finding out where they are. My heart aches at being separated from my daughters for so long. If he doesn’t bring them back to me by the end of the holidays, I’m going to ask Dave and Gary for their help once more. This time to track down my family. But I’d rather not get them involved in that. I still don’t want my private family issues entangled with my business.
‘Have you heard of the dark web?’ Gary asks.
His question prompts a feeling of unease. ‘I’ve heard of it, but I’m not entirely sure what it is…’
‘Okay,’ Gary says. ‘So it’s a collection of websites that are highly encrypted, meaning its users are anonymous and their activities are hidden.’
My scalp prickles. ‘That sounds creepy.’
‘It can be,’ Gary says. ‘It looks like the regular internet, but instead of ordinary, innocuous businesses and social media sites, you can get pretty much anything you want. And I meananything. Think of all the dark and depraved and illegal stuff in the world and imagine there’s a menu for all that crap. Well, that would be the dark web. Anyone can go on there, but you need to download particular software to access it.’
