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garden doorway.
    I looked up. Her eyes were red from crying, but the fierce look of disdain on her face made it impossible to feel sorry for her.
    I pocketed my phone.
    ‘Don’t let me stop you calling him back.’ Shelby’s tone was scathing. ‘We all know how you can’t get through a whole hour without speaking to your
boyfriend.’
    ‘It wasn’t Jam actually,’ I said.
    ‘No?’ Shelby sniffed. ‘I noticed he couldn’t wait to get away from you earlier.’
    I stared at my sister. Was that true? Surely Jam had gone out to get fish and chips because he was a nice person who could see Annie was in no state to think about cooking any dinner – not
to get away from me. I mean, like I said, he’d been a bit distant recently, but he still wanted to be with me. Coming here today proved it, didn’t it?
    Either way, Shelby was just being mean.
    ‘What’s your problem, Shelby?’ I snapped. ‘Your real problem, I mean, apart from what you should be worrying about which is Madison and what you obviously are worrying about which is the state of my love life.’
    She hesitated. Then to my surprise she sank down in the nearest chair and twisted her hands together, exactly as I’d seen Annie do.
    ‘We should be calling the police,’ she said. ‘I know Mom and Rick are totally against it, but the police would know what to do. They’re in the best position to get
Madison back.’
    Now Shelby’s haughty mask had slipped, I could see how scared she was. For the first time I seriously wondered if she had a point. The police were experts at dealing with kidnapping and
ransom demands, which I certainly wasn’t, while Annie was an emotional wreck. As for Rick, well, his work as a security guard, or whatever he’d done, didn’t exactly make him James
Bond.
    Perhaps the police were in the best position to help Madison.
    I looked up at Shelby, ready to discuss it at least. Her dyed hair was a mess, blonde strands falling over her face and at least five centimetres of root showing. Somehow it made her look more
vulnerable. I felt pity for her. After all, Madison was her sister too. She must be feeling as terrible as I was.
    And then Shelby’s cold, haughty mask slipped back into place. Her eyes hardened and she swept back her hair.
    ‘I can’t believe you’re still so arrogant about this when it’s your fault Madison was taken,’ she sneered. ‘You were supposed to be looking after
her.’
    Her words pierced through me. I wanted to deny them, but deep inside I knew that what she said was horribly, irrefutably true. I had been looking after Mo. It was my fault
she’d been taken.
    ‘You’ve totally convinced everyone the kidnapper is Sonia Holtwood,’ Shelby went on, ‘which means they’re all terrified she’ll hurt Madison, but the truth is
you don’t know who or what is really involved. You’re out of your depth, but you’ve convinced Mom and Rick you’re right. It’s pathetic.’
    ‘And what makes you so sure you’re right?’ I snarled, deeply stung. ‘What makes you so sure that Sonia Holtwood won’t just do what she said and kill Madison
if we go to the police?’
    A few seconds passed. Shelby’s hard brown eyes bored into mine. ‘That’s the point,’ she said icily. ‘I’m saying I don’t know which is why we
should hand everything over to the cops.’
    And with that, she turned and marched out of the room.

 
6
    The Meeting Place
    Dawn. I’d slept badly after the showdown with Shelby. I hadn’t called Mum back, either. The last thing I needed was somebody else telling me I was getting
everything wrong.
    I’d been kidnapped by Sonia Holtwood myself. I’d had my life turned upside down by that woman. I knew, better than anyone, what she was capable of. And, the more I thought about it,
the more convinced I was that I should stick to my gut feeling that keeping the police out of the situation was the best way to get Madison safely home.
    I could hear Annie in the next room,