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harm you, Matt,’ she continued. ‘We needed to put you out for a few hours, that’s all. In a moment we’ll untie you, but first we need to explain a few things.’
    ‘ You’re damn right,’ Matt said, but his words were garbled and the girl just smiled back.
    ‘ We need you to stay calm, okay?’ She gave a nod of encouragement.
    Matt blinked several times. ‘Okay,’ he said, still slurring.
    This time the girl understood him. She slid onto the floor by the bed, resting her forearm along his. She was close to him and he could detect a faint odour of perfume. She was young, perhaps twenty-five, had a head of almost white hair, very short and spiked. Her skin was perfect, her eyes a mesmerising blue, reassuring.
    ‘ Okay,’ she said, ‘we’re just trying to protect you. There are people who want you dead. Those two guys today? They were going to kill you. Not right there in the street, but if you’d gone with them, you’d be dead by now.’
    Matt was frowning, still trying to piece together the fragments of his shattered memory. ‘They were policemen,’ he said, his speech slowly returning to normal.
    ‘ They weren’t policemen, Matt, believe me.’
    ‘ But why would anyone want me dead?’
    ‘ Good question,’ she replied, ‘and a simple one to answer. You’ve been sent an email that a lot of people want to get hold of. Or, more precisely, want to prevent us getting hold of. They will kill you for the information in that email.’
    The ropes were digging into Matt’s arms and stomach. He shifted to relieve the pain.
    ‘ I’ll untie the ropes now, Matt, but I want you to promise you’ll stay calm and not try to escape. We’ve abducted you for a reason – to keep you alive. You’ve no idea where you are and it would be foolish to run. And dangerous. If you’re not shot by our enemies, your enemies, we’ll shoot you ourselves to stop you. Okay?’
    Matt just nodded. Immediately, she stood, took a large blade from her back pocket and in seconds had sliced through the thick ropes. She threw them into a corner and helped him sit up. His head nearly exploded with pain and he felt faint, slightly nauseous.
    ‘ The drug will take some time to wear off,’ the girl said sympathetically. ‘Come and sit in the other room. Some coffee and sugar will help.’
    She led him, staggering, through a door into a kitchen. There was another wooden table, lit by candles and covered in plates and cups. Two men were sitting at opposite ends. Matt recognised them; the bearded youth who’d bundled him into the car, and the driver. The girl helped him to a chair and poured him a cup of coffee from a large metal jug.
    He was in a derelict farmhouse. The kitchen was large and untidy. A dresser stood against one of the walls and a brass tap was leaking into a chipped and stained ceramic sink. A small wood-stove nestled in a huge chimney recess and the remains of a hastily eaten meal lay on the plates before them. The girl asked if he wanted some food and placed some bread on a plate. The two men were smoking and slurping their coffee. Matt took a swig of his. It was hot and very sweet. The pain in his head was easing. Putting the cup down, he rubbed his swollen eyes, pinched the brow of his nose.
    ‘ Matt,’ the girl said, ‘this is Henric.’ She pointed to the bearded youth. ‘And this is Gerry.’ The other man nodded. ‘And I’m Clara.’
    Matt broke off some of the bread. He felt starved but his stomach was churning noisily. ‘Who the hell are you? And what do you want from me?’
    ‘ Like I said,’ Clara replied, ‘you’ve been sent an email. We need to know what’s in it. We kidnapped you to protect you and the email from people who would rather destroy both.’
    ‘ You killed those guys just for an email? It must be a fucking important one!’
    The men looked at the girl. She obviously held some seniority in the group.
    ‘ It’s a long story. Someone who used to work for the US government sent you