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Her fighting. Him overpowering her, choking her into unconsciousness, leaving her lying there while he disappeared with her son.

Her waking up, realizing Max was gone, getting the bleach from under the base of the bath.

Unwrapping the foil. Drinking it.

She imagined a sour, bitter taste that burned as it went down her throat and into her stomach. She saw herself doubled over on the mattress in pain, foam flecking her lips, her body gradually slackening as the life left it.

She pictured the man coming in and seeing her lying there, running over and feeling her pulse, understanding what she had done.

Would he be sad? Did he love her, in some twisted way? Would he kneel by her body and wail in grief?

She doubted it. She thought he would frown, his lips pressing together, thin with anger. And then he would have to get rid of her body. Maybe he would cut it up into pieces which he could remove easily. Or perhaps he would drag her out in the dark of the night and discard her body in some remote place.

She shook her head. That wasn’t going to happen.

Because she had a plan.

Next to her Max twitched. His eyes opened. Slowly they focused on her.

‘Mummy,’ he said.

‘Max. Happy birthday. You’re three!’

Max looked at her for a while before a smile spread over his face.

‘I’m three!’ he said. ‘What comes after three?’

‘Four,’ Maggie said.

‘Will I be four tomorrow?’

‘No,’ Maggie said. ‘You’ll be four in a year.’

‘Oh,’ he said. ‘A year.’

And he would be. In a year, he would turn four, somewhere far from here.

Because finally she had a plan. It was going to hurt her, to take all the courage and determination she could find, but she would do it, one way or another she would do it.

She didn’t know what time the man would come. She guessed he would take Max when – if – he brought breakfast. He would know that this time she would have no doubts what he wanted, so he would not want to come down to the room twice.

Which meant she had to be ready. As soon as she heard the scrape she had to be able to hide Max in the bath. She had removed the wooden base and measured the space between the floor and the base; he would fit, just. Then she could put the base back and cover him. And then, when the man was here, she would take whatever advantage of his confusion she could.

First, though, she needed Max to learn his part in the plan.

‘Max,’ she said. ‘I have a new game for your birthday. It’s called hide and seek.’

‘What is it?’

‘You hide and I look for you. When you’re hidden you have to be very quiet. Want to try?’

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She called Max over.

‘This is a really great place to hide. I’ll show you.’

She picked him up and put him in the bath.