My guts began to squeeze themselves together. What if he had seen through me? ‘What do you want?’

He was watching me closely. ‘I want to know where you are running off to. France? Gibraltar? South America?’

‘Tangiers,’ I said, tense. He had control of the port. He would know if I lied.

‘Tangiers.’ He rubbed at his donkey beard. ‘What’s there for you?’

‘Nothing. A fresh start.’

He was silent for a moment. ‘Tangiers,’ he said. ‘Bueno. You’ll wait until this evening to take the boat. I’ll have a little job for you by then.’

‘What kind of job?’ My skin was prickling. I thought about the knife, hidden deep in my jacket.

‘Relax. You will take something to a friend of mine, that’s all.’

‘What?’

He tutted me. ‘Too many questions. Just take what I give you, deliver it and don’t peek. My friend will know if you have, and he’s not so nice as me.’ Bautista picked up the passport again. ‘If you are caught, you do not know my name. If you talk, we will find you. Otherwise, our business will be done. That’s fair, no? A small favour, compared to what I offer.’ He waved the document. ‘You can have this when you board the boat later. Not before.’

Crime upon crime. Smuggling, forged papers. If I were to be caught …

The hat rested on my lap, the gift from Mr Langham. I pictured him once again, at the wheel of that bright car, remembered the smell of his cologne and the way he’d glanced at the shape of land on the horizon, the way he’d commanded the respect of the hotel staff and the look on his face when I told him the sun was in my eyes. The way he’d said, mine too.

‘Well?’ Bautista said. ‘Are we agreed?’

Tangier

July 1978

‘Whoever it was, you shouldn’t have chased after them, old man, those kind of antics can get you into trouble here.’ Norton wiped his mouth with the paper napkin and grimaced down at the dry chicken on his plate. He’d insisted on eating in a dismal little hotel at the edge of the new town, partly, Sam suspected, because they served alcohol. ‘Too much bother to eat in these temperatures, don’t you think?’ he said, reaching for his wine glass.

‘I wasn’t chasing the person, I was …’ Sam pushed his plate away with a sigh. ‘I was just trying to find out who they were, where this A person lives.’

Norton made a doubtful noise. ‘The whole business sounds shady to me. Next thing you know you’ll be waiting at a rendezvous with your passport in hand, primed and ready to be mugged.’