‘Thinking like that will drive you mad,’ he said. ‘I know. I did it for three years. Who knows how many times you saved Maria’s life? Maybe she coached you one day, rather than catching a bus that plunged over a cliff. Or maybe if you hadn’t offered to work with her, Basilia might have accidentally tripped her down the stairs one day. You can’t trace consequence to a single action. The bottom line is that a guy decided to kill Maria, and that’s his responsibility, not yours.’

She turned down the corners of her mouth and cocked her head to one side, as if she was trying to believe him, but couldn’t quite let herself off the hook.

‘Thank you for what you did. I’ll never forget it.’

Foster shrugged.

‘It’s my job.’

‘Just your job?’

He held her gaze, but said nothing. Eventually she smiled and the worry began to lift from her face.

‘Just doing your job,’ she said.

‘That’s such a cliché.’

Foster smiled.

‘There’s no pleasing some people.’

They ordered food, and for once Kirsten Keller demolished hers without looking up from her plate.

‘You sure I couldn’t tempt you to join my team?’ she said after dessert.

‘I could show you the world.’

Foster shook his head.

‘I’ve seen enough of it already, Kirsten.’

She smiled, unsurprised by his answer.

Their eyes locked for a moment, both of them imagining how it could be, if they were together.

‘Well,’ Keller said eventually, ‘if you ever change your mind …’

They both smiled, and Foster went back to watching the sky.

‘When do you fly?’ Foster asked.

‘Tomorrow.’

‘Straight home?’

She shook her head.

‘I’m taking a few days in Florence. Maria’s family are flying her home, and her funeral is next week. I want to be there. Basilia’s coming, too. I guess some things are more important than tennis.’

‘Will you replay the final?’ Foster asked.

She shook her head.

‘I’ll come back if they can organise it,’ she said. ‘But I don’t think they will.’

Foster told her she’d win the next tournament, and she told him he could bank on it, suddenly sassy and confident.

‘Do you feel safe now?’ Foster asked her.

‘I’d feel safer if you stayed tonight,’ she said, and her eyes sparkled like the late sunshine glinting on the Thames far below.

STORIES AT THE SPEED OF LIFE

ALSO BY JAMES PATTERSON

ALEX CROSS NOVELS

Along Came a Spider

Kiss the Girls

Jack and Jill

Cat and Mouse

Pop Goes the Weasel

Roses are Red

Violets are Blue

Four Blind Mice

The Big Bad Wolf

London Bridges

Mary, Mary

Cross

Double Cross

Cross Country

Alex Cross’s Trial (with Richard DiLallo)

I, Alex Cross

Cross Fire

Kill Alex Cross

Merry Christmas, Alex Cross

Alex Cross, Run

Cross My Heart

Hope to Die

Cross Justice

THE WOMEN’S MURDER CLUB SERIES