She went upstairs and walked through the large rooms that surrounded the imposing hallway. The cleaners had gone and the place smelled of soap and vanilla-scented candles. She glanced at the clock; Alex would be about to land in Amsterdam to catch his connecting flight. Once Tómas was in the car with him, she would call and let him know of the change of itinerary. This time she was going to have them fly direct from Zürich to London, and then weave a puzzle with trains and cars on the way from the airport. Giving them an extra two- or three-hour flight would try her patience too much; she was bursting with anticipation at the prospect of seeing Tómas again.

She started as the doorbell chimed, and then remembered that this had to be the delivery she was expecting from the shop. On the intercom screen she could see a new delivery man standing on the steps with a box in his arms.

She pressed the intercom button.

‘Leave the box by the door,’ she said.

The delivery man looked around in surprise, and then he saw the camera over the door. For a moment it was as if they looked at each other through the lens, and for a second Sonja was taken by his surprised brown eyes. But as they so often did, her senses were deceiving her. It was all too easy to convince yourself that you could know someone from their eyes. She had learned from bitter experience that there could be a single-minded determination to kill hidden behind innocent brown eyes.

‘There’s a tip for you under the flower pot. Thank you.’

She waited for a while after the delivery man had gone before she cautiously opened the door, brought the box inside and then shut and locked the door again. As she brought the box into the kitchen, her phone rang and she saw it was Alex calling.

‘Any changes to the itinerary?’ he asked.

‘Not yet,’ Sonja replied.

‘It’s a lot better for me if I know in advance what the route is, so I can be prepared,’ he said. ‘You could try trusting me.’

She could hear in his tone that he realised it was a hopeless suggestion.

‘There’s nobody I trust,’ Sonja said and put the phone down.

It was true. There was nobody she could trust completely, although Alex would certainly be at the top of the list if she were forced to put her life in someone else’s hands; he had been ever since he had put himself between her and her rival’s hitman, taking a bullet in his side in the process. But she knew exactly how the Mexicans worked, and also knew there was nobody who couldn’t be bribed or tortured. So she would never be able to trust anyone again.