Whatever was going on, whatever monsters from her past might be rearing their heads, she needed to face them as the woman that she was now, not the girl that she used to be.

Snatching a leather jacket from the wardrobe, Dorothy gave Sorin a brief scratch behind the ears then hurried back down the stairs, crossed the room and unlocked the door that led directly into her company office. To her surprise, Sanaul was seated at the desk.

Dorothy tutted. ‘Don’t you ever sleep?’

Her business manager turned to her with an apologetic smile. He was in his early sixties, dressed in an immaculate three-piece suit, his silver-grey hair and beard a stark contrast to the deep chestnut hue of his skin. ‘It seems that neither of us has been able to sleep, Miss Dorothy. You, I assume, have been rudely awakened by your troubling dreams again, whilst I find that can never stay in my bed when I know that there are unfinished accounts to be dealt with.’

Dorothy grinned. Sanaul was more than just a colleague; he was her partner-in-crime, her confidant, and her friend. She had met him during the relief operation after a catastrophic cyclone had struck the Indonesian coast about five years ago. He had been coordinating the emergency response teams, while Dorothy had been there with her own team setting up a temporary hospital structure and arranging for the delivery of medical supplies.

Over the two weeks that they had been thrown together Dorothy had watched him with growing admiration as he coped with crisis after crisis, setback after setback, always with unflappable good humour and meticulous attention to detail. He in turn saw her as something of a kindred spirit and the two of them had become good friends.

Once the disaster was finally under control, Dorothy had flown back to Kerala with him, taken him out for a meal and offered him a job. To her surprise, he had accepted without hesitation and since he had joined the management team A Charitable Earth had never been run more efficiently.

There was only really one slight hiccup, and that was in over five years she had still not managed to get him to call her by her first name at work. He’d spent his first year addressing her as Miss McShane, which set Dorothy’s teeth on edge. In the end they’d agreed to compromise on ‘Miss Dorothy’. As far as Sanaul was concerned that was still respectful enough for him to be happy with it, and it amused Dorothy because it made her sound like one of Basil Brush’s sidekicks.

Sanaul’s smile faded as he noticed what she was wearing. Boots and leggings weren’t exactly standard office dress for a Chief Executive Officer.

‘Are you going out, Miss Dorothy?’

Dorothy nodded. ‘I think that there’s something going on that needs checking out. I’m off to visit an old friend in Perivale.’