‘It wasn’t a suggestion. My father’s order. I think you will concede he knows this part of the world better than any of you are ever going to.’

‘Do not agree to go off grid,’ Ian instructed in their earpieces.

‘Now,’ Mikhail said.

Kate glanced at Julie. She nodded and they both switched off their packs. ‘And your phones.’ They took them out and powered them off. Mikhail nodded with satisfaction and Kate couldn’t quite suppress a moment’s pleasure at the thought of Ian’s reaction. ‘Where are we going?’ she asked Mikhail.

‘Out of town. My father will cross the border tonight. We have a house nearby. You will meet him. In the morning, we will make the run for the airport.’

‘How far out of town?’

‘Not far.’

Mikhail nodded at the driver and he roared off again. They lapsed into silence as they spun past the hard evidence that this ancient city had not escaped the depredations of the Brezhnev-era central planners, with concrete housing, block after block, leavened only by the occasional splash of colour.

If the Soviet Union had succeeded only in making every one of its citizens poor, independence had clearly made a tiny number of Georgians rich. They passed a Porsche garage and one for Jaguar Land Rover, as well as a smart- looking shopping mall, with the French supermarket Carrefour advertising its wares with a giant sign on the roof, but the overall impression was of poverty and neglect.

Eventually the housing blocks petered out, to be replaced by shabby single-storey dwellings, and then they were out of the city altogether, following the foaming waters of the River Terek. ‘How far are we going?’ Kate asked.

‘A few hours. Three, perhaps. It depends.’

‘Where are we going?’

‘Relax.’ He turned and smiled at her. ‘Have you ever been to the Caucasus?’

‘We’re not here to take in the sights.’

‘I told you, these are our lands. We are safer here.’

But safer seemed a distant prospect. They were following the Georgian Military Highway, the long single-track road that had allowed the Russians to dominate this southern republic for two centuries. It was full of potholes and packed with lorries, all of which made glacial progress, so the driver felt compelled to dice with death at every turn in the long and winding road.

By the time they reached the Jvari Pass, the weather had closed in, reducing visibility to only forty or fifty yards in the sleeting rain. That didn’t deter the driver from overtaking at will, so they were frequently forced to duck back in to avoid a lorry or truck coming the other way with only inches to spare. ‘Does he always drive like this?’ Kate muttered, but Mikhail did not answer and neither did Julie, who was gazing out of the window.