‘Establish your children are missing. If they are, you’ll have to call the operation off. Tell Igor and Mikhail we’ll come back for them. I’ll call the ops room and press the emergency button.’

He rang off. Another call came in, this time from Fiona and Gus’s school. ‘Hello, Mrs Henderson. I do hope everything is all right. We’re just checking why Fiona and Gus were both absent from school today.’

Kate didn’t wait to hear what else she had to say. She called Rose. Her phone went straight to its message service. She tried the Finance Department.

‘Celine Jones,’ a woman said.

‘Celine, it’s Kate Henderson from the Russia desk here. Is Rose there?’

‘No, Mrs Henderson, she is not. I was about to call you, actually, because I know she’s been staying at your house this week. She hasn’t come to work today and her mobile phone goes straight to answering machine. I was wondering if everything was all right.’

Kate ended the call. She turned to find Igor Borodin striding towards her. Ian tried to interrupt his progress, but Igor swatted him away as if he were an irritating distraction. ‘What is going on, Mrs Henderson?’

‘They have taken my children. They’re threatening to behead them if we take off with you onboard.’

‘My former colleagues will have subcontracted the work to Serbian or Albanian gangsters. As soon as they know in Moscow they have thwarted this defection, the gangsters will cover their tracks. The only chance your children have is to take us on that plane with you.’

‘We’ll come straight back for you.’

He glared at her. For the first time she thought that what she saw in those eyes was fear. ‘If that plane takes off without us,’ he said, ‘we are dead. And so are your children.’

‘I’ve told her the same thing,’ Ian said, but Igor Borodin continued to ignore him, his gaze locked on Kate.

‘I’ve spoken to the chief,’ she said, as much to Ian as to Igor. ‘I have the authority to make a decision. I can’t take off with you onboard. If you can wait here in Tbilisi or close to the border, I give you my word we will return for you as soon as I know my children are safe.’

Igor took her arm, led her roughly away. Ian followed. ‘Stay there!’ Igor bellowed at him. He dragged Kate to the corner of the terminal building, so that they were out of earshot. ‘Your children are safer with us onboard,’ he said. ‘Believe me.’

‘I can’t take that risk.’

‘You have no choice.’

‘I’m sorry. It’s my call. You would do the same.’