Chapters (45)
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Contents
- Prologue
- 2046
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- About the Author
‘I’ll play it through. Keep your eyes on Ben.’ She presses the ‘Play’ button and watches the famous footage she has seen hundreds of times, but now the impact is even greater. She’s met this man. She’s met and spoken with Ben Ryder. She held him as he sobbed and asked for death over life. She knows every second of this video clip but watches it with fresh eyes as if seeing it for the first time. She knows his voice now, the tone in which he speaks and his humour. The way he walks and that genial manner that masks the utter brutal capability of the man. She was the last person to see Ben Ryder alive. They locked eyes and in that second she saw a man full of honour and integrity. A man who would never grope her, force her to do things or take what he could through power. His was a power restrained that was ready to be used when it was needed. She knew Ben Ryder would laugh easily and be full of humour and fun.
She saw the same Ben Ryder during those first couple of days. The way he took everything in his stride and didn’t panic and the way he stood back until she got hit then ploughed in and the violence he used. Untrained but devastating. Ruthless yet human. Not a monster but a hero.
The attack Ben stopped when he was seventeen was sexually motivated, but even so, the fact that a white youth stopped a gang from attacking an Indian woman and her child stuck with Safa. Safa had seen racism first-hand. She suffered it growing up, the insults, the taunts, the bullying, but she knew there were decent, courageous people in the world. She knew she would protect people and stand up for what was right. Years later, she witnessed what he did at Holborn and saw the world react as they learnt the connection between that man at the train station and the boy on the country lane so many years before. The name Ben Ryder came to mean decency, moral fortitude, honour and courage. She joined the Diplomatic Protection Squad because of what he did. She devoted her life to the protection of others because of Ben Ryder. Harry understood this and gave the patience he had shown over the months on the basis of her words.