Just shy of twelve months in his solitary abode, Gilmont had escaped without a trace, due to the assistance of his loyal band. Gilmont chuckled under his breath as he imagined the shocked expressions on the prison guards’ faces when they found his empty, locked cell.

Escaping from prison was not the end of his troubles; the metropolitan police had plastered his face throughout every law enforcement station and ran his picture for months on the BBC’s national news. So instead of taking up his old life, he was stuck living in this filthy hole.

A soft series of knocks sounded at the door: four taps, a pause, and two more taps, then the scrape of a key in the lock. Danny Travis entered and shut the door. He clumped into the room, his boots slick with rain.

He dropped two Chinese takeaway bags on the table without a word, then turned on the tap and washed his hands with disinfectant soap before he leaned one hip against the worktop and faced Gilmont.

“This flat is a dive. When are you going to purchase a nicer place?” Danny’s hooked nose stood out in the dim light like the beak of an exotic bird.

Gilmont blew out another cloud of smoke, then stabbed out the cigarette before he answered. “I choose to stay for my own reasons.”

“Such as?” Danny folded his arms.

Gilmont smirked. Only Danny dared question him.

“When we capture the last person involved in my arrest, I’m off to the Dalmatian coast.” Gilmont shoved the pack of Players into his breast pocket.

“The MI6 agent’s dead. He died in that accident two years ago. I personally drove a bin wagon into the side of his car.”

“His partner survived.”

“She’s broken. I watched them haul her away. She was more dead than alive. Injuries like that leave lasting damage.”

“Agent Taylor and her partner hunted me like an animal. They destroyed my life. All the money in the world will never reclaim what I lost.” Gilmont shut down his laptop and pushed it to the far side of the table. “All I sought was to provide my wife with the lifestyle she had before our marriage. What thanks did I get? She divorced me while I was in prison—dumped me like a pile of rubbish.” Gilmont’s voice rose several decibels.

Danny remained silent, but his face showed understanding for Gilmont’s need to vent, to expel the poison from his festering wound.

“Until Agent Taylor is six feet under, I will stay in London and search for her. As for this flat, we stay put. This place is a shrine to all I have lost.”

“Have it your way, Professor.” Danny turned and opened a cupboard. Selecting two bowls, he placed them on the table beside the takeaway bags. “I got your favorite—garlic chicken. There’s a fortune cookie in the sack.”