Tom paused just out of the blade’s reach, aware of the impediment Adebayo faced with his trousers round his ankles. Tom gave him a slow, even smile.

‘You know, Michael, you’re not the first man to hold a knife towards me. I wasn’t scared then, and I’m not scared now; you may want to ask yourself why?’

Doubt flashed across the lawyer’s face; the calm aura that Tom projected was disconcerting. He jabbed the knife half-heartedly in Tom’s direction, the blade pointed directly towards his stomach.

Tom gave Adebayo a slight smile and delivered a sweeping roundhouse Muay Thai kick with his right leg, a vicious blow into the nerve bundle just above the lawyer’s knee. Adebayo dropped as if he had been shot, screaming in pain and clutching his leg. Tom turned to Jeta, who was staring open-mouthed at him and smiled, icy calm.

‘Come on, let’s get out of here.’

‘My passport, Tomo; I need my passport.’ Jeta pointed at the desk where her Slovenian passport lay.

Tom considered for a moment; it was now officially a crime scene, and everything should have been left as evidence. However, he knew how the police property systems operated and it was likely that, once seized as evidence, she’d be unlikely to see her passport again. He figured that the poor girl had enough to contend with without the complications that having no passport would cause her. He grabbed it and handed it to her.

‘Right. Let’s go.’

They stepped over Emmanuel, still gasping on the floor and clutching his face, and descended to the street. Tom called Jean on his mobile and she answered immediately.

‘Jean, it’s Tom. Get someone to me now. I’m going to be outside the station entrance in one minute. I have a rape victim with me. Get the arrest team to move in to the office: Emmanuel and Michael Adebayo need to be arrested for rape and immigration offences. All the evidence is there, and I have it all on tape. I need to get out of the way or my cover will be even more blown than it is now.’

‘On our way. Fortunately, we have two of our seconded cops with us,’ said Jean and she hung up.

‘Come on, Jeta,’ said Tom in Serb, ‘we’re here to help you.’

‘He raped me. The bastard raped me and punched me when I said no. Thank you, Tomo, you saved me from him.’ She fought back tears, a lost and faraway look of hurt and pain deep within her eyes. For just a moment, Jeta reminded him of his mama all those years ago. Tom swallowed heavily at the memory.

‘The police will be here soon, Jeta. They will help you,’ he said, putting his arm on hers. Jeta flinched, just slightly, at his touch.

‘Who are you, Tomo?’

He smiled. ‘Just a friend.’

10