‘Instead, it got worse,’ Warner continued. ‘It took her longer and longer to recover after each client. They seemed less and less satisfied. Eventually she freaked out and hit one of them. My boys thought he was trying to leave without paying, so they beat the shit out of him.’

‘Wasn’t us,’ Sariklis put in.

‘We know you have to pay up-front,’ Francis added.

Warner looks at them, and they both shut up.

‘Indigo tried to run, too,’ Warner said. ‘We caught her. I saw straight away that she’d never work again. She wasn’t injured, but some people can’t handle it, psychologically. So I let her out of her contract.’ She smiles like the Dalai Lama, pleased with her own generosity. ‘Her husband was pissed, but no harm came to her. She moved away and never came back.’

‘If you’re looking for a replacement,’ I say, ‘I doubt people would pay much to have sex with me.’

In addition to being scarred and haggard-looking, I’m a virgin. I can’t get close to anyone without endangering them.

Warner ignores this. ‘Sometimes people apply for a job. When they start doing it, they realise it doesn’t suit them. But they’re too scared to quit. They don’t want to own up to their mistake.’ She swallows a mouthful of eggs and leans back in her seat. ‘I’m wondering if you have the stomach for the work I’ve given you.’

My guts rumble. That bite of the mystery man didn’t touch the sides. ‘I do,’ I say.

‘Are you sure? Because I won’t tolerate another failure.’

This is your way out, Thistle says in my head. For fuck’s sake, take it.

‘I was waiting for forty-five minutes,’ I say.

This is an exaggeration, and it provokes the desired reaction. ‘Bullshit,’ Francis says. ‘It was fifteen minutes at the most.’

Warner’s eyes flash over to him, and he closes his mouth. I wonder if he has a tracking app on his phone, like me.

‘At least twenty,’ I say. We’re both losing her trust, but he’s losing it faster.

Warner holds up her hands. ‘Enough. Where were you, Blake?’

‘I drove home,’ I say. ‘He’d never been late before. I thought he must have been caught, and the cops might figure out where he was going.’

She considers this. I can’t tell her about the dead man. She’ll worry that the cops who are looking for him might find me. Then I’ll accidentally lead them to her. Safer to kill me before they get to that point.

‘I need this job,’ I say.

‘Why didn’t you call me?’ she asks.

‘That could have screwed us both. If I got caught, there would be a record of me calling you. And if you were caught—’