‘Yeah, I think Grest wanted your husband out of the way so he could get the contact information and take over – one hundred per cent is better than thirty. But Grest will be a good boy now. I’ve told him that if he doesn’t, I’ll have a word in a lot of ears. Spread it around.’ He went over to the poster for The Lucky Lady, with Lorelei in a red silk gown, her face set behind a carnival mask made of red lace, and a spinning roulette wheel. There was a smaller image of her singing – it was a musical, it seemed.

‘What will they do about her death? NatSec, I mean.’

He sighed. ‘Blame it on an intruder, I expect. Burglary that went wrong. Close the file.’

‘Are you certain they will close it?’

‘You can’t tell with these people. But I think so.’ He wiped sweat from his brow. ‘Jane?’

‘Yes?’

‘Will you do something for me?’

‘Of course, what?’

‘When your husband gets out, will you keep schtum about all this? Even from him. It’s just that the fewer people who know, the safer it is for me, you understand?’

‘Yes, of course.’ I owed him that a hundred times over.

I grabbed on to the thought of Nick returning home to us, and looked to the speckled light slipping through the window.

25

I worried that, despite our leverage over him, Grest wouldn’t keep his word about releasing Nick. All morning I wavered between staring out the front window and trying to find ways to distract myself. I didn’t tell Hazel – even though I was bursting to do just that – in case it raised a false hope. Then, a little after eleven o’clock, as I was making some tea, there was a key in the lock and Nick stood on the threshold. I flew to him, and the two of us stood hugging each other as tightly as we could. ‘God, I love you,’ I whispered. And all the doubts and worries – how he had kept it from me that he and Lorelei had been involved in the black market and how it had come back to haunt us all – were buried under that truth. I would think about them later, but not now.

‘I love you too,’ he whispered back, kissing me. I knew that was true.

I wondered if he was aware of my involvement in his release, but I kept my word to Tibbot about not mentioning it – maybe one day I would be able to tell him. Luckily, the mark where Grest had hit me was small enough to be covered up by my rouge, and hopefully Hazel wouldn’t say anything. Nick called up the stairs to her and she squealed at his voice, almost tumbling down to the hall.