It took a moment or two for the truth to dawn on him. ‘You’re leaving me here. I thought you told Abdul you needed to get me away.’

‘I did get you away. But this is where the babysitting ends. Like I said, you people really need to take responsibility for your own survival. You can’t keep relying on me.’ She dropped her voice and leaned in as if to share a secret. ‘Mainly because I’m not that reliable.’ She turned and walked away.

Harry followed. ‘Wait! What about my passport?’

She stopped at the steps to the plane. ‘It’s in your home, isn’t it?’

‘But you had another. You gave the man two at the airport.’

‘Did I? Gosh. You do have a good eye for detail. I don’t recall. Happy travels.’

She climbed the stairs.

‘Seraphine?’ Harry shouted. ‘How do I get home without a passport?’

‘If you managed to smuggle a migrant girl into the UK, I’m sure you can smuggle yourself out of Africa.’

He stepped towards the plane and then thought better of it. She had complimented his quick thinking with Bello and thanked him for his help. Perhaps that was why she was leaving him here. Alive. He took a couple of steps back as the plane began to move. With a woman like Seraphine, he sensed things could have turned out much, much worse.

As the plane took off, Harry walked back to the Toyota. The keys were still in the ignition and on the back seat sat a stack of money.

96

The foot soldier’s movements were becoming more and more agitated. The helicopter had moved out of sight. The young man kept checking behind him at the rear deck. He and Bloom were clearly thinking the same thing; their plan was to lower someone down.

‘Don’t panic,’ she said. ‘It’s going to be fine.’

He aimed his weapon at her again and this time there was something different in his eyes. They were detached. Cold.

‘You’ve been kind to us,’ said Jake. ‘I’ll tell them that.’

‘Shut up.’

‘He’s right,’ Bloom said.

‘I said to shut up.’

They did as they were told. The boat swayed back and forth. The helicopter blades drummed a rhythmic pulse to match.

Where was Jameson? She imagined he was getting in the face of some unfortunate naval officer and demanding action. She wouldn’t be entirely surprised if he boarded their boat right now. He was not beyond pushing his way into an operation. But there was another possible scenario. He might have stayed back, left her to handle things for herself. He hadn’t fully forgiven her. And if he really did believe she was a psychopath, he may think her perfectly capable of surviving without his help.