‘He was unconscious but breathing after the blast with no sign of serious injury.’

‘That doesn’t necessarily—’

‘I know,’ she interrupted. ‘And if he’s dead, then that’s one thing, but right now I just need to know if you’ll help us find him.’

‘Us?’

The line went quiet for a moment and then he heard a familiar voice.

‘I knew you’d screen my call,’ said his business partner Augusta Bloom.

Jameson’s free hand curled into a fist. ‘Oh, that is low.’ They’d worked together for five years and that was plenty. He had no interest in working with her again. It had transpired during that last case that Bloom and Seraphine Walker – their unexpected psychopath – were old acquaintances. And they’d both played him. Seraphine had presented herself as Sarah, and he’d fallen hard for the intelligent, charming alter-ego. And Bloom had opted to keep him in the dark, keep him in danger. In the many hours he’d spent pondering her choice, he kept coming back to the same disturbing conclusion. And so he wanted nothing more to do with Bloom.

‘Maybe, but I need you,’ she said. ‘Karene is an old friend and this has military written all over it. You once asked me for a favour and now I need one in return.’

‘Yeah and look how that turned out.’ That little favour had nearly resulted in his death.

‘I don’t know how many times I can say I’m sorry, Marcus, but I will continue to do so until you believe me. For now, this is not about me or you; it is about my friend and her missing partner. You know you can get access to the military in a way I cannot. You don’t even need to see me if you don’t want to. You can work directly with Karene. She’s fine with that.’

Jameson clenched his jaw. She was making him sound like a petulant child. ‘I’ll think about it,’ he said.

‘You will?’

‘Yes.’ He hung up.

4

‘Will he help us?’ Karene asked. Her voice was softer now, much weaker than it had been on the phone.

‘He can’t resist a mystery,’ said Bloom, handing her friend a box of tissues from the desk. Her words sounded surprisingly convincing considering she didn’t really believe them. The events three months earlier had ruptured their relationship to such an extent she wasn’t sure it could be mended. She had left him in the dark. He’d seen it as a betrayal. But it had been tactical. He refused to see that she’d had no other choice. Her goal had been to stop Seraphine. Whatever the cost. ‘I hope he’ll come around,’ Bloom said and she really did.