The phone was back in Michael’s hand just moments later. His thumb found the recent calls log. Reid’s name sat at the top of the list. The number seven next to it, indicating how many times Michael had called.

Michael pressed Reid’s name and waited for the call to connect.

A ringtone. Just like the previous seven calls. And like those calls it went unanswered. Finally, a robotic female voice cut in.

‘Your call has been diverted to the EE voicemail—’

‘Fuck.’

Michael disconnected. Against everything his brain was telling him, Reid’s unavailability was worrying him.

Why the hell is he not answering? Why the hell is he not checking messages.

Michael already had an explanation for exactly that: Reid had told Sarah that he would be out of contact for a few days.

But then why is his phone not switched off?

It was a small thing, probably meaningless. But with so many missed calls now showing, why had Reid not called him back? If only to make sure everything was OK? Michael gazed at the wall, trying to decide what to do next.

Levy.

He did not want to waste her time; God knows she had other pressing concerns. But he could not think of anything else to do and so – with his gut telling him that something was not right – he opened his wallet, found Levy’s card and punched her digits into his phone.

‘Joelle Levy.’ The slightly husky voice was distinctive. Levy’s accent was English but it was coloured by a hint of Israeli. Michael had not noticed it before.

‘Joelle, it’s Michael Devlin. Look, I’m really sorry to call you but I was hoping you could give me some reassurance about Derek Reid.’

‘Michael. Hi.’ Levy sounded surprised by both the call and the request. ‘I, erm, I’m a little confused. What do you mean by reassurance?’

‘Just that he’s OK. Your guys haven’t called in anything out of the ordinary, have they?’

‘I’m sorry, Michael. What guys?’

‘The guys you stationed to keep an eye on him, Joelle. The protection detail.’

‘Yeah, I remember. But that was when we were chasing Wisdom Penfold. When we thought Derek was a potential target. Once Penfold was ruled out the protection was stood down.’

Michael felt the warmth of his body disappear.

‘You mean there’s no one keeping a watch on Derek?’

‘No. Not now we’ve ruled Penfold out. Why would there be?’

Michael felt himself lose focus for just a moment. His rational mind was trying to keep him on track – trying to reassure him that there was no way Reid was a target – but it was losing to the vivid images of Michael’s worst fears.

He forced himself to regain his composure.

‘But what about the new suspects? The ones arrested by Blunt. Have none of them brought up Derek’s name?’

‘We’re only just starting that list. I only picked up Sarah’s message about an hour ago. So there are no new suspects right now.’