‘Sod you!’ Ning said. ‘And you said yourself, Bruce is a really nice guy. Now stop changing the subject and tell me what’s in the envelope.’

Ryan opened the envelope and showed Ning a picture of an eighteen-year-old girl.

‘Natalka,’ Ning gasped.

Ryan had met Natalka on a mission in Kyrgyzstan four years earlier. He’d fallen in love, and wound up with a broken heart when he had to go back to campus.

‘There’s a bunch of stuff in the file,’ James said. ‘Natalka was released from reform school when she turned eighteen. I managed to find an address that’s about three months old and three possible mobile phone numbers. The latest information is an arrest for petty theft, on January 2nd, but she’s not due in court until March.’

‘I’ve never stopped thinking about Natalka,’ Ryan confessed to Ning. ‘I begged James to help me to find her.’

Ning was aghast. She found it sweet and romantic that Ryan hadn’t forgotten about Natalka. And how cool was it that James was prepared to bend the rules to help Ryan find his true love? She couldn’t think of any other CHERUB staff member who’d do something like that. But she was also shocked, and that’s the side that came out.

‘You’re both bloody bananas,’ Ning blurted. ‘You’re not supposed to contact people you met on missions for all sorts of very good reasons. James, you’re the most highly regarded young mission controller on campus. John is retiring in three years and you could easily be his successor as senior mission controller.

‘And Ryan, you haven’t thought this through, have you? You were only fourteen. How much have you changed as a person since you last saw Natalka? And Russia’s a tough country—’

Ryan interrupted. ‘I don’t care,’ he blurted. ‘I can handle Russia. My dad was Russian. I speak the language.’

‘But what if you arrive and Natalka’s got a boyfriend?’ Ning continued. ‘What if she’s got a drug problem? What if she’s about to get sent back to prison?’

‘I don’t give one shit,’ Ryan shouted back. ‘I’ve kissed girls on campus, but all I think about when I’m with them is that they’re not Natalka. When I was with her, it was like we were one person. I haven’t seen her for three years, but I still think about her. Wondering where she is, what she’s doing, if she’s happy or sad. If she still thinks about me.’

‘But what are the odds this will work out?’ Ning asked. ‘What if you come back with another broken heart?’

Tears welled in Ryan’s eyes. ‘Maybe she’ll break my heart. But even if the odds it’ll work out were a million to one, I’d still want to find her and ask.’