‘My boss just dumped on me from a great height,’ Kerry said, her voice all high and stressed. ‘There’s a mistake in a contract I’m working on. Two hundred pages and I’ve got to go through marking up all the mistakes before the lawyer comes in tomorrow. So I’m sorry, but there’s no way I can meet you for lunch today.’

James sighed, but wasn’t surprised. He rarely stayed with Kerry in London during the week, because it was all work and sleep.

‘So how was your meeting?’ Kerry asked, and then she sounded angry after he’d explained. ‘You agreed to do what! Are you nuts?’

James had no way of knowing who was outside the toilet cubicle, so he spoke in a whisper. ‘It was so much pressure,’ he admitted. ‘My boss, a full colonel covered in medals, the intelligence minister, the deputy prime minister. All smiling at me and I’m like, OK, yes sir, I’ll do it, sir.’

‘Islamic State chop people’s heads off,’ Kerry said. ‘This is no CHERUB mission. This is off the chart dangerous.’

‘You think I should pull out?’ James said.

Kerry’s voice calmed down. ‘Only if you really want to.’

‘Are you pissed off at me?’

Kerry sighed. ‘If I sounded that way, it’s because I was shocked. But I’ll support you if this is what you really want.’

‘I want to help those guys,’ James said. ‘But if I get this wrong, people will die.’

‘Then you’ve got to build the best team you can,’ Kerry said. ‘Plan carefully, get good advice and good people working with you.’

‘Do you think I’m a lightning rod?’ James asked. ‘Like, nobody senior will take this on because if it goes wrong it’s a career killer.’

Kerry laughed slightly. ‘If this goes wrong, your promotion prospects are the least of your concerns.’

‘GRRR!’ James moaned, as he thumped the tissue dispenser. ‘Why didn’t I just say no?’

‘You’re brilliant at your job, James,’ Kerry said. ‘You’re just overwhelmed right now. Once you start breaking the problems down and you’ve got decent people around you—’

James interrupted. ‘Kerry, do you really want to spend your life working sixty-hour weeks going through two-hundred-page contracts with lawyers?’

‘I’m not going to do this forever,’ Kerry said.

‘Quit,’ James urged. ‘You’re smarter than me. If we planned this thing together …’

‘James …’ Kerry said, giggling.

‘You’re only doing the job for the big bucks,’ James said. ‘But who really cares about money?’

Now Kerry sounded a bit pissed off. ‘You only say that because you inherited plenty from your mother.’

‘I’ll look after you.’

‘I want my own career,’ Kerry said. ‘Not your charity … And you’re just saying this stuff because you’re stressed.’