He put his finger in his free ear, tried to listen for background noise on the call.

‘Are you going to follow her around for the rest of her life, hope she avoids the same fate as her father? Or the fate of the Marshal? You think about that, now. You think about who’s dead. Don’t you think it shows a certain lack of inhibition? And how are you of any use if you can’t say the same about yourself?’

Vincent said, ‘Delroy, how you doing? How long did it take you to write that little speech?’

‘You sound very sure of yourself. I guess we’ll find out if that’s a good attitude soon enough.’

Vincent said, ‘How much does Gutierrez charge for a hit on a federal agent?’

Silence for a moment. Maybe Andre had kept Locke’s murder to himself.

Then the voice said, ‘Why don’t you try just listening for a second? I told the Jones woman there’s an easy fix for all of this. I’m out thirty million dollars, and I figure she’s good for it. She can pay. I told her that last night when I called, and I hope she’s taken it seriously. But this is how it’s going to work: she can pay the money, or she needs to keep you real close for a long, long time. And trust that you’re always looking out for her and the boy. Trust that you’re not having an off day, I mean.’

‘Don’t worry. I’ll be on guard duty for as long as necessary.’

‘Well, you’re a treasure, aren’t you?’

Vincent said, ‘And who’s looking out for you? I’m definitely coming for a visit.’

‘I think I’ll be all right.’

Vincent said, ‘Have you forgotten who you’re talking to? I’m the guy who survived. You sent gunmen to Lamar’s house, and I’m the one who killed them. So, Delroy? Why do you think I’m going to have a hard time against a geriatric house servant?’

He ended the call and walked back to his position by the scaffold. The blood pounding in his head was louder than Erin talking. He knew now that he would do anything to keep her safe. He breathed carefully, trying to slow his pulse. His utility would be compromised if he had a stroke. She was winding up an explanation about how intention is almost everything when it comes to ethics, and so while the amount of US collateral damage might be high, you only need to perform a role reversal, and put the head of ISIS in the job of US president to make the moral high ground evident: a swap of that nature would put the world in a far, far worse state.