On the other side of the city, Benyamin was meeting Sakina, waiting for word that everything had gone according to plan, oblivious to the disaster that was unfolding. He was furious that Jia had refused to let him go along. She had made up some bullshit about needing someone she could trust on the outside in case something went wrong, but he knew she was being overprotective again. She didn’t trust him to keep his nerve. She didn’t get that he wasn’t the kid brother she’d abandoned so many years ago.

‘Can I say something?’ said Sakina. Benyamin nodded. ‘This is never going to end for you.’

Smart, unafraid to do what needed to be done, she reminded him of his sister. He respected her, maybe even cared about her a little. He had no idea what this thing between them was, or what it would become, but in among the chaos that was life, she steadied him.

‘Why?’ he said.

‘Because you’re fighting with people who don’t exist any more.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Who are you angry with? Your sister, right? But Jia as she is now, or the Jia who left you behind? Because she’s here now, and she has been for some time. When it matters, she is here.’

Dressed in his favourite leather jacket, Benyamin looked the picture of health. His hair jet black and styled to perfection, his cheekbones chiselled, he could have been an Instagram influencer. Hours of physio and days spent at the athletics track meant he had regained his strength fast. The only physical trace of his ordeal with Nowak was a single scar which cut his left eyebrow in two. The scar ran deeper than anyone knew, down into the recesses of his mind where it had begun to fester. The truth was, he had been carrying all this anger around with him even before Nowak, and he was tired. It was time to put this burden down, to pour out the contents of his head in front of Jia, but he didn’t know how. He was hoping Sakina could offer advice.