So Ava was right when she’d maintained that the contents of the memory stick were the reason Mark had died.

‘There is one difference between the two sets of data,’ Ollie said.

‘What’s that?’

‘There’s a hidden list of contacts embedded in the final material given to you. Together with dates and times when Mark spoke to someone either online or in person.’

‘I never spotted that,’ McNab said.

‘It wasn’t obvious. In fact, it took me until now, and having access to both drives, to discover it.’

McNab knew better than to rush Ollie by demanding to be told what this hidden diary had revealed. Eventually Ollie was ready with his declaration. ‘Mark had a meeting arranged the night he died.’

‘We know that already,’ McNab couldn’t stop himself from saying.

‘That meeting, I suspect, was arranged after he’d met with both you and Ava. However, he did make a note of it on the memory stick he’d left with Abu-Zar to give to you . . . should anything happen to him.’

Which suggested that Mark didn’t trust the person he’d arranged to meet.

‘Who was it?’ McNab said.

Ollie’s expression was a mix of concern and distaste. ‘He says it was a Met officer.’

‘The name?’ McNab demanded.

‘That’s just it. There isn’t one. Just a time and a location.’

79

Sitting in here, Ava could still feel the power of Mark’s presence. It was as though he had merely left the room to fetch a refill of coffee or select a favourite sweet cake from the cafe counter.

It reminded her too of their apartment in Kabul. Above her, in the main household, food was being prepared, the scents of which transported her back to their time in Afghanistan.

Then, danger had been always present, heightening their desire to live, and to love.

Firash had taken Nadia upstairs. As well as the aromatic scents wafting down, there was also the sound of music, chatter and laughter. It was difficult to imagine how long a time it had been since Nadia had been free to enjoy such things.

Extracting her laptop from her bag, Ava set up her own centre of operations where Mark’s had been. Her mobile she kept switched off; a sequence of burner phones would be what she would use from now, until she’d deemed the job complete.

Her first task was to speak to her brother. By now Erling would have visited Dougie to tell him of their disappearance. Dougie would be anxious to know if they’d arrived safely at their destination.

A text would have sufficed when they’d finally got here, but Ava wanted to hear his voice, and for him to hear hers.

After all, they only had each other now.