I shook my head. ‘He didn’t deserve to go like that. Ambushed by a group of chickenshit Ghosts.’

I hoped it was fast. It was a painful waste of a good man.

‘He would’ve been a great Rat. He was a great Rat. Jake and I were idiots trying to hold him back, trying to keep him safe. Now look what’s happened. We lost him on our watch.’

‘You can’t blame yourselves. Robin knew what the job entailed. The risk he was putting himself in.’

There were a loud couple of shots from Peng’s hide. We dropped hands and leaned forward, guns raised. I heard laughter and Peng shouting, ‘Missed!’ A few ducks flew straight past us. Neither of us fired.

We stayed in position. But everything was quiet.

No ducks. No Coyote.

Just us with guns poised.

More waiting.

More loaded silence.

Frederick turned to me. ‘How’s your injury from the other night?’

‘It’s fine.’ He didn’t need to know about the steady flow of painkillers I was on to keep the aching at bay.

‘How do you hide things like that from your husband?’

I shrugged. ‘It’s easier than you think. He reckons I’m pretty dangerous on a bike as I seem to fall off a lot. When I was last shot we covered it up as a hit and run.’ I felt for the scar at the base of my neck. ‘Blamed the wound on me landing on a jagged piece of cracked windscreen.’

‘You’ve never been tempted to tell him the truth?’ Frederick paused. ‘Well, not the full truth.’ He understood exactly what Eight’s security protocols entailed. ‘But at least an indication of what your job really entails?’

I shook my head. ‘It’s too risky.’

‘It could be a good thing. Knowing what you do might make him love you even more. Make him in awe of your bravery. Of just how incredible you are to do what you do’.

I bit my lip. ‘I don’t think he’d see it that way.’ I didn’t want to add, ‘But it’s good that you do.’

Three shots were fired in the distance. A few shouts followed by murmurs and laughter.

A loud horn sounded, signalling the end of this round of shooting for entertainment. The ducks had fared better than the pheasants.

Peng and her two companions set off back towards the house. The bodyguard followed. I motioned to Frederick and we fanned out either side of them. It was a change being able to guard a subject with a gun in my hands rather than hidden in a holster.

*