Drummond nodded. ‘I agree, but it’s a start. And while we wait to see what else can be done I strongly suggest that you tell your wives, husbands and partners to be on their guard and to report anything that strikes them as suspicious.’

It wasn’t what I’d been hoping to hear, but it was what I’d expected. The issue of protection would have to be decided at the highest level and after a whole range of factors had been considered.

The Met did not have access to unlimited resources and manpower. Staffing levels were at their lowest for years and detective numbers had fallen dramatically. Plus, hundreds of officers were already involved in protection and surveillance duties as part of the severe terror alert that was in place across the country. Drummond had said earlier that we couldn’t expect every one of us to be given twenty-four hour protection. There were nineteen detectives on the task force, now that Prentiss wasn’t included, and the number of family members and friends who had received the death threat totalled twenty-eight. Personal round-the-clock protection for all of us would require at least 250 officers working to a rota.

The sheer scale of such an operation, on top of everything else that was going on, was mind-blowing.

25

Rosa

She woke to the soft touch of Alice’s fingers between her legs.

‘I thought that would stir you,’ Alice said. ‘I was hoping we could have a little play before we both have to get up and go to work.’

Rosa was on her back. She turned to look at the face of the woman she was sharing the bed with. Alice Green, she’d said her name was, and she’d turned out to be a real star performer between the sheets.

In the early morning light coming through the windows she looked as good as she had the night before. Eyes wide and innocent. Lips enticingly moist. Skin so soft and clear that you just wanted to lick it.

She was everything that Rosa found desirable in a woman. It was no wonder the sex had been so good. So delicious.

‘I’ve been awake for ages just staring at you,’ Alice said. ‘My God you’re so beautiful. I can’t believe I struck so lucky last night.’

‘I’m the lucky one,’ Rosa said. ‘If the taxi driver hadn’t recommended that particular club I would never have met you.’

The memories came flooding back. Leaving the club. The cab ride to the apartment building close to Hyde Park. Undressing each other the moment they entered Alice’s luxurious apartment. Then falling on the king-size bed. Kissing. Sucking. Stroking. Licking. Probing. Going at it with total abandon.