As if Zara could read his mind, she called out, ‘Eric, can you bring me the acid, please?’ She turned to Torvic. ‘A nice try, old man. It was lucky I came to my senses before I actually killed Eric. You failed, Torvic. Your silly idea of turning our firms against each other might have worked if you’d only known me well enough, but you underestimated me. Izzy never did, though. He put me in charge because he knew I was smarter than the likes of you.’ She turned to see Eric entering the room and holding two decanters of acid.

She gave him a generous smile. Their long phone conversation had been a salutary lesson in how to put all their grievances aside and look at each another anew. ‘Thank you,’ she said, as she took one of the glass bottles. ‘How’s your head?’

He smiled back. ‘I’ll live.’

Lance stepped forward and put his arm around Eric’s shoulder. ‘Ya did well, mate, but I think the Boss, here, was just a tad smarter.’

Eric gave Lance a smile. He looked up at the man with whom he’d been only too willing to join forces. Lance had left the SAS ostensibly to retire from the Services, but, actually, he’d been invited to become part of the chain of specialists in the field of covert intelligence. Lance’s brief, sanctioned by COBRA, the cross-departmental committee that comes together to respond to national emergencies, was to act as a conduit – a middle man – and he hired Eric to infiltrate a group led by the Governor.

Although Eric had made a few mistakes and followed wrong leads, he knew that the Governor, whoever he was, would hone in on Zara or his family. The one thing he would die for was his family. He’d hoped that by proving his worth, he could get back in Mike’s good books, although he couldn’t help but still feel jealous. He prayed that one day he would overcome his inferiority complex and become his own person.

Torvic glared, his mind now awash with confusion. How did Lance know Eric? What was the acid for? What were they going to do next? And the biggest question: would they let his precious Tiffany live?

‘Willie, would you cut loose Torvic’s ties? The man is going to need his hands.’

Instantly, Torvic saw a way out. If he could get a grip of Willie and that knife, he could have a hostage and a bargaining tool. Yet, as if the men in the room were telepathic, they all pulled out their guns and released the safety catches. The simultaneous click, click from their guns was so loud in the charged silence. His eyes widened as he watched Zara hold a decanter of acid above Tiffany’s head.