‘I know what you wanted, girl,’ he said, unpleasantly. ‘You say it right here, in this bloody silly briefing note. You’ve asked to requisition the house near the Heath. Three operatives. Full de-brief, finder’s fee. You go to the trouble of costing the whole endeavour, all so that we have the honour of telling our friends in Washington that we’d really rather they stopped being so chummy with the good general as his soldiers are being beastly to the Mayans. Good God, I know Walt Renwick was a bit of a father figure to you, but it’s like the silly little man never got his marching orders. This has the whiff of him all over it. You shouldn’t even have Central American contacts, let alone be fiddling around making operational, nay political, suggestions. I did promise myself I wouldn’t read the riot act but you do have one of the most slappable of faces, regardless of how pretty it might be.’

I think it was that last little bit that made up my mind for me. I’ve been told plenty times in life that there’s something objectionable about the way I hold my lip. There’s something about me that makes a certain type of man ball his fists. He really did look as though he thought that giving me a crack in the mouth would serve me well, as if I was a hysterical woman in a movie who needed two brisk slaps across the cheeks. I swallowed it all down. Made my decision without even registering that I had moved from one mental position to another. I’d proceed with what I knew to be right, and damn the bloody consequences.

‘Chain of command,’ laughed Walt, in my ear, over the crunch and sizzle of the traffic. ‘If you’d only gone straight to the top … I still have some friends, some clout …’

I didn’t contradict him. If it were true, he wouldn’t have come to me. If he had any way of getting in touch with the top table, he wouldn’t have needed an ally inside the Service.

‘I’ve taken steps,’ I said, quietly. ‘I have a place. Your source – they can stay out of the way until I’ve got my thoughts in order. I know Talbot isn’t going to bend but your Joe deserves better than to be sent packing without so much as a handshake or a pocket watch. I have a horrible feeling I’ve stirred the wasp nest. You’d have been better served if you’d never involved me.’

‘The house in the north, I presume,’ said Walt, silkily. ‘If they do get wind of what you’re up to it won’t take them more than a couple of metal jumps to work out where you might be hiding.’