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Triple Cross

Tom Bradby
Contents ( 37)
  1. Contents
  2. Prologue
  3. 1
  4. 2
  5. 3
  6. 4
  7. 5
  8. 6
  9. 7
  10. 8
  11. 9
  12. 10
  13. 11
  14. 12
  15. 13
  16. 14
  17. 15
  18. 16
  19. 17
  20. 18
  21. 19
  22. 20
  23. 21
  24. 22
  25. 23
  26. 24
  27. 25
  28. 26
  29. 27
  30. 28
  31. 29
  32. 30
  33. 31
  34. 32
  35. 33
  36. Epilogue
  37. Acknowledgements

Also by Tom Bradby

Shadow Dancer

The Sleep of the Dead

The Master of Rain

The White Russian

The God of Chaos

Blood Money

Secret Service

Double Agent

TRIPLE
CROSS

A KATE HENDERSON NOVEL

TOM BRADBY

Atlantic Monthly Press

New York

Copyright © 2021 by Master of Rain Ltd

Jacket design by Alex Camlin

Jacket photographs: woman © Yuliia Vereshchaka/EyeEm/Getty;

London cityscape © Sergey Borisov/Alamy Stock Photo

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review. Scanning, uploading, and electronic distribution of this book or the facilitation of such without the permission of the publisher is prohibited. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated. Any member of educational institutions wishing to photocopy part or all of the work for classroom use, or anthology, should send inquiries to Grove Atlantic, 154 West 14th Street, New York, NY 10011 or [email protected].

First published in Great Britain in 2021 by Bantam Press, an imprint of Transworld Publishers

First Grove Atlantic edition: September 2021

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data available for this title.

Typeset in 11.5/16pt Palatino LT Std by Jouve (UK), Milton Keynes

ISBN 978-0-8021-5921-2

eISBN 978-0-8021-5922-9

Atlantic Monthly Press

an imprint of Grove Atlantic

154 West 14th Street

New York, NY 10011

Distributed by Publishers Group West

groveatlantic.com

To Claudia, Jack, Louisa and Sam.

Contents

  1. prologue
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. 7
  9. 8
  10. 9
  11. 10
  12. 11
  13. 12
  14. 13
  15. 14
  16. 15
  17. 16
  18. 17
  19. 18
  20. 19
  21. 20
  22. 21
  23. 22
  24. 23
  25. 24
  26. 25
  27. 26
  28. 27
  29. 28
  30. 29
  31. 30
  32. 31
  33. 32
  34. 33
  35. Epilogue
  36. Acknowledgements

Prologue

NOW KATE HENDERSON was sure. She had seen the clean-shaven man with faded jeans, olive T-shirt and fawn trainers while she waited in line at the butcher’s shop on the square. And the woman with dark glasses, a lime sundress and what looked like a blue Chloé handbag had been paying for parking just in front of them when they arrived in the centre of town an hour ago.

Kate put down the giant aubergines she was about to buy, nodded regretfully at the wizened Frenchman behind the trestle table and wandered nonchalantly back along the market stalls until she was standing beneath the entrance to the Grand Cathedral, the Église Notre Dame de Bergerac. She glanced up at the clock and wove her way across the road and into the pedestrian zone beyond.

It was the kind of day the South of France had been invented for, perhaps 23 or 24 degrees in the sun, and she was grateful for the patches of shade as she turned left and wandered along a side street, gazing unhurriedly into the shop windows. She went into a store selling the most expensive stationery she’d ever seen and spent a few minutes trying out fountain pens at the counter.