Chapter 23

Michael

The kitchen seems as good a place as any to wait. Given the endless supply of tea and coffee needed,
why go anywhere else?

Charlotte sits by the fire. “It’s going to feel funny having a brother for Cara.”

“Not exactly a brother,” says her mother. Mitch is on a knitting spree again, this time, a small blue hat.

Charlotte ponders. “True, but Adam will feel like a brother, won’t he.”

James puts a bottle of Cava in the fridge. “Something to celebrate with,” he says.

“We’ll need more than one…” I say... “… And… it’s Richard we’re talking about. I’ll pop across to the
hotel and get some champagne.” He opens his mouth to protest and I hold up warding hands. “I know,
it’s the same, but Richard would prefer it. And it’s his and Beth’s day. Why don’t you make sure we
have plenty of ice for the bucket.”

“You’re right.” James lifts the lid of the freezer, rummaging inside.

“…Then you could make a pot of tea to take upstairs. If you give Richard any more coffee, they’ll be
scraping him off the ceiling.”

James tugs out a bag of ice cubes. “Yes, there’s plenty.” He sucks at his cheeks. “Never thought I’d be
so nervous on behalf of someone’s else’s child being born.”

Mitch lays her knitting on her lap. “Scared someone might think you have a heart, James?”

He awards her a basilisk stare, but she simply chuckles and lifts her needles again, counting under her
breath.



James draws a breath, heading for the hob. “So, who wants tea? Who wants cof…”

And from beyond the door, drifting from the upper floor, the wail of new lungs being tested out for the
first time.

*****

 

Klempner

I tap and wait. The answer’s a little slower in coming than usual…

Timezone?

Ah, yes… Early morning there. Perhaps I’ve rung too early…

But as I’m about to ring off, the line clicks and connects. “Good morning, sir.” Hickman’s tone is polite
but sleepy.

“My apologies, Hickman, I wasn’t thinking. I should have rung later.”

“That’s fine, sir. I was already out of bed. You caught me making coffee.” A pause and a gulping sound
testify to his words.

“How are things over there, Hickman? Everything alright?”

“Absolutely fine, sir. There’s not a murmur of anything amiss. If there had been, naturally I would have
contacted you immediately.”

“Mitch?”



“I’d say Miss Kimberley is missing you, sir. She spends a lot of time staring into space and fiddling with
your ring.”

“And my daughter and granddaughter?”

“Mother and baby both doing well, sir… Sir, don’t you think you should speak to your family directly?”

“No. I don’t need any complications right now. I have a job to do and no distractions. We can talk when
I get back…”

“But Miss Kimberley…”

“… I waited twenty years for her, Hickman. I can handle a few months more. So long as she’s well,
that’s all that matters.”

“Very good, sir. Are you making any progress? Have you found Juliana Diaz?”

“Yes, but it’s not a simple as that. She’s going under the name of Sola, or Solana. And she’s running
some kind of organisation… Or at least, she’s the power behind the organisation. I need to find out
what. There’s no point me simply cutting the head off the snake to find there’s a whole nest of them.”

“Be very careful, sir. The woman is dangerous.”

My hackles rise. “And I’m not?”

There’s a silence for several seconds, then another gulping sound. “It is quite clear, sir, that Diaz… if
that is her name… has been planning this for years. Given her performance with Baxter and others, it is
equally clear that she is intelligent, organised and vindictive. If she passed through your hands in your
trafficking days, then she’s proved herself to be a survivor too.”



“I think my sense of survival is more finely tuned than she is. Hickman, I need you to get some
information for me…

*****


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