He said, ‘What are you talking about?’

  ‘You know exactly what I’m talking about.’

  ‘Feel free to enlighten me.’

  ‘Where are you?’

  ‘Not home.’

  ‘I know that. You shook off the tail.’

  Slater bristled at the confirmation. It proved he was dealing with people who knew what they were doing. It would have taken an expert to recognise the right time to back off and avoid getting caught in the traps he’d set. In the past he’d ensnared many experienced trackers with the same movements.

  He said, ‘Cut the bullshit. You know me. You know where I am.’

  ‘Jiu-jitsu at the Gracie gym, or practice at the shooting range, or running in Central Park, or rendezvousing with Alexis. Those seem to be the only things you do.’

  ‘The latter.’

  ‘Why are you telling me? I didn’t expect you to.’

  ‘Because you’re out of position, and if I wanted to leave right now, I could. You’d never find me.’

  ‘Want to bet?’

  ‘Obviously. It’s the ultimate bet, isn’t it? Life or death.’

  ‘I’m not going to kill you.’

  ‘I know. You couldn’t. But you might task a team to try.’

  ‘You got resources? As far as I can tell, you’re dead in the water.’

  ‘Yes,’ Slater said. ‘I have resources.’

  ‘We know all your passports.’

  ‘You think I only have the ones you gave me? You think I couldn’t get more? What do you think I did when I was a wanted man?’

  She said, ‘I could send your picture to every airport in the country within minutes.’

  ‘Then I’ll go for a long drive. It’ll take me about two days to change my appearance enough to breeze through.’

  ‘Your girlfriend’s identity will be burned.’

  ‘I’ve already got her a new one.’

  ‘But that doesn’t erase the past,’ Violetta said. ‘Her parents are in the UK, but they’re still traceable.’

  Slater went so quiet he couldn’t even hear himself breathe.

  Violetta noticed.

  She said, ‘Will?’

  ‘I was playing your little game,’ he said. ‘But if you even think about touching her family, I’ll fucking destroy you. You know I will.’

  He’d never used that tone with her.

  It rendered her speechless.

  In the loft, Slater heard the creak of floorboards. He looked up to see Alexis staring at him, shock on her face. She’d never heard it either. The tone of a cold-blooded killer.

  The tone of a savage.

  The tone of someone speaking the absolute truth.

  ‘Now what do you want?’ he growled.

  ‘Get back here. Let’s not resort to anything irrational.’

  ‘You’d better give me a reason.’

  ‘The reason is that I’ve accepted your retirement, and I want to discuss the terms with you. Is that good enough for you?’

  He paused. ‘What terms?’

  ‘That’s not something I’m at liberty to discuss over the phone.’

  ‘You’d better.’

  ‘Or what? You’ll run? Even after what I just told you? That would be an incredibly stupid decision.’

  He made to respond, but she cut him off.

  ‘That’s it,’ she said. ‘There’s nothing left to discuss. Get back here. It’s in your best interests.’

  The line went dead.

  Slater kept the phone pressed to his ear. Indecision plagued him.

  You’ll run?

  That would be an incredibly stupid decision.

  She was right.

  He looked up at Alexis. ‘I need to go back.’

  ‘It might be a trap.’

  ‘Maybe. But Violetta still reached out. That’s all I was looking for. A swift answer. It seems like I’ve got it.’

  ‘What did she say?’

  ‘That she’s accepted my retirement.’

  ‘Those exact words?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Then it’s a trap.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Because it’s not up to her.’

  ‘They know I’m here,’ Slater said.

  ‘Because you told them.’

  ‘No point hiding it. Where else would I be?’

  Alexis lapsed into silence. ‘Maybe me being the only personal thing in your life wasn’t for the best. It made you predictable.’

  Slater nodded.

  He said, ‘I have no choice.’

  ‘What if they kill you?’

  ‘You’re safe,’ he said. ‘No matter what happens to me. But they won’t kill me. I promise.’

  She descended the stairs two at a time and came to him. He held her, and she buried her head against his shoulder. He thought he heard her stifle a sob. She wouldn’t let it show. She had the heart of a lioness.

  She said, ‘How can you be sure?’

  ‘Because I wouldn’t sit back and let them do it. I’d put up a fight, and they don’t want that in the heart of Manhattan. Because I’d tear this city to the ground to defend myself. That’s why.’

  She wasn’t one to let emotions overwhelm her, but when she stepped away from him she was pale. She wasn’t blinking. Her eyes were wide.

  He reached out and touched her cheek. ‘I’ll be fine.’

  ‘Caring about you is so fucking stressful,’ she bemoaned.

  He smirked. ‘Now imagine being me.’

  Before she could highlight the ridiculousness of cracking jokes, he went to the door and opened it.

  He looked back.

  ‘I’ll be okay. Trust me. I’m not going to roll over. Do you still have your taser?’

  ‘Yes.’

  He said, ‘Anyone comes through this door that isn’t me … use it.’

  She bit her lower lip and nodded.

  Holding back tears with every ounce of willpower she had.

  He closed the door behind him, and he knew, in the isolation of the empty loft, she would finally be letting them out.

  32

  After such a mentally exhausting day, King was satisfied with the training he’d put in, so he rid himself of guilt as he poured a couple of fingers of whiskey into a crystal tumbler.

  There was no changing the past. Tomorrow, he’d go and apologise to Maurice. He’d admit his wrongdoing. There was no point posturing. Winning a pointless victory by arguing his case achieved nothing. There were endless excuses he could provide. His head wasn’t in the right place, there was too much stress at work, his closest friend might be running away for good…

  All beside the point.

  He’d been rash and reckless and impulsive within the walls of an esteemed jiu-jitsu gym, and that was all there was to it. The reasons why were beside the point. All he could do was ask himself, Where should I go from here?

  It took a weight off his shoulders. It would be easy to find another gym, but there was more to it than that. Brazilian jiu-jitsu was a martial art founded on the principles of respect and humility. He’d do good to be humble, and it gave him peace.

  Then Violetta unlocked his front door and appeared in the hallway.

  He cradled the tumbler, raised it to his lips, and took a sip as he looked her up and down. She was dishevelled, her blonde hair frazzled, her eyes hollow with stress. She’d applied a touch of eyeliner half-heartedly, and then seemingly given up on the rest of her usual makeup routine.

  No matter how draining his day had been, in a single glance he knew hers had been worse.

  They kept looking at each other.

  King said, ‘Do you want to talk about it?’

  Her lower lip quivered.

  She said, ‘I need to speak to Will.’

  ‘I know.’

  ‘He’s not back yet. Can I wait here?’

  ‘Of course. You know this is just as much your home as it is mine… why are you even asking?’

  Her gaze lingered on his. ‘Because I’m not giving Slater good news.’

  ‘How is that my problem?’

  She let his question hang in the air, highlighting its ridiculousness.

  Of course it’s my problem, King thought. We’re a duo. A unit. We work together. We live side by side.

  We’re brothers.

  She said, ‘You don’t really mean that.’

  ‘He’s his own man. He makes his own decisions. If he wants to run, then that’s a burden he’s going to have to bear.’

  ‘It sounds like you’re just trying to convince yourself.’

  ‘Maybe I am.’

  She didn’t take her eyes off him. ‘You know what this means, right?’

  He raised an eyebrow.

  She said, ‘What if you ever want out? What if I do?’

  ‘Then we won’t go about it as haphazardly as Slater.’

  ‘How, exactly?’ she said. ‘He came. He asked. I passed it up the chain. I got a firm answer. How can we make it any less haphazard than that?’

  King said, ‘You need to think things through. I don’t like what you’re suggesting here.’

  She shook her head. ‘I’m not suggesting anything. I just … need to talk to Will.’

  ‘He’ll come back.’

  ‘Did you know he was gone? He and Alexis … they were going to run. Tonight.’

  King shrugged. ‘But you told him to come back. And he respects you. So he will.’

  The faintest echo of a noise came from the hallway.

  Violetta put her hands on her hips and sighed. ‘I hope this goes alright.’

  ‘What are you going to tell him?’

  ‘I said yes. My superiors didn’t.’ She paused — not to intentionally dramatise, but it had the effect regardless. ‘They want to meet with him.’

  King froze with the tumbler in his hand.

  He said, ‘They’ve never done that before. For either of us.’

  ‘There’s a first time for everything.’

  ‘That doesn’t sound promising.’

  ‘It’s not,’ she said. ‘It’s bad.’

  Her eyes stayed unblinking.

  She said, ‘They’ve never got involved before. I…’

  She trailed off.

  He said, ‘Tell me.’

  ‘I don’t even know them. I have a contact, like a middleman. He passes information back and forth.’

  ‘That sounds awfully complicated.’

  ‘It’s the deniability system for an entire country’s black ops.’

  King paused, then shrugged. ‘You’re right. I guess it needs to be complicated.’

  They both went quiet, listening for the sound of Slater at his front door.

  They heard nothing.

  Violetta waited a few beats, then suspicion clouded her features. She turned and threw the door open and took a long look in either direction. She looked back over her shoulder, evidently having come up empty-handed. ‘You heard the elevator, too, right?’

  King nodded.

  She said, ‘He changed his mind, then. He’s gone.’

  A reflexive twitch hammered home.

  King said, ‘Or it wasn’t him.’

  He crossed to the kitchen island, ripped a Sig Sauer handgun from an unremarkable drawer previously locked with a fingerprint scanner, and stormed straight past her.

  ‘Jason,’ she said.

  He barrelled out into the hallway, opting for offence over defence, and there he froze.

  Gun raised.

  Mind sharp.

  The seconds ticked by.

  They turned to minutes.

  Nothing.

  Then something buzzed in Violetta’s pocket, back inside the penthouse.

  King turned back to her, lowering his guard, and saw her staring guardedly at the illuminated screen of her phone.

  She looked up.

  ‘It’s him,’ she said.

  33

  At street level, concealed amidst the pedestrians on the sidewalk outside his tower, Slater pressed the phone to his ear.

  Violetta answered and said, ‘Got cold feet?’

  ‘How do I know you’re not going to put a bullet in my head when I step through the doorway?’

  ‘There’s no one here. It’s just me. And King.’

  ‘That’s what I’m worried about.’

  ‘He’s not a threat to you.’

  Slater turned his emotions to steel. ‘I know that. That’s not my worry. I’ve fought him twice. I won both times. But I don’t want him as my enemy. Neither of us deserve to be enemies.’

  ‘You’re paranoid,’ Violetta said. ‘He doesn’t even know what I’m going to tell you.’

  ‘Come downstairs.’

  ‘You need to come back here eventually. Why bother drawing this out?’

  ‘I sure don’t.’

  ‘You didn’t leave with a bag. Earlier tonight.’

  ‘I don’t need a bag.’

  He thought he heard her give a soft grunt of understanding. ‘You’ve never needed anything but the clothes on your back, right?’

  ‘Right.’

  ‘It’s impressive,’ she said. ‘But we need to talk upstairs. Trust me.’

  ‘Don’t take it personally if I don’t trust you right now.’

  She said, ‘So it’s a stalemate, then?’

  ‘Staten Island,’ he said. ‘The St. George neighbourhood. I’ll meet you there.’

  She made to respond, as if she was going to say, No way. Then she paused, and instead said, ‘Why there?’

  ‘Because it’s dodgy as hell, and you don’t know your way around it, so anyone you scramble to send will stand out like they’ve got a flashing light above their head.’

  She drew in air, a sharp inhalation. ‘Will, I can’t.’

  ‘I’m telling you to. Or I’m gone.’

  She fell quiet for a solid ten seconds. He didn’t fill the silence with unnecessary chatter. He let her think.

  Then she said, ‘Alright. Fine. You’ve forced my hand.’

  ‘And what hand might that be?’

  ‘I called you up here to do you a favour and give you an explanation. But, frankly, there’s no time left.’

  He tensed up.

  She said, ‘So I’m going to have to tell you over the phone. Because I just got word that they’re here.’

  ‘Who’s here?’

  ‘My employers.’

  ‘Who are they?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘That’s the honest truth. But they’re not happy.’

  ‘I didn’t expect them to be.’

  ‘They want to speak to you.’

  ‘So give them my number.’

  ‘No,’ she said. ‘Not like that.’

  Slater sensed foreign movement behind him, and whirled out of instinct, hand flying to the concealed Glock at his waist. Ready to rip the gun free and engage in a shootout in the middle of civilised Manhattan, if that’s what it came to.

  But the reality wasn’t as immediately threatening. An unmarked black Navigator — a big no-nonsense SUV — had whispered to the kerb out the front of his building.

  The rear door swung open from the inside.

  Exposing a dark, gaping hole.

  Through the phone, Violetta said, ‘Get in.’

  ‘And if I don’t?’

  ‘Then it’s out of my hands.’

  He stood motionless, the phone pressed to his ear. Civilians flowed past, oblivious to the standoff unfolding nearby.

  She said, ‘I’m trying to help you, Will. I told you to trust me. But don’t trust them. Not for a moment.’

  He said, ‘Am I going to make it out of this alive?’

  ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘They only want to talk.’

  ‘Is that what they told you?’

  She went quiet.

  He said, ‘You said it yourself. You don’t know who they are.’

  He stared into the shadows of the Navigator’s interior.

  He said, ‘So really, you have no idea what they’ll do.’

  She said, ‘Go with them, Will.’

  ‘Do I have another choice?’

  ‘Not anymore.’

  His insides crumbled.

  She said, ‘They have eyes on you now. You’re in their crosshairs. Get in the car.’

  He hung up.

  She couldn’t help him anymore.

  The dark rear seats beckoned.

  He could run left or right. But they’d hit him. No question.

  And, realistically, he’d only endanger innocent lives.

  Checkmate.

  He stepped down off the sidewalk and got in the car.

  34

  King said, ‘They won’t kill him.’

  Violetta had lowered the phone seconds earlier, distraught. She seemed genuinely affected by Slater’s predicament. He could tell she wanted the best for him.

  She said, ‘How can you know that?’

  ‘Because if they do, I’ll be angry,’ he said. ‘Beyond angry. And they know how close we are. It won’t be worth felling us both.’

  ‘They couldn’t fell you both if they tried.’

  ‘Exactly.’

  Violetta paused, looking past him, out the window. Ruminating.

  She said, ‘You’d do that for him?’

  ‘Why wouldn’t I?’

  ‘You two aren’t happy with each other. I can tell.’

  ‘Which is nonsense, in the big picture. He’s my closest ally. We’re going to disagree. In fact, we do it all the time. But what we have runs beneath that. That’s why I went to Moscow. That’s why I went alone. For him.’

  Her face fell.

  Out of nowhere.

  Like she’d just realised something else.

  ‘What?’ he said.

  ‘There’s something else I came to talk about. It’s urgent.’

  ‘As urgent as this?’

  She nodded.

  He sighed. ‘If it has to do with work…’

  ‘It does.’

  ‘Violetta,’ he said. ‘Slater’s life is hanging in the balance. You think I care about—?’

  ‘You should,’ she said. ‘Slater should be a separate issue entirely. Especially seeing what I’m about to tell you came from your own tip.’

  ‘My tip?’

  ‘Donati Group,’ she said. ‘What you told us to investigate. We investigated. We found something.’

  He froze. ‘Really? I thought that’d be the last thing on your mind.’