She actually had the audacity to squeeze his bicep. Lea would have words with her later…

  Callum smirked, was obviously flattered. ‘It’s just a shame her dad couldn’t be here too,’ he said.

  Referencing the fact that Lea Torrence’s father had passed away three years ago from a heart attack.

  ‘Come on,’ he said, checking his watch. ‘Let me do a couple of quick intros before we get started.’

  And it was quick, because there were only a small number of people inside the room. If his mum had got her way, she’d have filled this place out three or four times over with friends and cousins and whatevers. Callum hadn’t even invited his brother, although Lea knew there was a lot of tension between the two of them, even if he’d never fully opened up to her about why. Instead it was only his parents, who now lived in Cumbria a few hours’ drive away, and his best man, Ollie, a fellow rugby nut who’d known Callum since they were in their teens, even if they rarely saw each other these days given Ollie had moved to Ireland to be closer to his wife’s family.

  Cosy. And everyone looked so happy, at ease.

  So very nearly perfect, really.

  ‘You ready?’ Callum asked her, and looking into his eyes in that moment, it was so easy to bury every single trouble that bubbled away.

  ‘Yes.’

  She took his hand, and they made their way to the registrar.

  The evening reception in the local town hall had a few more people. Five turned up from ‘BTS’, but with other halves and kids that meant twelve. Pretty much every single person who’d ever been associated with Callum’s rugby club made an appearance as well, which easily took the numbers into the forties, fifties, mostly big, brawny men who guzzled beer like it was the last chance they’d ever get.

  Not a problem to Lea. Even if she’d met barely a quarter of the people who were at her wedding, it was amazing. She couldn’t remember ever being in a room so full of people just living life and happy to be there. Happy for her. And Callum, obviously, but as the bride she really was the belle of the ball, everyone wanting to greet her, congratulate her, compliment her.

  Callum wasn’t holding back. Encouraged by his old teammates he was becoming more and more animated as the alcohol kicked in, the dance floor a rowdy – in a fun way – mess by nightfall. Even Goldman was having a good time. Lea wasn’t sure she’d ever seen her boss smile like this before. Apparently, the man she was chatting to, and had been pretty flirty with for a while now, was Jim, a widower who used to be the manager at Riverdale RFC. Goldman seemed to be forgetting she was actually a happily married woman and not a widow herself.

  Lea broke away from the group on the dance floor and started towards Goldman, only realising then just how wobbly her legs were, how much her head spun.

  Goldman spotted her coming and dropped the flirty pout, looked wary like a teenager caught out by her parents. But then Lea paused, a few steps away from her boss. Because Goldman had glanced to her left to look at the man who’d just walked into the room.

  Denis.

  He nodded to Lea, went straight to the bar.

  Lea carried on to Goldman who moved forward, away from old Jim.

  ‘What the hell is he doing here?’ Lea asked.

  ‘Nothing to do with me,’ Goldman said. ‘But… why wouldn’t he be here?’

  Lea didn’t say anything to that. Just kind of glared at Goldman.

  ‘What?’ her boss challenged.

  ‘Just make sure you… you know. Don’t do anything stupid here.’

  She looked over at Jim who smiled and winked.

  ‘I think I’m old enough, experienced enough to make those kind of calls myself. Don’t you?’ Goldman said.

  Although the words were more than a little slurred, and after she’d finished them, she downed the rest of her glass of champagne and tootled off towards the toilets.

  Lea caught Jim’s eye. He winked at her too.

  She had bigger problems than worrying about her boss canoodling with that guy.

  Although really it wasn’t the idea of Goldman cheating on her husband that bothered her, as much as the fact that the more drunk Goldman got, the more likely it was she’d slip up somehow.

  And now Denis was here.

  Damn, this whole fucking thing was like a ticking time bomb ready to explode.

  Or was that just Lea?

  She went over to the bar, smiles and pats on the shoulder every couple of steps. Denis already had a pint of beer in his hand, standing with his back to the party.

  She stepped up beside him.

  ‘What are you doing here?’ she asked him.

  He downed most of his beer rather than answer.

  ‘Denis, I⁠—’

  ‘Denis? Don’t you want to give me a made-up name instead?’

  ‘If you’ve come here to⁠—’

  ‘What?’ he said, staring at her, challenging.

  ‘Cause trouble.’

  ‘Why would I do that?’

  She didn’t answer.

  ‘Although I am pretty pissed off I didn’t get an invite. After everything we’ve been through together.’

  ‘Yeah. Because today is all about you.’

  He finished his beer and signalled the bartender for another. And Lea could tell the one he’d just had wasn’t his first.

  ‘What are you trying to prove?’ she asked him.

  ‘Why are you talking to me like I’m a problem?’ he asked, genuine bitterness now.

  ‘Denis, it’s not that. But you know how hard this is for me. Because I’ve told you exactly that!’

  ‘You have? I must have forgotten, because I’ve hardly seen you the last six months. I’ve started to wonder if you’re deliberately avoiding me now, making sure we never get assigned on anything together.’

  ‘That’s not true, I⁠—’

  ‘You think me being here jeopardises your big day?’

  ‘It does. Whether that’s your intention or not.’

  Denis grabbed his new beer and glugged it as he looked over at the dance floor. To Callum. Dancing like an overconfident idiot, in all honesty. But a damn happy one.

  ‘I’m still more than a little shocked it’s that guy who made you question everything you are.’

  And she really didn’t like the way he said that.

  ‘You think you’re better than him?’ Lea challenged.

  ‘Doesn’t matter what I think.’

  ‘Actually, it does,’ she said. ‘Because… you’re still one of the most important people in my life. I trust you with my life, Denis. I just wish you’d be happy for me.’

  ‘I am. But don’t forget this impacts me too. Like you say, we still work in the field together. We need to rely on each other, like we have in the past. Can you still do that now that⁠—’

  She put her hand on his. ‘Nothing changes today,’ she said. ‘We’re a team. Same as always.’

  She pulled her hand away again.

  ‘Please, just… let me have this day.’

  He snorted and shook his head with obvious disdain.

  ‘I’m disappointed you think I’d come here to screw things up for you,’ he said.

  She didn’t get a chance to respond before Callum bounded over.

  ‘Hey, princess,’ he said, coming up behind Lea and wrapping his hands around her waist. He nuzzled into her neck and any other time or place, and she would have welcomed his touch so badly.

  ‘Hey,’ she said.

  Callum pulled back and glanced over at Denis and the inevitable eureka moment came.

  ‘Wait. Aren’t you…?’

  ‘I’m Denis.’

  An unsure handshake followed. Unsure on Callum’s part, at least.

  ‘Weren’t you in…?’

  ‘Toulouse? Yeah. Good memory.’

  ‘That… was a while ago, but I’m pretty good at faces,’ Callum said. ‘But… you two didn’t really know each other back then, did you?’

  He directed the question at Lea.

  ‘No,’ she said. ‘We didn’t. But it turned out Denis works for BTS too. That’s why he was there in Toulouse, at the same conference. We’d just never met before. We’ve crossed paths a few times recently.’

  ‘That’s right,’ Denis said, loving every moment of the awkwardness.

  ‘Funny, though,’ Callum said. ‘I’ve not heard Lea mention anything about you since then. And look now. Here you are at my wedding.’

  ‘Ha! Yeah, here I am.’ Denis raised his glass in toast, acting oblivious to Callum’s more hostile tone. ‘To the bride and groom.’

  Neither Lea nor Callum had a glass to raise.

  ‘You know what, though, Callum?’ Denis said.

  ‘What?’

  ‘I’ve heard a lot about you since then. I feel like I’ve known you forever. She never stops yapping about you.’

  Denis laughed. Callum didn’t. He received a tap on his shoulder. His gang wanted him – and Lea – back on the dance floor.

  ‘It’s nice that you came,’ Callum said, ever the gent, before he was whisked away.

  ‘Be there in a sec!’ Lea called out to the group, before she turned back to Denis.

  ‘I don’t think he likes me,’ Denis said, barely hiding his delight.

  She opened her mouth to speak but the chorus of calls from the dance floor stopped her.

  ‘Please, just… stay out of trouble,’ she said to Denis.

  ‘You know me,’ he said, raising his glass again before she was dragged away.

  20

  LEIXOES

  Present day

  It took forever for the cruise ship to dock, for the staff to do whatever the hell it was they had to do before passengers were allowed to disembark for the excursions. Callum hadn’t quite been at the front of the queue, which actually surprised him given how early he’d arrived. Not because he was hoping to get a run on Hinch – although it had crossed his mind a thousand times or so – but because he just wanted off. As soon as possible.

  He and Hinch hadn’t exactly arranged to meet, as he’d simply assumed she’d find him. Which she had, while the boat was still floating towards the dock. They barely spoke a word to each other as they waited.

  Finally, the time came and Callum, Hinch by his side, was walking down the gangway to the dock, enjoying the early-morning salty air.

  His legs felt like jelly for the first few steps when he reached the concrete – not him steadying his sea legs, but because of his continued uncertainty as to what he should do next.

  Nothing. He did absolutely nothing. Just carried on walking, walking until they were on the road outside the port.

  ‘And what’s your plan now, genius?’ Hinch asked, smirking, as though enjoying his discomfort, his indecisiveness, his obvious lack of a clear plan. At least, he had no clear plan now that she was with him.

  He didn’t answer, too busy thinking.

  ‘Are you going to tell me what we’re doing here?’ she asked.

  ‘We need to rent a car. It’s a couple of hours’ drive.’

  ‘Drive where?’

  ‘Into the mountains.’

  It looked like she was going to say something else to that but then didn’t. At least not until she’d obviously had enough of his lack of action.

  ‘Don’t let me stop you,’ she said. ‘We need a car. Why don’t you go find us one?’

  Which meant she was expecting him to put it in his name. Sneaky?

  ‘Don’t you have like a… fake ID or something you could use so it’s not so… obvious?’ he said. ‘The police are looking for me, remember.’

  She laughed. ‘Of course I do. All you had to do was ask.’

  An hour later and she was driving the little Fiat 500 east, away from the coast, and towards the Serra da Lousã mountains. Callum was familiar with the route – at least once out of the city, because had never headed there from the port before – but he’d asked Hinch to drive regardless as he wanted her and her hands occupied. She didn’t question that. But she did question him. A lot.

  ‘Tell me about the bank,’ she said.

  Not the first time she’d asked him, but he’d tried his best to fob her off before.

  ‘What about it?’

  ‘You knew Lea had a safe-deposit box there.’

  ‘Not until yesterday.’

  ‘Then how did you find out?’

  ‘She… I figured it out. I found a receipt. Sort of.’

  ‘A receipt? Who gives a receipt for a safe-deposit box?’

  ‘Not a receipt. A record.’

  ‘You’re not a very convincing liar.’

  ‘I’m not lying! I just…’

  ‘Don’t want to tell the truth? At least not all of it.’

  ‘Look, it’s you people who came to me, suggesting that I must know about Lea’s work. That either she left something with me or at least told me where I could find it.’

  ‘Did she?’

  ‘No! Haven’t you figured that out by now?’

  She didn’t respond.

  ‘But it is possible that… she left some clues.’

  A curious glance over at him.

  ‘Clues? As to where she hid the intel?’

  ‘I don’t know. Clues… They might be deliberate or maybe they’re not at all, and it’s just a trail she left accidentally. I really don’t know.’

  Although he definitely thought it more likely to be deliberate, given the message on the back of that painting, which had to be intended for him. Didn’t it? The amended address too. The fact Lea had reframed that picture in the first place.

  It was all designed for him, surely?

  But why hadn’t she just told him something!

  ‘And?’ Hinch said.

  ‘And what?’

  ‘It felt like you were explaining something to me. And then just decided to quit instead.’

  ‘I found she had that safe-deposit box. I didn’t know about it before. I went to the bank, and⁠—’

  ‘How’d you know the security code for the box?’ He opened his mouth to answer but she beat him to it. ‘Wait. I know. There was a receipt for that too?’

  ‘You’re teasing me,’ he said.

  ‘Am I?’ she said, smiling.

  ‘You think this is funny?’

  He said that without enough ill-feeling to wipe the petty smirk away.

  ‘I figured out the passcode because I know my wife.’

  And he said those words with real belief, even though it was becoming more and more apparent that he didn’t know his wife at all.

  ‘It doesn’t make sense though, does it?’ he said.

  ‘What?’

  ‘That it was empty. Did she… not have time to put in there whatever it was she’d intended to?’

  ‘Possible, isn’t it?’ Hinch said. ‘Perhaps she was intending to leave a trail to what she knew. For you, or whoever else. But never got the chance to finish it. But then…’

  ‘Then what?’

  ‘I don’t believe that, and I’m pretty sure you don’t either.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Because here we are in this tin can car travelling into the mountains in Portugal. So you want to tell me about that? What clue are you following this time?’

  ‘A hunch, not a clue,’ he said, turning to stare out of the window as memories whirled. ‘A wishful hunch.’

  If that even made sense.

  ‘This place means something to you.’

  ‘To us both.’

  ‘Go on?’

  ‘We’ve been here several times. It’s… our happy place.’

  He cringed at his own words but how else to describe it? It’s literally what she’d told him so many times. Faithfully, he’d thought. But maybe not.

  ‘But what is it?’ Hinch asked. ‘Hotel? Villa?’

  ‘A villa. On its own, looking out over the hills, vineyards. It’s serene, peaceful, beautiful.’

  He battled his emotions, trying to stay in control.

  ‘I know this probably doesn’t give much comfort to you right now but… I can see how much she meant to you.’

  Callum didn’t respond.

  ‘But do you really think she would have left something here for you? Why? When?’

  ‘Like I said, it’s a hunch. Just like she told me to go see her parents, although… I didn’t know they were her parents. But that’s how I figured out the bank thing. And last time we were here… it was only a few weeks ago. And the way she told me, that this was the place.’

  Hinch looked really dubious, which only made him doubt himself even more.

  ‘Have you booked it?’ she asked.

  ‘No. I didn’t want to leave a trail. But I did check if it was available. And it is. So it should be empty.’

  ‘And you were going to just break in?’ she asked, making it sound as though she thought the idea was hilarious.

  ‘I hadn’t quite got that far, at least not in terms of the how. But yeah, basically.’

  ‘Lucky you’ve got me here then. Would you believe it’s something I’ve got a lot of experience in?’

  He said nothing to that. In fact, neither of them said anything for a good while, and soon Hinch was winding the car along the twisting roads on a heavy incline to their destination. Finally, she turned a corner, headed on through open gates and onto a yellow dirt track, the white-washed villa, red terracotta roof tiles looking glorious and pristine against the deep blue sky in the near distance.

  ‘Wow,’ Hinch said.

  Callum agreed. Every time he came here, that initial view took his breath away. But this time it also filled him with an almost overwhelming sadness.

  Hinch parked up, shut the engine down. Callum got out first, then paused.

  So quiet up here. Serene. Isolated.

  He’d become way too comfortable in Hinch’s presence on the ride here but now he realised how stupid that might be. Out here, alone, with a spy? A rogue asset? Mercenary? Whatever the hell she was.

  Hinch got out the car too and glanced at him over the roof, obviously realising he was torn about something.

  ‘Are we good?’ she asked.

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘Now wouldn’t be a good time for you to go getting any silly thoughts.’

 

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