It had been a long night for Kreeg Eszu. Having followed Rupert Forbes’s car down from London, he surreptitiously observed Atlas Tanit and his pretty girlfriend check in to the Voyager Hotel, then enjoy a shopping trip around the town. He watched the couple as they sat together on the dock, and Atlas had carefully drawn the girl, clearly suffused with love. Afterwards, the pair had returned to the hotel, and Kreeg positioned himself on a bench by the seafront, no more than five hundred feet from the Voyager’s entrance.

He had sat there all night.

It was clear that the pair were planning to take a passage to Australia when the RMS Orient departed in a few hours’ time. The long night had given Eszu time to consider his options. In truth, he had not expected to come across Tanit so easily. For one thing, he hadn’t bothered to use an alias for his surname. How oddly careless of him.

In truth, Kreeg hadn’t even been actively searching for his foe, instead dedicating his time to wooing the White princess and blending into his new city. But fate had played its part – as it always seemed to when it came to Atlas – and their paths had crossed again sooner than expected.

For so many years, Kreeg had dreamt of seeing the light leave Atlas’s eyes, his own face reflected in them. But during the war, he had witnessed so much death. Life after life had simply been extinguished in front of him, with men falling like dominos. At times, he had been jealous of those who had perished. They were at least free of the devastation that surrounded them.

As a result, Kreeg had concluded that, for Atlas, death would not be enough. No, for Tanit, the punishment had to be living. He now longed for his brother to experience the devastation he had endured when his brother had taken his precious mother away. The pain had been . . . was . . . excruciating. And he wanted Atlas to feel it too.

He only hoped that he would have his chance to exact his revenge before Tanit and his woman boarded the RMS Orient . . . If not, he too would be forced to get on the ship and follow them to Australia. He shuddered at the thought.

Tilbury Port began to bustle at approximately nine a.m., at which point Kreeg removed himself from the bench, purchased a newspaper, and positioned himself on a street corner parallel with the hotel. His heart had begun to pound a little faster in anticipation of how events might play out, and he tried to calm himself. All he required was a moment when they were separated. Yes . . . that was all it would take. At nine twenty-five, Kreeg spotted the tall, muscular figure of Atlas leaving the hotel with his suitcase. He held his gaze, and to his delight, the blonde woman did not follow him. Tanit walked up the gangplank and boarded the ship.

Five minutes later, the blonde woman emerged with a suitcase and a light blue paper bag. This was his chance. Kreeg advanced towards her at a rapid pace. Using the newspaper as a shield, he reached inside his overcoat pocket and produced his Korovin pistol. With the gun firmly in his grasp, Kreeg rebalanced the folded newspaper so that it hid the weapon perfectly. He got closer and closer until the blonde woman was within touching distance.

He’d had the whole night to plan his move, and Kreeg executed his plan precisely. He grabbed the woman’s shoulder and jammed the nose of the pistol into the small of her back. She gasped.

‘Scream and I will shoot you,’ he whispered into her ear. The woman nodded. ‘Follow my lead.’ Kreeg spun her round, and gazed into her terrified blue eyes. ‘Hello, my darling!’ he cried. ‘Fancy seeing you here?’ Then he embraced her, keeping the gun pointed at her chest.

‘Please, don’t do this,’ Elle said quietly.

‘Too late for that,’ Kreeg whispered. He turned her around once again, so that she was facing the ship, keeping a firm grasp on her arm. ‘You’re going to come with me.’

‘Where, Kreeg?’

‘I will explain later.’

‘What if I just scream now? We’re in the middle of all these people.’

‘That would be unwise. Before you finish your wail, I will have made my way up that gangplank and put a bullet in Atlas’s head. Not to mention the one that would be embedded in your spine.’

‘And if I simply refuse to accompany you?’

‘Again, I will climb aboard the ship and shoot him where he stands.’

‘Wherever you plan on taking me, he’ll find you. I know he will.’

‘Let him try. Now, come along, my dear.’

‘Wait. Let me write him a note.’

Kreeg scoffed. ‘A note?! To explain what has happened to you? Has he told you that I’m stupid? It wouldn’t surprise me.’

‘No. You wish to cause him pain, don’t you? That is the purpose of stopping me from boarding that ship.’

Kreeg raised an eyebrow. ‘How astute of you.’

‘What could be more painful to him than believing that I have left him by choice? I will write him a goodbye note. Then, at least, I will have emotional closure . . . and my fiancé’s agony will be doubled.’ Kreeg considered her proposal. ‘You can call it a last request.’

‘You think I am going to kill you?’

‘You have a gun in my back.’

Kreeg chuckled grimly. ‘Write your damn note.’ Elle leant down to open her bag, and pulled out a piece of paper she had taken from the hotel, alongside a pen. Kreeg watched her write each word over her shoulder. ‘There. Is that to your satisfaction?’

Kreeg read the note.

Knowing you was the privilege of my life.

Rest easy without the burden of having to keep me safe.

Ever yours,

Elle xx

(Go and live your life, as I must live mine.)

Eszu nodded.

‘Good, now let me find someone to hand it to him.’

‘What? No. Come on. We’re leaving now. It was a pointless idea anyway.’ He gripped her arm more tightly and began to pull her away.

‘Ouch!’ Elle dropped the light blue paper bag with the satin dress, but not before she had an opportunity to slip the note inside. As Eszu pulled her away from the crowd, Elle looked up at the ship. There, she caught a final glimpse of the man she loved, who was eagerly looking out onto the port below.

‘Goodbye, my love,’ she whispered. ‘Find me.’

Kreeg led her several streets away, where he forced Elle to enter a black Rolls Royce.

‘Sit in the front with me.’ Elle followed his instructions, and as soon as she had shut the door, Kreeg removed the newspaper from the top of the pistol. ‘If you try to run, I’ll shoot you.’

The woman was breathing heavily, but resolute. ‘Can I ask where we’re going now?’

Kreeg sniggered. ‘Would it surprise you to learn that I have not thought that far ahead?’

‘Actually, it would,’ replied the woman. Kreeg started the car and began to drive, the pistol sitting in his lap. ‘He didn’t do what you think he did, Kreeg. He is a good man. The kindest.’

Kreeg shot her a look. ‘Oh, so he’s told you about who I am, and why I am pursuing him?’

‘Of course. We have known each other since we were children.’

‘Really?’ Kreeg said. ‘So you too know what an arrogant, scheming little boy he was.’

The woman thought of something. ‘You know he still has the diamond. He wants to return it to you. If you stop the car, we can go and get it from him now.’

Kreeg raised an eyebrow. ‘The diamond is still in his possession?’

‘I swear it on my life.’

Kreeg seemed to waver for a moment before strengthening his grip on the wheel. ‘The fact he has not sold it does not exonerate him of the crime of murder.’

‘He did not murder your mother, Kreeg, it was the Bolshevik soldiers . . .’

‘Silence!’ Kreeg snarled. ‘I see he has corrupted your brain with his lies. Atlas Tanit is no more innocent than you are ugly.’

‘What are you going to do with me?’ Kreeg remained silent. ‘If you are going to kill me, I request that you make it quick.’

Eszu shook his head. ‘I have seen enough death now. There is no point in slaughter if it is needless.’

‘Then what’s your plan?’

‘You mentioned earlier that my aim is to cause as much harm as possible to Atlas.’

‘Yes?’

‘I am not going to kill you. I’m going to keep you.’