Chapter Twenty-Seven

Janine

Four years ago

They slip away from the hotel, leaving the general’s body to be found by housekeeping.

Neva is at the wheel of an old Morris Minor that she has somehow procured. Janine has a strong sense that Neva has saved her again. If she hadn’t been there, the general would have raped and killed her. Janine isn’t just grateful, she feels something else, something deeper. She can’t put a finger on what it is exactly.

‘Go to ground for a while now,’ Neva says. ‘You’re going to have to straighten this out in your head.’

‘You always have my back, don’t you?’ Janine says.

‘You always have mine too,’ replies Neva.

They are driving to the Swiss town of Basel where they will part ways again for a while. Janine’s Swiss flat is abandoned. Although this has been her home for the past two years, she isn’t concerned about leaving the few possessions she has behind. She has a holdall containing money, various passports, and a few items she prefers to keep with her.

‘I deposited your fee for killing the general,’ Neva says.

‘But… I didn’t. You did,’ Janine says.

‘Without your seduction, it wouldn’t have been possible,’ Neva says. ‘You did what I needed you to.’

‘I wasn’t good enough,’ Janine says. ‘I couldn’t finish him. He was too strong.’

‘Your past made you weak. You have the resources and the strength. You need to start believing in yourself. Now he’s dead, nothing will hold you back. You have to use this as a way of divorcing yourself from the past.’

Janine looks at Neva. How old is she? Twenty-two, like herself? Yet she has so much maturity. Her grandmother would have called her an old soul.

Janine has never asked Neva how she came to be what she is. Like most spies, they don’t talk about their personal lives. Yet Neva knows so much more about Janine than Janine knows about Neva. Now, Janine is curious about her mentor. What does she do with herself when she isn’t working? Does Neva train daily as Janine does? Does she have a lover? Where does she live most of the time? These and many more questions go through Janine’s mind. None of which she dares to ask.

They arrive at the Basel SBB train station and Neva gives Janine the keys to the car.

‘I’ll see you again soon,’ Neva says.

She climbs out of the car and walks into the station without looking back.

On impulse, Janine abandons the car and follows Neva. From a distance she watches her buy a ticket. She’s heading to Paris on the TGV train. Janine is familiar with the route as she’s taken this one herself a few times: three hours and four minutes and she will be in Gare de Lyon, in Paris.

Janine buys herself a ticket and, hefting her holdall, she follows Neva onto the train.

This is a direct train with no other stops, for this reason the journey goes fast and Janine doesn’t have to keep her eye on Neva in case she departs before Paris. On the train she remains hidden, several carriages away with the restaurant car between them. She begins to feel excited that Neva hasn’t discovered her on board. It means she’s doing a good job of not being noticed, just as Neva has taught her.

At Paris, Janine follows Neva onto the Metro. Neva gets off two stops later at Gare du Nord. Now, Janine is certain that Neva is returning to London via the Eurostar. She watches as her mentor buys another ticket and passes through the security checkpoint. Janine waits until the train starts to board before passing through herself. By then she’s changed her clothing, and covered her hair with a hat. She boards the train, finds a seat and slumps down, hat over her eyes for the remainder of the journey. Anyone passing her seat will think she is sleeping.

In London, Janine picks up Neva’s trail as she crosses the road from St Pancras to King’s Cross. Once again, Neva boards a train. Confident she hasn’t been noticed, Janine stays on her.

A few hours later Janine sees Neva’s home for the first time.

Neva lives on a secluded country lane in a small detached cottage in rural Lincolnshire. Knowing she could be observed, Janine passes by the cottage in a stolen car, as Neva turns into her driveway. Once she knows where Neva resides, Janine drives away. She knows better than to push her luck now that her curiosity is satisfied.

She travels back to the nearest train station, discards the car, and catches a train back to London.

That night she receives a text from Neva.

Consider wisely how you use what you learned today.

Janine stares at the text, not knowing what to reply. Does Neva know that she followed her? What will she do when they next meet?

Janine sends back a basic message to appear benign.

Safe travels, wherever that might be.

The last person she would ever upset is Neva. Not only is Neva capable of killing her without a qualm, but Janine owes her life to her.

You too, my friend, Neva replies.

And that is the moment when Janine realizes, she and Neva are friends of a sort. They have shared so much and trust has been a part of this relationship from the beginning. And perhaps this means Janine’s curiosity, if it’s been discovered, is forgiven. At least this is what Janine hopes.

She tries not to think about it as she turns off the light in her hotel room. Tomorrow she will be out of England again, and finding herself this time a place that Neva doesn’t pay for or know the location of.

The next morning, when Janine wakes, she finds an envelope of money beside her bed. She jumps up, shocked. It hadn’t been there when she went to bed.

She searches the room and bathroom but finds she’s alone.

She listens at the door but there is no sound, so she cracks it open and looks up and down the corridor beyond. Nothing. Silence.

She closes the door and returns to her bed.

She picks up the envelope. Opening it she discovers a wad of notes. Euros. She riffles through them: there are around twenty 500-euro notes there. Ten thousand euros. There’s a hand-written note on the back of the envelope.

Take care, N x

Janine’s hand trembles as she stows the money in her holdall.

Neva has been in her room as she slept. She knew where she was all the time.

She’s not sure what Neva’s message means. Is it a warning? Or a threat?

What it does confirm is that Neva can find her anytime, anywhere if she wants to. It’s a lesson Janine never forgets.