De Payns chuckled at the antics of SpongeBob as he chewed on an apple. Oliver was curled up on the sofa beside him and Patrick lay virtually horizontal on a beanbag. He was relaxed, having come straight from the airport, through his safe house, and back to the apartment. His weekends felt like a sanctuary, and he was putting Baku and Israel and the events of the past week behind him. He was even looking forward to the next session with Dr Marlene—it wasn’t comfortable, but it was helping.
The door opened down the hall and de Payns told the boys to go and help their mother with the shopping. He heard the boys arguing about who would open the chocolate biscuits, then running down the hall to their room. Romy emerged and sank onto the sofa beside him, and he gave her a kiss on the lips.
‘Can we get the news on?’ she asked, preoccupied. ‘Something’s happening in Ukraine.’
De Payns changed the channel to France 24 and saw video footage of Russian tanks rolling down country roads and troops getting on transporter helicopters. According to the voice-over, Russian troops that were supposed to be doing exercises with the Belarusian army had crossed the northern border into Ukraine, and the Russian Black Sea fleet was on a combat footing after an alleged missile attack on the Russian navy at Sevastopol.
‘It’s started,’ said Romy, kicking off her shoes and pouring herself a wine. ‘With all the build-up, you’d think we could find another way to resolve it.’
‘Sure,’ said de Payns, not wanting to mention that the alternative was assassinations and regime change.
He heard her sigh heavily.
‘You okay?’
‘Not really,’ she said.
‘What’s up?’
‘Well,’ she said, and de Payns heard a quiver in her voice, ‘the Homsis are leaving.’
‘Leaving?’ asked de Payns. ‘Montparnasse?’
‘No,’ she said, looking into her wine. ‘I bumped into Ana at the market just now …’
‘And?’ de Payns prompted.
‘And she was very upset. The family has been urgently called to New York, something to do with Rafi’s job. I couldn’t follow it properly.’
‘That’s a shame,’ said de Payns. ‘I guess that’s the global economy now—we go where we have to go?’
‘Sure,’ she said. ‘But I mean—well, they’re going tonight. No goodbye dinners, nothing. It feels so sudden.’
‘That’s weird,’ he agreed.
‘We should have them over before they go,’ she said, sounding tremulous. ‘The boys are so close, and Ana and I …’
‘Maybe they’re too busy,’ said de Payns. ‘They probably have things to do if they’re in a rush?’
‘And maybe they’re hungry,’ Romy retorted, pulling out her phone. ‘Let’s get them over for lunch, at least.’
Romy hit a saved number, then immediately made a face, looked at the screen.
‘What’s wrong?’ asked de Payns.
‘The number has been disconnected,’ she said, incredulous. She tried again, with the same result. ‘What the hell?’
‘I don’t understand,’ said de Payns, feeling awful for her. As much as the friendship had bothered him, he knew how important it was to Romy.
‘Neither do I,’ said Romy, scrolling through her iPhone and hitting another number. Again she made a face. ‘Their landline has been shut off too.’
She opened WhatsApp. ‘Ana has left our WhatsApp group.’ Her face fell. ‘Do you think she’s dropped me?’
‘No, I don’t think that’s it,’ said de Payns. ‘Let me try Rafi.’ He took his phone from the coffee table and dialled. Like Ana’s, Rafi’s phone had been disconnected. ‘Well, shit,’ he said. ‘I don’t get it.’
Romy threw her phone onto the sofa beside her and stood, so she was looking down on him. ‘Is this something to do with your work?’ she demanded.
‘No,’ he said, surprised. ‘This is news to me.’
Her face hardened. ‘Would you tell me if it was?’
De Payns’ heart went out to her, because in that instant he assumed that yes, it did have something to do with him, and no, he’d never tell her. Every time he had to burn one of his fake IDs, the people he’d lured into his pretend life were faced with what Romy was encountering now: confusion, abandonment, sadness.
‘Yes, I would absolutely tell you,’ he said. ‘And yes, this sounds like something that happens in my world, but I promise you I have no idea what’s going on.’
He stood too, and she gazed into his eyes for a few seconds and then she crumpled. ‘I just wish I knew,’ she said quietly. ‘Ana’s like a sister to me.’
He held her as she cried.
‘I have a terrible feeling that I’ll never see her again,’ said Romy, sobbing. ‘I’ve been so alone, I have no friends, no one I can talk to, and now …’
‘I’m sorry,’ he said helplessly.
‘Please,’ she said into his shoulder. ‘Don’t let this be the government—they can’t take everything from us. Please tell me it’s not the government doing this.’
‘It’s not the government,’ said de Payns, unable to say anything else. ‘There’ll be an explanation. There’s always an explanation.’
■
De Payns arrived at the Bunker early on Monday morning. Briffaut was in his office when de Payns entered, holding the coffee he’d made.
‘You saw the stories in the papers?’ asked Briffaut. ‘Ship sank off Djibouti.’
‘I saw that on TV,’ said de Payns. ‘Those sunken ships make for great diving.’
‘Yes, it’s amazing what you can find down there.’
De Payns sipped his coffee. ‘I heard in Haifa that an electromagnetic pulse machine had been set off. Apparently, all the civilian electronics were screwed, but the oil and gas people were okay because they have Faraday cages?’
‘Sounds like a conspiracy theory to me,’ said Briffaut. ‘You hear about Salah and his gang?’
‘Were they down in Hadera?’
‘Yes, the Shin Bet got them. Caught them in a private hotel.’
‘That just leaves us with Brenda and the Starkand network,’ said de Payns.
‘Gone to the DGSI,’ said Briffaut.
‘Why?’ asked de Payns. ‘The prod was being funnelled through the embassies—that makes it ours.’
Briffaut shrugged. ‘Sturt wanted it off our plate, and so did Frasier. Who am I to complain? Besides, we know the story don’t we?’
‘I’d like to identify Brenda,’ said de Payns. ‘If she’s operating in Paris, manipulating our foreign policy and our military responses, I’d like to know who she is.’
‘By the time the Cousins have bumbled and fumbled all over it, she’d have seen their surveillance from two miles away and gone to ground,’ said Briffaut, shaking his head. ‘Forget Brenda. We have bigger fish to fry now that Russia has gone into Ukraine.’
‘Well, Marie was right all along,’ said de Payns. ‘Plan B for Putin is invasion.’
‘Yes, and the only winners are Washington and Moscow.’
De Payns was about to leave, then he turned to look at his boss. ‘Any ideas about Brenda?’
Briffaut looked at him, expressionless. ‘CIA but not one of the stupid ones.’
‘We almost had her, but as soon as Templar got close she was in the wind.’
Briffaut nodded. ‘She was well camouflaged.’
‘Maybe in plain sight?’ asked de Payns, staring at him.
Briffaut smiled. ‘The best always are.’
De Payns made to leave but Briffaut called him back. ‘I need you down in Niamey.’
‘What’s going on in Niger?’ asked de Payns.
‘Take a seat,’ said Briffaut. ‘There’s something I need you to do.’
‘An operation?’ asked de Payns.
‘No,’ said the boss. ‘There’s no file on this and you won’t take any notes.’
‘You want me dressed as a waiter again?’ asked de Payns with a smile.
Briffaut shook his head. ‘We’re finishing what we started.’