Page 35 of An Eye for an Eye

‘I hope you got value for money,’ said Trevelyan, without any suggestion of irony, and before Ross could respond, he added, ‘but should we fail to pull off the arms deal and it ends up going to the French, we may have to rely on Ms Dubois’s sworn testimony as to what really happened in the club that night, if we’re to make sure that the Saudis are left with no choice but to release Hartley.’

‘I think she’d be even happier if Prince Ahmed were to end up in jail, where he belongs,’ said Ross, not mentioning Avril’s heartfelt suggestion that he should murder him.

‘That’s not going to happen,’ said Trevelyan, ‘at least not while there’s the slightest chance we could still be awarded the arms contract.’

‘What if the French were to get the contract and Hartley isn’t released?’

‘We may well be calling on your particular skills once again, Inspector,’ admitted Trevelyan, ‘but until then, just make sure she doesn’t go anywhere near the Defence Minister’s son while he’s in England. We’ll have quite enough on our hands with the well-organised protests that are certain to take place during the visit. Is that understood, Hogan?’

‘Yes, sir,’ said Ross, who wanted to add ‘three bags full, sir’, but somehow restrained himself.

•••

Once Ross had left the Foreign Office, he crossed Whitehall and headed for Scotland Yard. Once he’d entered the building he ran up the stairs to the third floor and knocked on the Commander’s door.

‘Come,’ said a voice.

‘You were right,’ said Ross as he entered the Hawk’s office. ‘Trevelyan’s not my sort of man.’

‘Well, we’re going to have to rub along with him during the next few weeks,’ said the Hawk, ‘while Avril is still in danger.’

‘Perhaps we should exchange Trevelyan for Hartley,’ said Ross, as William walked in and joined them.

‘Did you learn anything worthwhile from the ubiquitous mandarin?’ he asked.

‘Not a lot,’ admitted Ross. ‘I don’t belong to the right clubs for him to confide in me. But what I can tell you is the Foreign Office have their knickers in a twist about the upcoming visit of the Saudi Minister of Defence and are particularly worried about any protests that might take place if Prince Ahmed shows his face while Hartley is still in jail.’

‘And so they should be,’ said the Hawk, ‘as the protestors will be well prepared and certain to park themselves outside Number Ten, and, frankly, I can’t blame them.’

‘I’ve already briefed my team on what to expect,’ said William, ‘and of course we’ll have the Territorial Support Group on standby in Whitehall Court, should it get out of control.’

‘Let’s hope that won’t be necessary,’ said the Hawk. ‘And by the way, Ross, congratulations on a job well done. But perhaps you ought to go home now and let Alice and Jojo know you’ve returned safely – and take tomorrow off.’ He paused. ‘That’s an order.’

Ross didn’t need much encouragement and, once he’d completed his report, he left the two of them to discuss the implications of the Saudi visit and what could go wrong.

Once Ross had left the building, he headed to St James’sPark, where he caught a tube to Sloane Square, hoping to get home before Jojo had gone to bed.

•••

‘Can I come to the Rembrandt unveiling?’ asked Jojo, who was sitting on the floor surrounded by angels.

‘Please,’ said Alice.

‘Please,’ repeated Jojo.

‘Of course you can. In fact, I think you’ll find Beth is going to ask you to do something rather special that evening.’

‘Like what?’ demanded Jojo.

‘You have been chosen to present a bouquet of roses to the Countess of Wessex when she visits the museum to unveil the Rembrandt.’

Jojo began leaping up and down, only stopping when she heard the front door open. She ran out of the room and screamed with delight when she saw her father walking towards her. She leapt on him and said, ‘Hi, Dad. Have you heard the news?’

‘No, but I have a feeling you’re about to tell me,’ said Ross, as they walked into the front room together, where Ross got a welcome-home kiss and a second hug from Alice.

‘I’ve been chosen to present the Countess with a bouquet when she visits the Fitzmolean to unveil theAngel.’

‘Your angel?’ said Ross, looking down to see the floor was covered in his daughter’s drawings.