The Lost

It sounded like an accusation.

‘We stopped being friends years ago, but I daresay you already know about that as well,’ Jonah told her. ‘And before you ask, I’ve no idea what Gavin was doing at the warehouse or what was going on between him and Owen Stokes. Until tonight I didn’t even know that Nadine had a sister. So, now I’ve answered your questions, how about answering mine?’

‘That depends what they are.’

‘Let’s start with you and Gavin McKinney. What was your relationship with him?’

Her face was cold as she turned away. ‘There was no relationship. The police wanted to use me as an informer. He was my handler.’

‘I heard it was more than that.’

‘Then you heard wrong.’ There was ice in her voice. ‘We had sex, but as I’m sure you’re aware, that hardly put him in an exclusive club. McKinney wanted to use me, the same as everyone else. I gave him what he wanted.’

‘Did he think it was more than that?’

‘You think I cared?’ she flashed. ‘I asked for help and instead I was sent back to men who would have killed me if they’d found out! “Be patient,” he’d say. Patient! Easy for him! When I saw all the stories about this “hero” after he’d died, I would have laughed if I hadn’t been sickened! Because of him I lived in fear every day. Every day! Treated like I was just some worthless foreign whore! What did he do to stop that? Nothing, except fuck me as well!’

Outside the car, the bodyguard had noticed her agitation. He turned towards them, staring at Jonah with the emotionless intent of an attack dog. But Salim was composed once more.

‘Do you have any more questions?’ she asked, a sardonic lift to her mouth.

‘Did he know you were still alive?’

‘Of course not.’

‘What about your sister?’

‘Nadine knew nothing about any of it.’

‘Then how could she have known about Gavin?’

A sigh escaped her. ‘I told her.’

She looked down at her hands again, rotating the opal ring on her finger.

‘I wrote her letters,’ she said. ‘Fantasies, about how wonderful my new life was. What else was I going to say to a fifteen-year-old schoolgirl? I used to keep them hidden until there was an opportunity to post them. Sometimes that could take weeks, so I didn’t dare risk saying anything revealing in them in case they were found. It was easier once my... employers started trusting me enough to allow me out on my own. That’s how I was able to meet with McKinney. He let me try phoning and emailing Nadine, but there was never any response. So I continued with the letters, sending them to my aunt and uncle’s address in the hope at least one would reach her and she’d know I was still alive. One of them must have.’

‘You told her his name?’

‘Of course not, I wasn’t as stupid as that. I didn’t even tell her his rank or where he worked. I just said I’d met someone. A police detective, tall and handsome. Another lie to make her happy. Like my lovely flat and job, and all my new friends.’

Her voice was heavy with bitterness and self-reproach.

‘She’d need more to trace him than that,’ Jonah said.

‘That’s all I told her. And she couldn’t have gone to the police for help. There’s no official documentation of her entering the country, so she can’t have been here legally.’

Jonah didn’t bother to ask how she knew. ‘You think she was smuggled in?’

‘Or somehow made her own way. Nadine was resourceful but also impatient. Official immigration channels would have been too slow. All I know is that, however she came here, it wasn’t the same people who brought me. Thank God.’

‘How can you be sure?’

Her eyes seemed to darken even more at whatever thoughts were behind them. ‘I’d know.’

A muted vibration sounded, like a trapped bee in the car’s quiet. Salim took a phone from her pocket. The light from its screen gave her face a cold, blue cast. She read whatever was on it without expression, then put it away.

‘I have to go.’

‘One more question,’ Jonah said quickly. ‘Everyone thought you’d been killed. How did you manage to get away?’

‘Who says I did?’

‘Then at least tell me whose body they found in the flat?’

A shadow seemed to cross her face. It was as though all the life and animation had drained out of her. She looked down at her lap, smoothing her coat over it.

‘Someone who couldn’t be saved.’

‘What does that mean?’

‘What does it matter now?’ The atmosphere in the car crackled again as she turned on him. ‘I had to survive for my sister. If it had been your son, what would you have done?’

Jonah was saved from answering by another buzz from her phone. This time Salim didn’t check it, and after a few seconds it fell silent.

‘I have to go,’ she said again, signalling to the bodyguard.