Page 75 of We Chase Shadows

They thank Brad and he leaves.

‘The other bodyguard?’ suggests Steve.

‘Lee,’ says Rosie. ‘The handsome one.’

‘Pfft,’ says Amy.

‘Pfft he didn’t do it?’ asks Rosie. ‘Or pfft he’s not handsome?’

‘Both,’ says Amy.

‘But maybe there was a falling-out?’ says Steve. ‘If there are three bodyguards and two of them die, and one of them doesn’t, it does raise a question.’

‘Very well,’ says Rosie. ‘While we wait for Connor Brooks to break cover, Steve, we really do need to look into Georgie Glazier a little more, and you’ve just been given the perfect opportunity. Amy, you can look into the handsome bodyguard.’

‘And we do have to find out why Tommy Griffin is still alive,’ says Amy. ‘And what his plans in Europe are. Can we get anyone to take a closer look at him? Do you know anyone in the States who isn’t a furniture designer?’

‘How about Carlos?’ says Steve.

Carlos Moss. US Customs and Border Protection officer and Van Halen fan. He had helped them on their last jaunt around the world.

‘That’s not a bad idea,’ says Rosie. ‘I’ll see if he can spend a few days in Palm Springs, see if we’ve rattled Tommy Griffin into doing anything suspicious.’

Steve shivers in the chill cabin air. ‘We should all get some sleep. How long till we land at Farnborough?’

‘Oh, we’re not landing at Farnborough,’ says Rosie.

‘Where are we landing?’ Steve asks. ‘I don’t want a long drive.’

‘Málaga,’ says Rosie. ‘Come on, Steve, keep up.’

‘My God, it never ends,’ says Steve.

‘Shut up and eat your Pringles,’ says Amy.

36

How do people survive in a marriage? It is baffling to Amy. Strolling arm in arm through Parisian streets, as if that’s just a normal thing to do. Looking at art in Prague. Really staring at paintings, and then talking about them afterwards. Taking it in turns to cook, watching true-crime documentaries on Netflix. Going to the gym together. Yikes.

Not her and Adam though.

‘I was going to fly out,’ says Amy, tucked up in her private cabin. She speaks up. Amy is always surprised by how noisy the engine is on the jet. ‘Surprise you in Saudi Arabia.’

‘I’m in Kuwait now,’ says Adam. ‘So we’d both have got a surprise. I wish you’d been able to come. That would’ve been nice.’

‘Murders, you know,’ says Amy.

She misses him, she won’t deny that. But she’d rather he was in Kuwait at the end of a phone than in a café in Prague talking to her about a sculpture. Couples should be two separate people, not a composite. A friend of Adam’s called Chris is married to a woman called Hazel, and they call themselves ‘Crazel’. Amy once refused to go to a party because of it. Amy and Adam call themselves ‘Amy and Adam’. Adam had briefly toyed with ‘Adam and Amy’, but it had never stuck.

‘Straight after we’re done though,’ says Amy, ‘I’m going to come and see you.’

Adam has given no indication that he knows their anniversary is imminent. That’s okay, love is not about calendars. Some of the worst people in the world probably remember their anniversaries, don’t they? Still, Amy always remembers.

‘I’m straight back over to Saudi after this,’ says Adam. ‘Solve those murders quickly for me.’

‘I’m working on it,’ says Amy. ‘If you see a bald guy with a gun, let me know.’

It’s their seventh anniversary in three days. Their gifts are supposed to be copper, which she is struggling with. If they don’t see each other, if Adam doesn’t remember, then the plus side is she won’t have to think of a gift.