Liam still didn’t look up from his soup.

“Do you fancy her even a bit?” she continued. “Because if you don’t, you should tell her straight away; she’ll be less hurt. Another girl in the office—Anita—though you probably won’t know who she is either, gave Sarah the advice to be forward with you. God, why can’t people stay out of each other’s business?”

“I don’t want to sleep with you.”

“What?”

“If that’s what you’re implying, I don’t want to sleep with you.”

“I’m not implying that. I just don’t want you to get the wrong reputation in the office.”

“What do you care what my reputation is?” He dropped his spoon and it landed with a crash against the bowl.

“I bloody care because we work close together on cases. I don’t want everyone to assume you sleep with all the girls you work with.”

“Oh, I don’t give you a bad reputation. You proved to everyone that you’ll open your legs to whoever you work with when you carried on with Masters.”

Sophia raised her hands to slap him but he was too quick and grabbed her arm.

“Don’t you dare assume you know me at all,” continued Liam. “You think it’s up to me who I put on cases? You think I like having analysts following high target criminals or go undercover, having to worry that they’ll think with their bloody heart and get team members killed that I have known and served with for years? I’m trying to be nice to you, I’m trying to build your confidence in me and vice versa so we can work together in the future. I’m sick and tired of you treating me with disrespect.”

With that he pushed her arm away and walked out.

She sat there stunned, starring at the wall, too embarrassed to acknowledge the faces that must be staring at her. What the hell just happened? How could she have completely misread him? Could he really hate her as much as he appeared to? She tightened her coat around her and walked out of the cafe.

He said he was trying to make it easier for them to work together but she didn’t know how they could work together from now on. Not after this. She walked toward her Fiat and when she got in, sat watching the couples walking along the pavement. One couple laughed and held hands. Why couldn’t she live a life like that? Why the hell did she ever agree to work for the government?

I just had a fight with Liam, she texted Crystal.

What about?

I have no idea.

What are you going to do about it?

I’m going to go home and calm down. I need to think.

Don’t do anything rash. Text me before you do anything.

Good night, Crystal.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Theo spent a lot of mornings staring at his ceiling, debating whether to spend another day in a world where his wife didn’t recognize him, where he no longer received his kiss of affection before work. Today was no different—especially today. It was his anniversary.

He had spent the night hoping to get a lead on the case but it never came. She never came. Theo had waited outside Sophia’s flat for three hours. He had watched people come and go and cars enter the car park. Where the hell had she gone? Part of him wished he’d never rang her in the first place. He used her as a crutch. And why would she be eager to work on his case? Her job was exciting.

How many times had he rang Sophia’s mobile last night? Perhaps she was avoiding him. Perhaps she played polite but found him annoying.

Only a stalker would sit around her flat for so long. Was he that desperate? He was thankful she never returned home. What would she have said to him?

From the kitchen came the smell of strong coffee, eggs, and his mother’s intermittent laughter. For the past week, he didn’t remind anyone in his family about his anniversary and so far, no one had mentioned it. For that he was thankful. Conversations about his wife were always awkward.

An hour later, he finally made it to the kitchen. Somehow the whole family managed to make it to the table before him. If there was going to be somewhere the family gathered, it would be the kitchen table. He wasn’t sure they met anywhere else in the house unless it was game day and then the men sat in front of the telly. He took a seat across from his father. His father acknowledged him with a nod. His mother laid a coffee in front of him.

His brother-in-law, Tim, was still talking about the hamburgers he grilled the night before.

“I haven’t had a juicier burger in my life,” he said. “You may soon ask me to cook all the meals in the house.”

His mother didn’t say anything, but the way she slowly lowered the spatula on the worktop was enough to silence Tim.

When Agneta started to laugh, Theo picked up his coffee, went out the back patio door and into the garden. She might have reasons to laugh but he didn’t and to see it only rubbed salt into the wound. Outside, he pulled a plastic chair closer to the house. The air was nippy and bit at his ears. He could still smell the remnants of smoke and fried meat from the night before. Instead, he gulped down his coffee and blew out a visible breath.

On occasions like this, he often considered divorce. He had never done it because he worried it would break her heart, but why would she care? It didn’t take him long to change his mind, of course. He couldn’t do it, no matter how bad things became. She was happy and he must be satisfied with that. The family loved her, she would listen to all the old stories again and find them interesting because to her, they were new.

But what if he did divorce her? What would he do? He’d have to leave the comfort of his home. He couldn’t ask her to leave, not when the house was all she knew. And then where would he be? He’d end up like Maddock Tipring, sad and alone, perhaps victim of a murder where no one had a motive to kill him because no one really cared he existed.

Theo had an autopsy to attend soon and although he hoped for any enlightenment on the case, he knew it was unlikely. The solution would most likely come from the secret world of MI5 and the only person who could reveal those secrets forgot she made an appointment for the night before.

The patio door slid open behind him and his mother stepped outside. She came and stood by her son, only placing a hand on his shoulder.

“I get chair and I sit with you,” she said, in English. She so rarely spoke her second language.

“No, that’s all right. I’ll get you one.” He rose and brought her one. Her company brought him comfort.

“She doesn’t remember what day it is, does she?”

“No. Did you really expect her to?” she replied in Greek.

“I suppose not.” He pulled a box from his pocket and opened the lid. Inside sat a pair of ruby earrings. “I had an idea, from a case I was working on, to buy her these.”

“They are beautiful. Why don’t you give them to her?”

“What would be the point?”

“The point is, my son, they’re a nice gift and sadly, she hasn’t received a gift in a very long time.”

His mother was right. She didn’t care about him but he would do anything to make her happy.

Chapter Thirty

The next morning, Sophia started her weekend reviewing the Elaine Smith house tapes. Crystal had come in early to go over Smith’s computer which upon start up at the house, had self-destructed. Somebody smart, somebody really smart, could not only hack into the surveillance software but managed to remotely destroy evidence. Sophia was pissed. She would find the culprit if it killed her.

On the screen, Sophia watched the footage from the living room. Miles had just left and Elaine had walked into the kitchen. The cards lay out on the table. Did he know Elaine was about to be murdered? Would he sit down to a calm game of solitaire if he knew? Besides, he was rubbish at solitaire.