Picture Perfect

HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER: Picture Perfect

by Mark mark-coop4000@tiscali.co.uk

Newcastle City Hospital
Special Burns Unit
Saturday evening

Beep…Beep…Beep

Most of the words had gone straight over Leah’s head. She had been sitting in the hospital waiting for word on Alison’s condition for most of the day. Within an hour of receiving the phone call, Andrew had booked a hotel in the city centre and packed her and the kids in the SUV. Driving through the night, they’d arrived in Newcastle at sunrise. After dropping off the bags and checking into the hotel, they had gone en masse to the hospital.

Eventually, Andrew had taken Scott and Cassie back to the hotel for some rest. Leah had preferred to be alone at that point – her feelings inside swinging from one extreme to another with little or no control. As she had sat there in the cold plastic chair there was only one word that described how she truly felt.

Helpless.

“She has third degree burns across 35% of her body, focused down the left hand side of her torso, arm and leg,” The doctor said as Leah looked on through the window at the room beyond. She couldn’t remember his name – it was Terrence or Terrell…Travis! Dr Travis – that was it. Leah reached for the handle, only for the doctor to stop her. “I’m sorry, you can’t go in there without the proper equipment and clothing - it’s a sterile clean room. She needs to be isolated for the next few days to allow the eschar to form safely without the risk of any microbial growth beginning. Once we’re past that stage we can manage any infections with antibiotics.”

“So…will she live?” Leah could barely hear the words that came out of her own mouth.

“With skin grafts and extensive physiotherapy, she should recover in time, although the next twenty four hours will be critical to her cardiac functions,” Leah looked confused. “Cardiac function in burn victims is always inconsistent in the first forty-eight hours after the injury occurs – it slows down to begin with, then increases to cope with the hyper-metabolic needs of the body. Once she gets through that we can sort out her transfer.” Doctor Travis explained. “Although, the viability of the foetus is another question entirely.”

“Foetus?” Leah asked. “Alison is pregnant?”

“Yeah,” Travis replied. “Nine weeks. We detected elevated levels of chorionic gonadotropin glycoprotein hormones in her blood work. I assume that she was nulligravida, right? She’s never given birth before?”

“Yes, yes,” Leah confirmed. “Wait a minute – transfer? What transfer?”

“Once she’s stable she’s being moved to the Edwards Clinic down in London. It’s a private facility – really top notch at dealing with burn victims.” Travis said. “I’m sorry; I thought someone had told you – you’re listed as her next of kin.”

“No, no they hadn’t,” Leah said. “Who arranged the transfer?”

* * * *

The television was filled with flashing images of violence and destruction. Two pairs of eyes sat across from it, mesmerised by the tale that was unfolding before them. As they sat in the bedroom of the hotel, Scott nudged his sister.

“This is so much better than the other one we watched at home.”

“Yeah,” Cassie replied without looking at her brother. “I like the flying ones though.”

“Really? I like the truck and the sports car.” Scott said before they both lapsed into silence again, punctuated by the odd gasp.

The door to the hotel suite opened and Leah stepped inside, shaking her coat to try and dislodge the last few remnants of the rain shower she had been caught in after leaving the Metro station. She hung her coat up and dropped her bag next to it before returning the key card to her pocket and looking for Andrew.

“Where are the kids?”

“In the bedroom watching cartoons on the DVD player,” Andrew said as he threw a tea bag into a mug. “Cuppa?”

“When were you going to tell me?” Leah asked. Andrew looked at her.

“About what?”

“About Alison being transferred to some private clinic back in London.” Leah hissed. “And about the fact that you’re paying for it.”

“Leah, look, I can explain…”

“You’re dead right about that,” Leah spat at him. She walked over to the other side of the room and closed the bedroom door. “What’s going on?”

“You remember three years ago when Ruth had that car accident?” Leah nodded, recalling the incident with Andrew’s youngest sister. “Well, she ended up in the Edwards clinic to treat the burn on her leg and they did a fantastic job on it – after we saw Alison this morning I thought I’d see what I could do…”

“You haven’t answered the question Andy,” Leah pushed him. “Why?”

“Because…” he looked out of the window for a minute, seeing the rain pouring down outside. “Because if this happened to you and I wasn’t around to look after you, I’d like to think that Alison would have tried to do the same for you.” He looked at Leah. “Because she’s your best friend and the godmother of our kids; because it’s the only thing I can do to help and it’s the right thing to do under the circumstances.” He shook his head. “Look, we don’t need the money at the minute and the advance I received for Infection was more than enough to cover our day to day needs along with paying for Alison’s treatment.”

“What?” Leah suddenly felt sick, realising her initial gut feeling had been wrong. “I…I thought you were going to say…Jesus, I thought you were having an affair with her…”

“What? Where the hell did you get that idea from?” the shock was clearly visible on his face. “Look, I love you and you alone, always have; always will.”

“She’s…she’s pregnant,” Leah said, sitting down on the sofa. Andrew was visibly surprised. “I know she hasn’t been seeing anyone recently – and as far as I know you’re the only guy she’s spent any time with outside of the office…and I know she’s not that crazy when she’s on the job…I just overreacted – I leapt to a conclusion…everything is so fucked up right now…I’m not thinking straight…” Andrew sat down and put his arm around Leah, pulling her towards him as she put her head on his shoulder. Andrew felt tears beginning to soak through his shirt.

“Shush, shush. It’s okay baby,” he cooed. “Come on; get it all out of your system.”

“It should have been me Andy,” Leah said, letting her emotions boil over. “I should have been in there with…I…” She finally broke down in Andrew’s arms. She couldn’t tell how long she stayed there, but by the time she heard Andrew talking quietly in her ear, Leah’s legs felt like jelly.

Leah held onto Andrew as tightly as she could. “Okay, you need to get some rest,” Andrew said, helping Leah to her feet. “It’s been a shitty day for everyone and you’ve barely slept since last night.”

“Mommy, what’s wrong?” Scott’s question startled Leah. She tried to wipe away the tears that were streaming down her face as she saw her two children standing in the room, looking at her with concerned expressions etched on their young faces.

“It’s okay Scott, Mom’s just abit upset about Aunty Alison’s accident,” Andrew said. “Now, let’s get Mommy tucked into bed and then we’ll order something to eat shall we?” Scott and Cassie followed behind Andrew like two puppies following their mother. They watched while Andrew helped Leah into bed, then clambered up either side of their mother and held her with their tiny arms. Leah was asleep in minutes. Andrew went back into the other room and picked up the telephone. “Yeah, this is Mr Hargreaves in room seven one four, I’d like to place an order for room service…”

* * * *

Sunday morning

“How much ice cream did the kids eat last night?” Alison asked as she handed the suitcase to Andrew. He shrugged his shoulders.

“Not sure – I lost count after the third bowl.” He closed the boot and looked at his wife. “Right, now are you sure you’re going to be okay?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.” Leah replied, her hands shoved in her pockets. “Tom wants me to hang around for a couple of days while they conduct the investigation into the explosion. I’ll be home by Thursday at the latest.” Andrew hugged her, and then looked her in the eye.

“Well, whatever you do, just make sure you come back in one piece.”

“What?” Leah tried to disguise the realisation in her voice that he knew exactly what she was planning on doing.

“We’ve been together for nearly eleven years – you can’t hoodwink me that easily anymore Leah,” Andrew said. “Just stay safe and remember that we need you too.”

“Don’t talk like…”

“We need you Leah,” Andrew’s tone was as forceful as he could muster under the circumstances as he repeated himself. He then walked around the side of the car to open the driver’s side door. “I’ve left something in your bag for you to read, you know, should you happen to take any flights anywhere.” Leah opened the back door and looked at Scott and Cassie buckled into the back seat.

“Be good for your Dad while I’m away.” Leah said as she leaned in and kissed Cassie, then Scott. In turn, he tried to wipe the saliva from his face.

“Mom!” He moaned.

“Bye Mommy – love you.” Cassie said as Leah withdrew. She paused for a minute – an urge began rising up inside her to simply get in the car and go home with Andrew.

“I love you too.” Leah said, closing the door quickly before the urge overwhelmed her completely.

* * * *

The top floor of Pilgrim Street Police Station had been completed taken over by the team despatched from London to oversee the investigation into the explosion in West Jesmond just over twenty four hours ago. As Leah made her way through the hordes of people scurrying about, she caught sight of Tom as he was gathering together several of his senior staff members that were present.

Tom Benedict was a career man. He had long since abandoned field work in the early 1990s in order to climb the ladder of the department and it showed in his appearance. Overweight and with a hair line that had long since gone the way of the dinosaurs, he managed the team with a flair that belied his appearance. As he caught Leah’s eye he gestured for her to come over to the office he had commandeered.

“Hargreaves, how you feeling?”

“I’m fine sir,” Leah lied. “I’ll admit that I’m a little upset about events but…”

“Go home.” Tom interrupted her. Leah’s jaw dropped open.

“What?”

“You heard me, go home,” He repeated. “You’re too close to this to be objective – if I need to I’ll get Tompkins to drive you.” Tom then went into the room and closed the door behind him. Leah was shocked – and she could feel the anger building up inside her at being suddenly shut out. Her first reaction was to open the door and tell Tom exactly what she thought about his decision. However, instead of letting it get the better of her, Leah turned around and found herself a small computer terminal in a distant corner of the office. After logging on she did was she did best.

She began to hunt.

* * * *

August 2000
Clearwater House Publishing Annual Dinner Event

“Okay, how bored are you?” Andrew asked as he joined Leah by the buffet table. They had just sat through a reading of the first five chapters of Antoine Fortune’s new novel, The Captain’s Wife, by the celebrated French author himself. It had been billed as a tale of romance and adventure on the high seas of the seventeen-century. After the third page, even Andrew had found his mind wandering.

“Bored enough that I’ve already figured out five different ways to kill the Frenchman,” Leah said as she held up a small sliver of wood. “All with this toothpick!”

“Fantastic, you’ll have to tell me those later,” Andrew said as he directed Leah away from the food. “Look, I want you to meet someone – you’ll love him.” He guided her across the room filled with authors, agents and various corporate sponsors. As they wound their way towards the rear of the room, Leah could see that Andrew was directing her towards a table that was occupied by a bear of a man. He stood up as Andrew approached.

“Andrei,” He said – Leah instantly recognised his accent as Russian. “Is this who I think it is?”

“Innokenty Annenskij, this is my fiancée, Leah Bennett.” The big Russian nodded to Leah and gently took her hand and kissed it. “Leah, this is Inno, the big Russian.”

“Pleased to meet you Mr Annenskij,” Leah said. Inno waved away her formal greeting.

“Please, call me Inno – everyone else does.” Inno insisted as he pulled a chair out for Leah to sit at. Andrew joined them a moment later, carrying a small tray of drinks in his hands.

“Inno here has been telling me some very interesting things about his former life in the old Soviet Union,” Andrew said. Leah could see the gleam in his eyes. “Namely around the Dylatov Pass Incident of 1959.”

“Another one of your wild goose chases, right?” Leah said, smiling wildly at Andrew. “Like going to look for Bigfoot and the Mongolian Death Worm?”

“Ha ha ha!” Inno’s laugh made everyone around him look at the occupants of the table at the back of the room. “You should come to Siberia – I could show you Alma that make Bigfoot look like monkey in zoo.”

“Get me the administrative access documents and I’m there big man!” Andrew said, handing a shot glass of vodka to Leah and then one to Inno. “Inno here used to be a diplomatic attaché to the Russian embassy in Washington and London back in the seventies and eighties.” Leah eyebrows rose visibly, immediately seeing through the terminology Andrew used. She knew that Andrew had picked up on her non-verbal signal.

“That’s why I’m here – to hand over final copy of manuscript to Diane.”

“So that’s how you too know each other – you have the same editor.” Leah said, relief audible in her voice.

“Not entirely,” Andrew said. “Inno here lived across the street from me when I was a teenager. He’d moved to England following the collapse of the Soviet Union.” Leah looked at Andrew with a strange, strained expression on her face as Inno threw his hands in the air.

“Perestroika! Pah!”

“What? You didn’t think that the retired gentleman to our left was trying to recruit me as a double agent or something silly like that?” Andrew said as he knocked back the vodka at the same time as Inno. “Another drink?” Leah followed suit a moment later.

“Da! Another drink!” Andrew got up from the table and disappeared. Leah and Inno shared a look.

“So, what were you? KGB?” She asked. Inno smiled.

“Da! Colonel in the end,” Inno smiled at Leah, looking at her as she sat in the chair, dressed in the long black evening gown she’d picked out for the evening. “You’re MI5, MI6, right?” He said with an air of expectancy in his voice.

“How could you tell?” Leah replied. He waved his hand again.

“After thirty years, you develop – how you say – sixth sense. I see the way you walk, the way you look at things – you never lose that sense, that understanding of how things can go bad quickly. You look at things, people and evaluate them, up here.” Inno said, tapping his forehead. “So, Andrew and you…?”

“Are an item, yes.” Leah said, sensing something in Inno’s voice that she wasn’t anticipating.

“Does he know?” He seemed almost protective towards her fiancé.

“Yes, yes he does.” Leah said, starting to warm to the man sitting next to her. “We don’t have any secrets between us.” Inno’s smile grew even wider.

“My wife the same! Married for twenty-five years – never a secret between us – exactly way it should be. You will make good Russian marriage!” Inno beamed as he saw Andrew making his way back from the open bar. “Andrew’s a good boy – I knew his father you know.” His voice was low – conspiratorial almost. Leah sudden felt that some grand revelation was about to slip from his lips. “He was a good man – built my garage for me. Fantastic craftsman. Such a shame when he died. Andrew was so lost for awhile…” Inno seemed to drift off for a moment; his eyes seemed to mist over. “But he start to write – I read something printed in the local newspaper and I offered him my help.”

“Help? You were trying to get me to ghost-write your memoirs at the age of nineteen.” Andrew said as he lined up six shots of vodka. Inno’s booming laugh flowed again.

“Yes – and now I write them myself.” Inno knocked back a shot. “Now, we drink and celebrate my success. I drink to my book!”

“Okay,” Andrew said, looking at Leah. “We’ll drink to your book big man.”

* * * *

Two hours later, Inno was stumbling along the corridor of the hotel he was staying at with Leah trying to keep him upright. Despite the amount of alcohol the Russian had consumed he still had a solid grasp of his faculties.

“Old regime cruel, harsh, but you knew where you stood with them,” He said. Leah propped him up against the wall as he searched for his room key. “New men – FSB – bastards!” he spat. “No respect…”

“Where’s your key card Inno?” Leah asked as they resumed their progress. She waved at the man down the hall who was struggling with his door, hoping that their odd couple routine didn’t upset any existing guests who had already turned in for the night. “Come on, Andrew is waiting for me downstairs.”

“Here somewhere…” They paused again. As Leah helped Inno to stand upright she noticed that the man down the hall was looking at them, no, he was watching them. She leaned into Inno slightly.

“We’re being followed.”

“Told you!” Inno cried out. “No respect…”

“Shush!” Leah said, handing Inno her purse. “Get my phone out of there and look through it for an entry marked Alison.”

“What, no…” Inno started to speak – Leah placed her hand on his mouth to keep him quiet.

“No – oddly enough, this wasn’t on the agenda tonight.” Leah patted his chest. “Just don’t fall over.” She turned and began to walk back down the hall, acting as if she was drunk. Almost toppling over at one point, Leah looked as if she was going to walk into the tall man. He put his hands out to stop her, yet nothing could prepare him for what happened next.

As she “fell” into him, Leah drove her knee forcefully into his stomach, doubling the man over. Stepping to the side, Leah slammed her hand in a knife-edge strike across the back of his neck. The man slumped to the floor. Leah knelt down and rolled the man onto his back, checking his pulse as she searched him.

“…Is he…?” Inno was walking better now, suddenly more sober than before.

“He’s alive – I’m not in the habit of killing people just for the sake of it,” Leah said as Inno handed her the cell phone. She pulled a pistol of Russian origin from out of his jacket and a small identity wallet. Leah looked at it as she called Alison. “You’ll have to read that – it’s all gobbledygook to me.” Inno looked at the documentation in the wallet.

“Diplomatic Service,” He spat. “Pah! FSB!” Leah nodded as the call was connected.

“Alison, it’s me,” she said. “We have an unwanted that needs to be looked after for a few days at the Cresswell Hotel…okay.” Leah ended the call and looked at Inno. “You know what Inno, why don’t you stay with us for tonight?”

* * * *

Pilgrim Street Police Station
2009

Two hours of trawling through data files and intelligence reports had left Leah with a mountain of paperwork at her side but no real leads. The house in West Jesmond had been rented by someone using the name John Banfield – however the fingerprints on the documents belonged to a man by the name of Milos Pelevin, or Johann Blanc, Jack White, Miles Furman or anyone of a number of assumed names that flashed up on the screen.

After searching through numerous databases, Leah realised that the elusive John Banfield – which was the name she was going to stick with in her mind – was wanted by Interpol, the FBI and a variety of regional crime units across Europe. Primarily he seemed to be something of an ironmonger, dealing weapons through the black market, but it appeared he’d dipped his toes into people trafficking and money laundering as an unhealthy sideline. As she leaned back in the uncomfortable chair and ran her hands through her hair the telephone in her pocket began to buzz. She answered it without looking at the display.

“Andrew, I’m a little…”

“Not Andrew,” the voice sounded so loud, even over the tiny speaker in the earpiece. “Inno!”

“Inno, look, now isn’t a good time…” Leah said.

“Da, Andrew told me,” Inno replied. Leah paused for a minute. She could hear Inno chewing on something – probably a sandwich. “Listen, I might be able to help you with your…problem if you can assist me with a situation I am faced with.”

“Okay,” Leah said, intrigue getting the better of her. Or is it desperation? “What exactly did Andrew tell you?”

* * * *

Page 167 of Infection

“I can’t fucking believe you did that!” Alex screamed as she hit Bruce in the face with her fist. He fell into the mud that lined the riverbank with a dull splat sound. “I can’t believe you’d be that fucking selfish!” She kicked him in the side – the tip of her boot dug into his ribs.

“Alex, listen, we need to move…” Dan said, looking around nervously. “Let’s just…”

“What? No! No – I am not going to leave this until later,” Alex screamed. “This bastard almost killed my kids!” She turned to look at Bruce. “You sick, selfish fuck!” Her words were punctuated with more kicks being driven into Bruce’s stomach as he lay on the floor in a foetal position. “How could you do that? How could you drive the car into the river with the girls in there with you?”

“Have you seen what’s going on out here?” Bruce whined. “What’s the point? What’s the point to anything?”

“The point is that they’re your kids as well you stupid son of a bitch!” The volume in Alex’s voice was provoking interest from around Them. Dan turned around and watched the tree line – he could pick out the faint sounds of their approach coupled with a barely audible low moan. “You’ve done some fucked up things to me while we were together, but this is the worst…”

“Alex, we need to go now!” Dan said, grabbing her arm and twisting her to face him. “Look!” he pointed to the tree line.

She saw them – shambling husks of what were once living, breathing people, now twisted into some corrupt parody of themselves. Grey skin already beginning to hang from the bones, eyes recessed into their skulls, limbs bloated as the blood within them coagulated and began to harden. They lurched from the trees, attracted to the sound of the verbal conflict. One of them lunged for a bird that was eating at the carrion remains of a rabbit – the bird simply flapped its wings and avoided the grasp of those lifeless hands.

“If you care about your kids at all we have to get the fuck out of here now!” Dan’s grip on Alex’s arm was enough, combined with his tone, to convince her that he was right.

“What about…?” she gestured towards Bruce, now crying as he lay in the mud.

“Leave him,” Dan said. “He made his choice when he drove the car into the river – if he’s got a death wish then they,” he pointed at the reanimated corpses moving ever closer. “will be more than happy to grant it to him.” Dan released his grip on her arm. Alex looked over at the car – she could see the figures of her three daughters huddled together inside, soaking wet and wrapped in a blanket. She knew he was right – survival was their only goal and this was just stopping them from achieving it.

“Okay, one last thing…” Alex reached for the pistol wedged in the back of Dan’s trousers. By the time he realised what she was doing, she was already pointing it at Bruce.

“Alex – don’t!” A single gunshot rang out – followed by high-pitched screams. Dan looked down at Bruce – who was now clutching his knee, bloody pouring between his fingers. Alex handed the gun back to him. The undead were now in what could be described as reaching a fever-pitch, their moaning creating an unwelcome piece of background music to events.

“You didn’t say I had to make it easy for him to get away from them did you?” She muttered as she walked towards the car.

Leah closed the draft copy of the book that Andrew had left for her and closed her eyes, trying to get some sleep. The flight would be landing in Dagestan in the next few hours and Inno would be waiting for her at the airport.

* * * *

“What happens when we decide to have kids?” Leah’s skin was tingling as she lay in Andrew’s arms, basking in the post-coital glow. She thought about rolling away from him, but at that moment, there wasn’t another place in the world she would rather have been. She looked at the wedding ring on her finger and the dress hanging on the back of the door.

“What do you mean?” She asked in response to his question.

“Well, how much maternity leave do you get? Oh, and I should warn you that twins run in my family.”

“I don’t know – I’ve never really looked into it,” She replied. “I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

“The cake was nice,” Andrew said. The sudden chance in topic threw Leah slightly.

“What? The wedding cake?”

“Yeah – what did you think I was talking about?”

“I don’t know – you just caught me off guard.” Leah took a deep breath. “You know, you’ve never asked me.”

“Asked you what?”

“About what I’m going to do in the future.”

“Okay, I’m going to seem incredibly thick now, but I have no clue what you’re talking about.” Andrew said, looking down at his wife as she rested her head on his chest.

“You’ve never asked me to give up my job.”

“Why on earth would I do that?” Andrew sounded shocked. “You love your job and you’re good at it.”

“But, if we start a family…”

“Then we’ll figure it out – you forget, I’m at home most of the time apart from the odd signing tour so I can look after the kids.” He paused. “I’m actually looking forward to being a house husband.”

“Seriously? You’re not going to tell me to give up my job and do something less…dangerous?” Leah twisted her body around so she was looking up at him.

“Leah, I’m sure that there will come a time when you decide that you’ve had enough of what you do and you decide to walk away,” Andrew was idly stroking her long brown hair. “But you have to make that decision for yourself, no one else can make it for you. If I roll up and say “You must resign” then it will just generate resentment between the pair of us. I didn’t marry you because you’re a door mat. You challenge me, you stand up to me – that’s why we fit together so well – you put up with my crap and I put up with your crap.”

“What?” Leah laughed. “That’s how you view our relationship?”

“Yeah – in a nutshell.” Andrew replied. “Now, do you want to go and get some breakfast?”

“Can we just stay in bed?”

The sensation of the plane landing jarred Leah back to the waking world, interrupting her dream. Once she had gathered her thoughts she made her way through customs and into the arrivals lounge. Just as he said he would, Innokenty Annenskij was waiting for her.

Nearly 75 now, he walked with a stick but his personality was just as vibrant as always. He hugged Leah enthusiastically – but there was a sombre look about his face.

“I hope this was worth three flights and sixteen hours travelling Inno,” Leah said as they walked to the car waiting for them in the cold evening.

“I am hopeful that I will have something for you within twenty four hours,” Inno replied. His business-like manner was unusual – Leah realised that this was the Inno she hadn’t met before. The retired Colonel was being pushed to the fore in one last hurrah. “However, my matter must take precedence.” He seemed tense as he handed over some pieces of paper to her. The car pulled away from the waiting area, carefully negotiating the traffic around the airport.

“A week ago my son in law was murdered, my daughter hospitalised and my granddaughter kidnapped,” Leah looked at the photographs. “Sascha is recovering in hospital, however the authorities have failed to locate Irina yet.”

“Inno, I don’t want to sound harsh, but you know that she’s probably…”

“No!” The big Russian barked at Leah. He was struggling to keep his emotions in check. “No – she is alive.” He handed her another piece of paper – a photograph of a young girl holding a newspaper up. The date matched that of whatever time zone Leah now found herself in. Looking into that angelic face, Leah realised she could be looking at her own daughter. “They demanded a ransom, but I suspect this goes deeper than just this.”

“You think this is some sort of reprisal for your book, right? Like in the hotel all those years ago?”

“Da. I have a jet standing by to take her and her mother away from all this.” Inno picked up a bag that was sitting next to him. “I can’t trust anyone else at the minute – Russian Mafia have their fingers in everything as well as FSB. This was all I could muster in the short time I had to prepare.” Leah looked inside – two small grenades and what looked like a pistol sat inside. There also appeared to be some sort of dark coloured jumpsuit and gloves.

“I won’t need these,” Leah replied, handing the grenades back to him. “It’s better if I keep things quiet.” She took the pistol out of the bag and attached the silencer that had been provided. “Inno, understand that if I do this…”

“If you get my granddaughter back for me then I promise you that I will deliver the man you are after directly to you.” Inno said. “If it’s a matter of money…”

“Come on Inno, you know me well enough by now - it’s not about money – I’ll get Irina back for you,” Leah replied. “Although, I may need one further favour afterwards.”

“Whatever you ask, I will do my best to provide.” He handed her a small map. “Now, my sources tell me that Irina is being held in a farmhouse just outside Kizlyar…”

* * * *

Tuesday

Andrew sat at his desk and typed away furiously on the keyboard. His mind was trying to focus on what he was doing rather than thinking about his wife was possibly doing. He had spoken to Inno after Leah had landed without her knowledge to check that she had arrived safely. He hated the idea of not telling her that he knew exactly what Inno wanted her to do and what he was offering in exchange, but he couldn’t fault the man for going outside the normal authorities under the circumstances.

There was a tap on his shoulder. Andrew saw Cassie standing in her pyjamas, holding a small, green cuddly toy in her hand.

“I had a nightmare Dad. Baby Cthulhu didn’t stop it this time.” She rubbed her eyes as Andrew looked up at the clock on the wall. 11:45 pm.

“Aww, come here Princess.” Andrew lifted her up onto his lap. “Do you want to watch some YouTube clips?” Cassie nodded. Andrew repositioned her on his lap so he could operate the keyboard at the same time as hold onto her. “Okay, just remember, if Mommy finds out about this then she’ll kill Daddy, so it’s our little secret.” Cassie nodded. “Okay – shall we start with Denis Leary’s MTV Unplugged?”

“I like the song with the rude words.” Cassie said. Andrew chuckled.

“Yeah, I like that song as well…”

* * * *

It’s been awhile, but I can still do silent – and I like the dark.

Lurking in the bushes that ran along one side of the farmhouse, Leah watched and waited. Inno’s intelligence suggested no more than six men. Three of them seemed to be prowling around the exterior – one lagging behind the other two.

As he walked past the bush two hands reached out – one clamping across his mouth, the other grabbing his shoulder. By the time he had been dragged into the bush his companions were ten feet away – there was a dull snapping sound that neither of them took much notice of.

Tom once saw me in action in the field and told me that I had a green thumb for violence. I think he meant it as a complement – but I always thought it was more like a warning. All I know is that it stung like hell at the time. It still does. My daughter has a green thumb for roses.

Her feet were swift – Leah covers the ground from her hiding place to the two men in a few seconds. There’s just enough room between them for her to slip right by them. The shocked expressions on their faces are soon wiped out and both her hands flash out, striking with deadly force in knife-edge strikes, crushing their tracheas in a sudden burst of movement. Both men died within thirty seconds of each other, their brains starved of oxygen by Leah’s simultaneous attack.

Yes – I can fight and yes, I’m good at it. But the hurting – I never enjoyed that. I know others who do. If you’re gifted in a terrible discipline then every time you face someone, you face them in the knowledge that you can break bones. Displace their arms in their sockets. Blind them. Cripple them. Kill them when necessary.

No matter how joyous and loving a life I lead - it’s always there; the worm inside the apple. Shake hands with a new person and I instinctively take note of the nerve clusters and pressure points. Go out with friends for dinner and I know how easily I could take them out in less time than it takes to order the wine.

It took Leah a few minutes to drag the bodies out of sight. Less time than it took to kill them.

Make love to a man who you’d give your life for – who has demonstrated he would do the same for you in a truly grand manner - and seeing him so exposed – so vulnerable…

I’m sick of it.

Creeping into the house, careful not to alert anyone to her presence, Leah’s senses were at their peak. She had withdrawn the pistol from the makeshift holster on the side of the right leg of the jumpsuit – which was marginally too big for her – and swept through the ground floor of the building.

As Leah moved level with a closed door, she paused to listen. There was the sound of water running, coupled with a flushing noise. Pressing herself against the wall next to where the door would open, she waited. Her ears picked out the sound of the bolt sliding across, and then the door opened.

Leah’s leg swung up, striking the man in the stomach. As he doubled over from the strike Leah drove her fist into the back of his skull, just at the critical junction of the spine. He fell to the floor with a small grunt, his lifeless eyes looking out at the world.

You can’t compartmentalise a lifetime of learning where to place your fist to cause maximum damage just because you might be in polite company.

And when you’re fighting for your life all those practice runs want to come to play. There’s a part of me that’s like a sword – and sooner or later it wants to be unsheathed.

My training isn’t about restraint – it isn’t about remorse. I remind myself that every bone I break, every life I take here gives Inno’s granddaughter a better chance to see tomorrow. I can’t think of these men as human – not with what I have to do. I’ve become what I least wanted to be.

Can I forgive myself?

Dragging him back into the toilet – and almost retching at the smell – Leah finished sweeping around the ground floor. It was empty.

A green thumb for violence? Screw you Tom, I never wanted this. I have all I ever wanted at home.

Is that enough?

I have a man at home who I love more than anything and two children who are beautiful – a picture perfect family.

Can I walk away from this? Can I step back from the precipice, from a fall that is finite and complete?

They hadn’t even bothered to disguise the entrance to the cellar. Lifting it up, Leah advanced into the dimly lit room. She heard two voices – both speaking in Russian. As she reached the bottom of the stairs Leah noted that both men were looking at something on the table, their backs towards her. She then saw the frail figure of Irina in the corner of the room. There was a rope attached to her ankle that was secured to the wall and her hands were tied together in front of her.

The young girl’s eyes went wide – Leah put her finger to her lips to try to prevent her from screaming. The girl seemed to understand, whether by instinct or some sort of experience, that Leah wasn’t here to hurt her. Leah then gestured that she should cover her eyes with her hands.

Irina heard two sounds that were almost like someone coughing. The next thing she felt was a pair of hands untying the rope from her ankles and wrist. Irina looked up at the brown haired woman dressed in black from behind her hands. She smiled at her.

“Your grandfather sent me to collect you,” Leah said in Russian, remembering the phrase Inno had taught her in the car before she had left. “He’s waiting for you.” Irina offered no resistance to Leah as she picked the child up. She could feel the girl shaking in her arms as Leah left the farmhouse. By the time she had reached the car, the girl was clinging to her like a limpet.

Any doubts Leah had about her course of action that night were wiped away the moment she saw the expression on Inno’s face when she opened the passenger door with his granddaughter in her arms.

* * * *

Kizlyar

12 hours later

“Andrew, it’s me,” Leah knew the time delay meant it was still early in the morning back in England. “I haven’t got long because I’m at a payphone,”

“You’re on your way home then?”

“Almost – I have one more thing to sort out, then I’ll be back.” Leah replied. “Look, you were right.”

“About what?”

“About needing to decide for myself about when it was time to quit.” Leah said. “I love you baby and I’ll be coming home soon – for good.” She listened to Andrew as he reciprocated her feelings and then hung up. As she walked away from the phone booth a car pulled up. Leah opened the passenger door; Inno was squashed into the driver’s seat.

“Did you make your phone call?” Inno asked. Leah nodded. “Good – now I take you to Mr Banfield.”

* * * *

On the outskirts of Kizlyar, just on the edge of the border between Dagestan and Chechnya, was an old military compound. The signs that adorned the approach to it clearly indicated that it had once been one of the Soviet Union’s foremost radar bases. However, like the cold war, the passage of time had not been kind to the building.

Many of the outhouses were lacking roofs; graffiti adorned the walls, demonstrating everything from support for the old communist regime, the town’s local prostitutes and the fortunes of the two football teams supported by the population of Kizlyar.

As the sun began to dip below the horizon, Leah found herself inside one of the buildings that still had a serviceable roof. In the middle of the room a hooded figure was shackled to a chair. As she studied him, Inno handed her a set of keys and the pistol she had used the previous evening.

“We have five minutes.” He said. “I will be waiting in the car.”

“I’ll be done in two.” Leah replied. Inno nodded and walked out of the room. Leah approached the figure and pulled the hood from his head. His mouth had a piece of duct tape across it, stifling his screams. She recognised the face from the file she had compiled. Thin features, dirty blonde hair and eyes that were momentarily squinting from the daylight in the room.

“Okay – let’s make this quick,” She said, folding her arms in front of her and making sure he saw she was armed. “You go by the name of John Banfield right?” He shook his head. The butt of the pistol cracked against the side of his skull. “Don’t bother trying to lie to me, Mr Banfield, White, Furman or whatever name you’re currently using – I know exactly who you are.”

Leah walked around behind him and pressed the barrel of the pistol into the back of his skull. Banfield moved his head from side to side, trying in vain to move away from it.

“You know, I spent half of the flight getting here thinking about how I’d kill you,” Leah whispered into his ear. “Should I shoot you? Should I choke the life out of you? Break your neck perhaps? Or should I set you on fire, so you suffer the same way those people suffered with your little jury-rigged booby trap back in Newcastle?” She pulled the gun away from the back of his head and walked round to face him again.

“However, my husband made a good point in his own special way,” Leah said as she dangled the keys to the handcuffs in front of Banfield’s eyes. “There are worse fates than death.” She grabbed the chair and rotated it ninety degrees so that Banfield was facing the window. Through the broken pane of glass they could both see a stream of headlights winding down a narrow road that led to the old military complex.

“That’s an FSB snatch squad that’s been tipped off that you’re here.” Leah hissed. “They seem to have received some evidence that you were responsible for supplying the Chechens with the weapons used in the death of the Russian Foreign Minister two months ago.” She walked behind the chair again, pressing the pistol into the back of Banfield’s head once more. He heard a clicking noise – then his hands were free. They went straight to the duct tape.

“Not just yet,” Leah threatened. Banfield’s hands moved slowly to his sides. A scrawny built man, Leah knew he wouldn’t pose a threat to her even if he escaped the cuffs that attached his ankles to the chair. She walked back around into his field of view. “I understand that they have a nice little cell lined up for you in one of their compounds in the north of the country. I’m a fair sort of person – I’ve decided not to kill you and I’ll even give you the chance to see if you can escape the FSB before they arrive.”

Leah threw the keys to the shackles to him. “However, I never said it would be a fair race.” Just as Banfield caught them, she bought the pistol up and fired once. The bullet struck him in the kneecap. Banfield’s eyes were wide as his screams were deadened by the duct tape. He writhed on the chair, swinging back and forth until he ended up toppling over. Leah took another look out of the window – the column of vehicles was getting closer.

Without a backwards glance, Leah left, the sound of Banfield’s agonisingly desperate attempts to free himself filling the room.

* * * *

Wednesday

11:30 pm

The sound of the door closing was greeted by silence. Leah put her suitcase down in the hallway and slipped off her shoes, finding the wood beneath her feet both familiar and cool. As she padded along the hallway Leah could smell the feint aroma of Colombian coffee sitting in the percolator. Opening the door to the dining room, she saw Andrew hunched over the computer, his fingers dancing around the keyboard. He looked over his shoulder at her.

“Hey, you’re back!” Andrew got up out of his chair and embraced his wife. He could feel the tension in her limbs as she held him tightly. “I didn’t think you were getting back until tomorrow morning – why didn’t you call? We’d have picked you up from the airport…”

“It’s late – the kids are in bed. I thought it was easier to get a cab,” Leah replied, her face buried in his shoulder. “Besides I had to stop by the office first.” She relinquished her grip on Andrew’s torso to reach into her jacket pocket. A moment later she presented Andrew with the picture she had taken from her desk. He held it in his hand for a moment as Leah turned around and walked out of the dining room. “Was that fresh coffee I could smell in the kitchen?”

“Yeah – it’s about half an hour old,” Andrew said, looking at the picture in his hands before following her. Neither of them spoke as Leah poured herself a cup of the thick black liquid. Andrew looked at the image in the small frame saying World’s Best Mom and realised the significance of it. As he put the picture down on the unit he watched as Leah drained the cup, pausing to refill it. “Are you okay?”

“No,” Leah answered. “But I will be.” She looked at Andrew. “Sarah has quit as my assistant,” he looked at the picture again. “She was offered a job as an editor at Random House. I suggested she took it.”

“So, you have anyone in mind for that vacancy?”

“Maybe,” Andrew replied, moving over to his wife and wrapping his arms around her again. “I’ll need to interview you, assess your skills, determine what your best attributes are…”

“Oh really?” Leah smiled – the first time she had smiled in several days.

“Yeah – but the pay sucks, the hours are long, the holiday entitlement is lousy and I’m a horrible boss…”

“I think I’ll manage,” She quipped. “My husband is a writer as well you know – I’m used to dealing with you artistic types.”

“Really? When can you start?” Andrew said as Leah pretended to look like she was thinking. “How about first thing tomorrow?”

“That’s perfect as I’m in between jobs right now.” Leah said. She kissed Andrew and found herself looking into his eyes.

“Great,” Andrew reached over and switched off the coffee machine. The gurgling sound died away as he kissed Leah once more. “In which case we need to get to bed – you start at nine tomorrow morning and I hate people who are tardy on the first day.”