Narov had left a bundle lying on the table. Something about it struck Jaeger as familiar. The grey man pushed it across to him.
‘Take a look. You need to see this. You need to see this to understand why you have no choice but to help us.’
Jaeger reached out, but even as he did so, he sensed with chilling certainty what lay before him. It was Luke’s SAVE THE RHINO T-shirt, the one he had got during their family safari to East Africa a few years back. The three of them had trekked across the moonlit savannah amongst herds of giraffe, wildebeest and, best of all, rhinos – their favourite animal. It had been utterly magical. The perfect family holiday. The T-shirts some of their most precious mementoes.
And now this.
Jaeger’s aching, bloodied fingers grasped at the thin cotton. He lifted it up and held it close to his face, his pulse pounding in his ears. He felt as if his heart was going to burst. Tears pricked his eyes.
They had his family – the murderous, merciless, sick bastards.
‘You must understand – there is no need for any of this.’ The grey man’s words cut through Jaeger’s tortured thoughts. ‘All we need is some answers. You give me the answers we seek, and we reunite you with your loved ones. That is all I ask. What could be easier?’
Jaeger felt his teeth grinding against each other. His jaw locked solid. His muscles were taut with tension as he fought against the blind urge to lash out; to strike back. He knew where it would get him. His hands had been bound with duct tape again, and he could feel the thugs’ eyes upon him, willing him to make the first move.
He had to await his chance. Sooner or later they would make a mistake and then he would strike.
The grey man spread his hands invitingly. ‘So, Mr Jaeger, in an effort to help your family, please tell me: when will your friends be arriving? Who exactly are we to expect? And how are we to recognise them?’
Jaeger felt a war explode within his head. He was being torn in opposite directions. Was he to sell out his closest friends? Betray his fellow warriors? Or lose the only chance he had of seeing Ruth and Luke again?
Screw it, he told himself. Narov had betrayed him. She was supposedly on the side of the angels, but it had all been an act. She had sold him out as no one ever had before.
Who was there left that he could trust?
Jaeger’s mouth opened. At the last moment, he choked back the words. If he let them break him, he was betraying his loved ones.
He would never betray his wife and child.
He had to hold firm.
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
The grey man raised both eyebrows. It was the nearest that Jaeger had seen him come to any kind of spontaneous reaction. Clearly he was surprised.
‘I am a reasonable, patient man,’ he breathed. ‘I will give you another chance. I will offer your family another chance.’ A pause. ‘Tell me, when will your friends be arriving? Who exactly are we to expect? And how are we to recognise them?’
‘I cannot answer—’
‘Look, if you will not cooperate, things will become very difficult for you. For your family. So it is very simple. Give me the answers. When will your friends arrive? Who exactly are they? How will we know them?’
‘I cannot—’
The grey man cut Jaeger off with a snap of the fingers. He glanced in the direction of his thugs. ‘Enough. It is over. Take him away.’
The black bag was whipped over Jaeger’s head; he felt his chin slammed on to his chest and his arms jammed together.
An instant later he was on his feet, being dragged from the room like a broken rag doll.
20
Behind the glass partition, Narov shuddered. She watched in horrified fascination as Jaeger’s hooded form was dragged from the room. The two-way mirror offered her a perfect view of proceedings.
‘You are not enjoying this, I think?’ a voice ventured.
It was Peter Miles, the elderly man whom Jaeger had presumed had been shot dead in the woods.
‘I am not,’ Narov muttered. ‘I thought it was necessary, but… Does it have to go on? To the bitter end?’
The old man spread his hands. ‘You are the one who told us he needed to be tested. This blockage he has over his wife and child… this utter desperation; this guilt. It can drive a man to contemplate what he would never normally do. Love is a powerful emotion; love of a child perhaps the most powerful of all.’
Narov slumped lower in her seat.
‘It is not for too much longer,’ Peter Miles offered. ‘The biggest test – he is surely through it. If he had failed that, he would not be joining us.’
Narov nodded morosely, her mind lost in a swirl of dark thoughts.
There was a knock at the door. A much older, wizened figure entered. He planted his walking stick firmly inside the doorway, concern etched in his gaze. He looked to be in his nineties, but under his thick, bushy brows his eyes remained beady and alert.
‘You are done here, I think?’
Peter Miles massaged his forehead exhaustedly. ‘Almost. Thank God. Just a short while and we will know for certain.’
‘But was this all really necessary?’ the old man queried. ‘I mean, remember who his grandfather was.’
Miles glanced at Narov. ‘Irina seemed to believe it was. Remember, she has served with him in high-stress situations – in the heat of combat – and has witnessed how his nerve can sometimes appear to falter.’
A flash of anger blazed through the old man’s eyes. ‘He has been through so much! He may falter, but he’ll never break. Never! He is my nephew, and a Jaeger.’
‘I know,’ Miles conceded. ‘But I think you understand my meaning.’
The old man shook his head. ‘No man should have to suffer what he has been put through these past few years.’
‘And we’re unsure what effect that has had upon him long-term. Hence Narov’s concerns. Hence the present… procedures.’
The old man glanced at Narov. Surprisingly, there was a kindly look in his eyes. ‘My dear – cheer yourself. What will be will be.’
‘I’m sorry, Uncle Joe,’ she murmured. ‘Perhaps my fears are misplaced. Unfounded.’
The old man’s face softened. ‘He comes from good stock, my dear.’
Narov glanced at the silvery-haired man. ‘He has not placed a foot wrong, Uncle. He has not let anyone down, all through the testing. I fear I was mistaken.’
‘What will be will be,’ the old man echoed. ‘And perhaps Peter is right. It is perhaps best we are absolutely certain.’
He turned to leave, pausing in the doorway. ‘But if he does fall at the final hurdle, promise me one thing. Do not tell him. Let him leave this place without ever knowing that it was we who tested him, and that he… failed us.’
The old man stepped out of the observation room, leaving a final comment hanging in the air.
‘After all he has been through, that knowledge – it would break him.’
21
Jaeger expected to be dragged back into the stress room. Instead he was steered left for several seconds, before being brought to a sudden halt. There was a different smell in the air now: disinfectant, and the unmistakable reek of stale urine.
‘Toilet,’ his captor barked. ‘Use the toilet.’
Ever since his ordeal had started, Jaeger had been forced to piss wherever he stood or squatted. Now he unbuttoned his overalls with his bound hands, leant against the wall and relieved himself in the direction of the urinal. The black bag had still not been removed, so he had to pee blind.
There was a sudden conspiratorial whisper. ‘You look like I feel, mate. Bastards in here, aren’t they?’