I was overcome with grief, and I just held her, not knowing what to do. I cursed myself for leaving her here alone, for thinking this house was safe, and now finding her… like this.
She was cold but not in full rigor mortis, meaning she’d been murdered sometime during the night.
Sometime while I’d been out looking for Trapper.
I had to force my grief to one side and get my mind to focus. I pulled out my handgun and searched the house. But no one was here. I sat back down next to Chrissie and recalled what Zakaria told me.
The fact that Trapper wants you dead isn’t your biggest problem. What should concern you the most is that he’s told your colleagues and you that he wants that outcome.
And I remembered what Trapper told me last night.
It’s about flushing you out and doing so in a way that gets you on your own. And ultimately, Mr. Cochrane, it’s about punishing you.
Punishment.
Zakaria had suspected I was being taunted by Trapper so that I’d go after him. But I now realized he also suspected that Trapper wanted me to go after him because in doing so I’d leave behind people I care about. One of those people was the real target. I went after Sahir. Trapper killed him to keep his mouth permanently shut about their collaboration. And then Trapper went after Chrissie.
To punish me.
I felt like a fool.
And I had no idea how Trapper had gotten my cell phone number and the location of the safe house, and established that Chrissie and I were getting close. Nor did I know who Trapper was and why he was doing this to me.
That had to change.
I had to make Trapper pay for what he’d done.
But for now, I could no longer ignore my grief. I kept hold of Chrissie’s hand. She was dead because of me.
Dead.
I tried to clear my head, telling myself that I should call Patrick. But he’d come over here straightaway and sanitize the place. I knew it had to be done, but now I wanted a few moments with Chrissie before my life was completely erased from hers. I reached into my pocket, withdrew a tiny box, and flicked it open. I removed the pendant I’d bought for her yesterday, placed it in her hand, and brought her fingers over it.
I wanted her to hold on to it for as long as possible.
More tears ran down my face as I kissed her on the cheek and whispered, “Good-bye, my love.”
Acknowledgments
With thanks to my wife for being such an enthusiastic proofreader of my book; to my two brilliant mentors, David Highfill and Luigi Bonomi, and their second-to-none teams at William Morrow/HarperCollins publishers and LBA literary agency respectively; and to the lovely estate in the Scottish Highlands for enabling me to have the solitude to complete this novella amid inspirational surroundings.
About the Author
As an MI6 field officer, MATTHEW DUNN acted in deep-cover roles throughout the world. He was trained in all aspects of intelligence collection, deep-cover deployments, military unarmed combat, surveillance, and infiltration. During his time in MI6, Dunn conducted approximately seventy missions — all of them successful. He is the author of Spycatcher, Sentinel, Slingshot, and the forthcoming Dark Spies, all featuring Will Cochrane. He lives in England.