The pair had driven around town for twenty minutes after losing their tail. Jack wanted to be absolutely sure they were no longer being followed. After a short time, turning at random at junctions and roundabouts, he had even questioned whether they were being followed at all. What would anyone want with a kid like Ivan? Even a creepy weirdo would find the boy unsettling, no matter what his intentions.
‘It doesn’t look like Mum and Dad are in,’ said Ivan, gesturing at the empty driveway.
Jack wasn’t disappointed to hear this. He found both Mr and Mrs Savage somewhat intense. That evening he had come round to collect Sasha, he discovered that every time he glanced at one of them they were already looking at him.
‘That’s a shame,’ he said all the same. ‘Your parents are sweet.’
Ivan glanced at Jack. He looked like he was going to say something, but then seemed to think better of it.
‘They look out for us,’ he said instead, and opened up the front door. ‘Are you sure you want the same tea as last time?’
‘Sure do.’ Jack followed him inside. ‘So, will you tell your parents about the van?’
‘Of course,’ said Ivan. ‘Whoever it is will be sorry. My dad will make sure of that.’
As the boy led the way through the hallway, voices could be heard from the kitchen. Jack recognised Sasha’s laugh, and a shriek from her younger sister. It was a surprise to find her grandfather in their company, looking like he’d travelled from the past to join them. Both he and Sasha were working on something at the kitchen counter. With their backs to the door, it was only Katya who registered that they were in company. She sat on the floor behind them, and gurgled as the two boys filed in.
‘Hey there,’ said Jack. ‘What’s cooking?’
‘What?’ Sasha spun around, followed by her grandfather. Seeing Ivan with him, they both spread their arms as if attempting to hide something behind them. ‘You startled us!’
‘Evidently,’ said Ivan, who calmly crossed the kitchen for a better look.
‘That’s close enough!’ cried Sasha. ‘Seriously, you don’t want to see this.’
Ivan stopped in his tracks. He tipped his head, straining to see what was on the counter.
‘Is this a feast?’ he asked, with just a glance over his shoulder at Jack.
‘Back off, my boy,’ his grandfather warned, jabbing a finger at the same time. ‘It isn’t what you think.’
Sasha stood with her eyes wide open. She glanced at Ivan, then Jack, before swinging round to the toddler on the floor.
‘Cheese!’ cried Kat. ‘Cheese!’
‘Did she say cheese?’ asked Ivan. ‘Mince is her only word.’
‘It’s a new one,’ said Sasha. ‘She’s expanded her vocabulary.’
‘Well, that’s great!’ declared Jack. ‘Good choice, Katya.’
‘Cheese!’
With everyone’s attention trained on the toddler, Sasha seized her moment. Without turning, and using one hand, she swept everything behind her into the waste disposal unit.
‘What is that?’ asked Ivan, who looked up smartly as Sasha hit the switch and the unit started grinding. ‘You’re hiding something. What is it?’
‘Cheese!’
This time, it was Oleg who attempted to regain control of the situation.
‘Kat just told you.’ Stepping forward, he looked his grandson in the eye. ‘It’s halloumi, to be precise. We were just about to grill some for a salad.’
‘With mint is good,’ suggested Jack, only to find himself ignored.
‘Halloumi,’ repeated Ivan, as if to be sure he’d heard it right. ‘And that is what?’
‘It’s quite salty,’ Jack persisted, hoping to be helpful. ‘Vegetarians love it, but it’s off the menu for me nowadays. I don’t do goat’s cheese or any other dairy product. It’s a vegan thing.’
Jack stopped there, anticipating some attention or even respect. Instead, Ivan continued to stare at the pair across the kitchen.
‘This salad,’ he said eventually. ‘Does it contain any meat? Some chicken, perhaps?’
Oleg held his gaze for a moment longer before shaking his head.
‘None at all,’ he said. ‘Sasha hasn’t eaten meat for the last month.’
‘You can thank me for that,’ said Jack, and touched his chest with one hand. ‘Didn’t I tell you there’d be no going back?’
‘Jack,’ said Sasha quietly, and flashed him a look of anger. ‘Not now.’
This wasn’t an expression he had seen in her before. There was something ferocious, even barbarian, behind her eyes. Jack’s first thought was that she couldn’t be serious.
‘That’s no way to talk to your boyfriend,’ he said. ‘Have some respect.’
In response, and without a blink, Sasha reached for the paring knife on the counter. Jack waited for her to go back to slicing the halloumi. Instead, and it took a second for him to comprehend this, she stepped right up to him. Even with the blade just resting casually at her side, Sasha looked completely different to him. She said nothing, didn’t even appear to be aware of what she was holding, and yet she possessed this purpose and intensity to her gaze that Jack didn’t like one bit.
All of a sudden, the girl he had regarded as a plaything and a project now faced him as a threat.
‘But you made it through the month,’ he insisted, hoping that by returning to the subject that started all this Sasha would come back to her senses. ‘You crossed over,’ he added, spreading his hands to reason with her. ‘Welcome to my world!’
‘No,’ said Ivan, in a way that drew Jack’s attention straight away. Despite the air of calm in his voice, the boy’s eyes were hardened just like Sasha’s, to the point where they looked like they could turn to flint. ‘Welcome to ours.’
The mole stood before Titus Savage looking utterly betrayed. Here was the man who had risked everything to provide inside information on the company’s fortunes, and this is how he was being repaid.
‘You’re firing me?’ he asked in disbelief, and pushed his glasses back up his nose. ‘But you promised me a job at the end of all this.’
‘There aren’t any jobs,’ said Titus. ‘I’m breaking up the business and selling off what’s left. It’s worth more to me like that.’
‘Mr Savage. This isn’t what we agreed.’
Titus was sitting behind the Chief Executive’s desk. The office had glass walls. It looked out across an open-plan floor, much of which was in the process of being emptied.
‘So, what are you going to do?’ he asked finally. ‘Complain that I haven’t kept my side of a completely illegal agreement with you?’
The mole had no response. He didn’t want to go to jail, even if Titus went with him.
‘Please,’ he said eventually, his voice small and wavering.
Titus didn’t look up, focusing instead on signing transportation documents.
‘Are you still here?’ he asked eventually. ‘Don’t make me call for security.’
‘Security has gone,’ said the mole. ‘You fired them as well.’
‘Did I?’ Titus set down his pen. Then he rose to his feet, towering over the man across the desk from him. ‘You’ll appreciate that if I have to escort you from the building it will involve less than professional methods.’
‘But you swore to me that I’d be safe,’ said the mole, who took a step backwards. ‘Please! What do I tell my wife? My children? Everything I’ve done hasn’t left me feeling good about myself, but it’s all been for them!’
Titus continued to glower at him, but said nothing for a moment. It was as if this final plea was something he couldn’t ignore. Finally, with a sigh, he reached for his inside pocket.