The man eyed-up Dylan suspiciously. “You got your owner’s manual?”
“All the papers are in the glove box.”
“Come this way. I’ll show you what we’ve got.”
Dylan followed him, so Sarah and Joseph strolled into the waiting room to sit down. It wasn’t exactly the nicest place Sarah had been – it was cramped, and contained plastic chairs and a coffee-table strewn with out-of-date car magazines. It smelled of metallic cleaning chemicals, and the TV in the corner was blaring out a twenty-four-hour news channel.
Sarah and Joseph tried to get comfortable on the hard plastic seats.
“Do you really think we were being followed?” Sarah asked. “Or is your brother just keen to change his car?”
Joseph chuckled. “I’m not sure. He usually knows what he’s doing. Do you know why we’re going to Essex?”
Sarah’s jaw dropped. “Didn’t he tell you?”
“No. He said he wanted to introduce me to someone. But I’ve no idea who.”
“Well… I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.”
They shared a smile. “He’s good guy, you know,” Joseph said. “I know he acts tough, but… he cares about people.”
“I know.”
They both allowed their gaze to drift to the TV screen, and shock gripped Sarah’s muscles as she saw Orlov on the news, talking casually to the press. He seemed to be charming their socks off. He was incredibly attractive...
Sarah shook herself out it, then she stood up to increase the volume.
Orlov spoke with a cool Russian accent. “I am determined to find this person who k
illed my darling Natalia. I will not rest until justice has been served for her.”
Joseph halted by Sarah’s side, mesmerised by the TV. “Do you think he killed her?”
“I think he had a hand in it. Did Dylan tell you who Natalia was working for?”
“No?”
“From what I gather she was part of an anti-government rebel group. I guess Orlov didn’t realise that when he married her. He must be feeling pretty stupid right now.”
Joseph’s brow furrowed. “So… if that information was discovered by his gang, he’d be a dead man?”
“Yeah – his ‘gang’ being the Russian government. But I guess they wouldn’t be too pleased, no.”
“Hmm…”
“What?”
“Well… if he knows that we know Natalia’s true identity… maybe he’d want us dead too?”
Sarah’s skin tried to crawl into her bones with fear. “No one said they wanted us dead, did they?”
Joseph opened his mouth to reply, but Dylan strode back in, twirling a key around his finger. “Okay, you two? Let’s get out of here.”
Sarah unglued herself from the grubby floor, and followed him and Joseph back to the forecourt, where Dylan unlocked a shiny blue four-by-four. “Hop in.”
They travelled on the freeway in silence for a while, as Sarah tried to make sense of all this. She gazed at the green fields and trees whooshing past at eighty miles-an-hour. Then she glanced at Dylan, who was still getting used to the new car. “Me and Joseph just saw Orlov on the TV,” she said.
Dylan tensed. “Oh yeah?”