The Half Truth(69)

‘And you, my son, have just proved my point,’ said Martin scooping up his winnings. ‘A bad loser.’

‘Now, now, children,’ said John. ‘Anyway, don’t go getting too comfortable there.’ He nodded in Sasha’s direction. ‘We’re on the move soon.’

Martin looked up in surprise. ‘We are?’

‘Just a small relocation. I’m getting itchy feet here,’ said John. He looked at Martin, who nodded. John didn’t need to spell it out.

‘When? Where? What about Rozalina?’ Sasha got to his feet. ‘I do not like this. You are playing games with me.’

‘It’s on a need-to-know basis and you don’t need to know.’ John tipped his head briefly towards the kitchen and Martin followed him out.

‘What’s the score then?’ asked Martin.

‘Tomorrow afternoon we’re off to Battersea. Got a new pad there. We’ve been hanging around here for far too long, it’s making me twitchy.’

‘How do you mean?’

‘The Sovs. They might want their boy back home.’

Martin considered this for a moment. ‘Okay, I’ll head back to the office and catch up on the paperwork. Do a bit of housekeeping and check out our new pad. Make sure it’s all ready for tomorrow.’

‘Good idea.’

‘You okay here with our house guest for the night or do you want me to take over?’

‘No, I’ll be okay. We’ll be ready and waiting for you tomorrow lunch time.’

‘Right you are.’ Martin looked at John. ‘Look, mate, I know you’ve got a bee in your bonnet about getting the wife and kid over from Russia, but we can crack him without having to do that.’

John felt his jaw tighten. He knew what Martin was saying made sense, but he had a deal with Sasha; with Rozalina and Nikolay safe in the UK, Sasha would keep his mouth shut about the shooting incident.

‘I’ve made a deal with him. I’m not going back on it,’ said John.

‘All you need to do is remind him what will happen if he doesn’t co-operate. You know, if the Russians get hold of him, be it the Porboski lot or the police, he won’t be seen again for a long time, if ever. He’s got too much to lose to mess us about.’

‘As I said, I’m not backing out of the deal.’

‘Okay, have it your way.’ Martin turned to leave, pausing in the kitchen doorway. ‘What’s he got on you?’

‘That doesn’t even deserve an answer,’ said John. He matched Martin’s gaze with his own. Now wasn’t the time to give anything away.





Chapter 36


Tina had spent the last three days torn between waiting for John to contact her, as he had said he would, and wanting to contact him herself. She had barely been able to eat, such were her anxiety levels. It was as much as she could do to get up and take Dimitri to school.

John had arranged for a police car to make regular patrols of the road and to call at her door regularly to make sure she was okay. He was concerned about more Russians turning up.

Tina had phoned in sick to work, blaming a stomach bug and then a migraine. She wasn’t sure if they believed her, but at that moment she didn’t really care. Fay had left a message on her answer phone asking her if everything was all right, did she want Fay to pop round and help with Dimitri? Tina had managed to fob her off and assure her that Pam was there helping.

Tina knew there would be no way she could function at work. So many questions still swirled in her mind, but the one that she kept coming back to she had no answer for. What exactly had Sasha meant when he said she couldn’t trust everyone close to her? Was he just referring to himself or did he include John? Small shoots of doubt had taken root. She knew not everything added up with John, yet she couldn’t put her finger on anything specific. There was a small side of him that she didn’t know. She studied the text she had prepared to John asking him if he was okay. Did she want to send it? Her thumb hovered over the send icon before returning to the text message. She added two words. Ring me. This time she did push the send button.

‘Mummy,’ said Dimitri, coming to sit beside her on the sofa. ‘When is John coming back?’

‘I don’t know,’ she replied, as evenly as she could.

‘I like John,’ said Dimitri, picking fluff from his jumper and rolling it around into a ball in the palm of his hand. ‘I wish he was here.’

Tina went to answer, but the words caught in her throat. She wished he was here too, despite what Sasha had said, John was fast becoming her point of anchor. In her stormy life, after being tossed around like a small sailboat in an ocean of grief, John had guided her to a safe cove and she had weighed anchor.