5

Julien waited to make his move until guests started to leave. Once the dancing had begun, it was easier to slip away. When he reached his car, he found Denis crouching by the front wheel. Julien clicked the car and boot open. He put his unneeded glasses in the pocket of his jacket, dropped it in the boot and changed into a short coat. It would take a while for the car to warm up.

"Need me to drive?"

Denis asked.

"No. I only had one glass of champagne."

"Good because I had three."

Julien chuckled.

"You were amazingly fast."

Denis sat beside him. "I couldn't believe how quickly you reached the other side of the room. Very smooth work."

Julien grimaced as he set off. "Turned out not to be smooth. I was spotted."

"Shit! Really? But they didn't say anything? Well, obviously they didn't, but why not?"

"There was a price for staying quiet. Put St Alstan's into the satnav for me, would you? The price is meeting me there with the necklace."

"You don't have it?"

"No."

"Fuck! Who does?"

"Morozov's son, Ilya. Did you hear anything about him tonight?"

"I saw him getting escorted out of the ballroom by a bigger guy. Did you see that?"

"Yes."

"There wasn't much chatter among the waiting staff about anyone. We were too busy. But there was massive grumbling about being searched before those of us on the early shift were allowed to leave, largely because they knew Morozov wouldn't have the guests checked. One guy resigned on the spot."

"Were you tempted?"

Julien wondered if Denis was talking about himself.

"No. I know what was agreed. I do at least one more catering job for Baxter's and then I resign. Actually, I don't mind it. Not as well paid as this but…"

He chuckled. "Even better, my boss thought the dropped champagne was Michael's fault and so did Michael. That was a bit of luck. So what do you think's going through Morozov's mind?"

"I imagine the moment he realised the necklace hadn't fallen off, he knew it was gone. Searching the guests would have offended almost all of them. He wouldn't want to make a fuss even though the necklace is valuable. Look, there's Cheng."

Julien pulled up as they reached the road and Cheng slipped into the back with his bag of tricks.

"I'm fucking freezing,"

Cheng said. "Turn the heating up."

"Any problems?"

Julien asked.

"No. All good. How about you?"

"I had the necklace, now I don't. It was lifted from my pocket. We're on our way to pick it up from the guy who snatched it."

"Christ!"

Cheng mumbled. "That was fucking careless."

"What does he want in return?"

Denis asked.

"A lift."

"To where?"

"Does it fucking matter?"

Cheng bellowed. "We're not taking him anywhere, are we?"

Julien didn't answer.

"No way!"

Cheng swore again. "He's seen your face, maybe even yours, Denis, but he's not seen mine. Park away from where you're meeting him, I'll sneak up after you and make sure he keeps his mouth shut."

Denis turned to look at him. "How? Oh God, Cheng! You brought a gun?"

Shit. Julien could feel the situation sliding away from him. "I said no guns."

"You're not in charge,"

Cheng said. "I'm not sitting around doing the work I do with no backup."

Julien clenched his teeth. Fucking hell. "I am in charge. Once I've got the necklace, we stick to the plan. We change vehicles and no one needs to be killed."

He didn't like that there was no answer. Of course it would have been better if Ilya hadn't seen him, but Julien wasn't going to get involved in murder.

The satnav told him the church was coming up in three hundred yards and he pulled into the gateway of a closed farm shop and switched off the engine.

"Wait here,"

he said. "Give me a few minutes, then drive down and pick me up."

Julien fastened his coat as he hurried down the road.

He had no idea how he was going to handle this.

Give the guy the contents of his wallet and tell him to run? But Ilya Morozov had no need of money.

Julien slowed as he approached the covered gateway.

There was no sign of anyone. When he reached it, he saw Ilya curled up on a bench, lying on his side with his eyes closed. Maybe this would be easy. Julien crept up and slipped his hand into the pocket of Ilya's coat.

"Other pocket."

Ilya sucked in a breath as he sat up. "I didn't hear your car."

"Give me the necklace."

"I need a lift."

"I can't do that."

"But you said you would."

"No, I didn't. You assumed."

"I have to have a lift away from here. Please."

"Take the necklace off him,"

Cheng said behind Julien.

So much for giving him time to sort this. Then Denis pulled up in the car.

"Is that a gun?"

Ilya gasped.

"Well spotted."

Cheng pointed it at Ilya. "The necklace. Now!"

Julien exhaled. Maybe the threat would be enough.

"Fuck off,"

Ilya said. "We had a deal. If he doesn't stick to his side of it, you can't have the necklace."

"Hand the fucking thing over."

Cheng hauled Ilya to his feet by the scruff of his neck and pressed the gun against his ear.

The brat yelped. "I've hidden it."

"Where?"

Cheng demanded.

"Give me a lift and I'll tell you!"

Ilya cried out again as Cheng pressed the gun harder against his head.

Julien clenched his teeth. Bad enough having to work with guys like Cheng who were fine when they were doing exactly what they'd been told to do, but not when they went off-piste. Then add in an argumentative kid—because he wasn't much more than a kid—and Julien felt like wringing everyone's neck. Couldn't the idiot see that once he'd handed over the necklace, they'd just drive off and leave him behind? Or that after he'd told them where it was, Cheng would eject him from the car?

"Please! All I want is a lift. I'm not going to say a thing. I need to get out of here as much as you."

"We're wasting time,"

Julien said. "Get in the car."

"Necklace first,"

Cheng said.

"No,"

Ilya said. "Because you'll just take it and leave me."

Before Julien could stop him, Cheng side-swiped Ilya across the face with the gun. The kid's head snapped back and he groaned as he stumbled into the gateway.

"Ch—"

Oh fuck. Julien had almost called out Cheng's name and just managed to stop himself. But while Ilya was clutching his face, Julien did take the opportunity to slip his hand into the pocket he'd not checked. No necklace there either.

"Let's get out of here,"

Denis said. "If anyone sees us…"

"Please don't leave me,"

Ilya whispered shakily. He brought the heel of his hand to his mouth and wiped away a trickle of blood. "I'll give it to you. I just need a lift."

"What did you do? Swallow it?"

Cheng said with a harsh laugh.

"Yes."

Cheng's lips quirked. "Does anyone have a knife?"

"Enough!"

Julien snapped. "He hasn't swallowed it."

"For Christ's sake, we need to get moving."

Denis got back into the car.

Cheng hesitated, then climbed in the front next to Denis but didn't close the door.

"I'll give you the necklace and keep quiet about it. Take me with you. I won't be any trouble. I swear."

Julien stared at him. "Why do I suspect you'll be nothing but trouble?"

"There's only one way to deal with trouble,"

Cheng snarled. "Stamp on it."

Ilya glared. "Fine. Then I will say something. I might not know your names, but I can describe all three of you."

"Not if you're fucking dead."

Cheng made to get out of the car and Julien blocked him.

"No."

Ilya clutched his rucksack to his chest. It wasn't going to save him from a bullet.

"No one is killing anyone."

Julien opened a rear door and Ilya stared at him, wide-eyed. "Not today, at least." He beckoned Ilya. "When you're ready, your highness. Get in the car and keep your mouth shut."

Ilya climbed in. Julien got in after him and Cheng slammed his door, muttering under his breath. As Denis set off down the road, Julien thought about the three glasses of champagne Denis had drunk and decided it was the least of his worries. He turned to Ilya. "Seatbelt."

The kid fastened it. He looked awkward as he clipped it in place and Julien wondered if something hurt other than his face.

No one spoke. Ilya slipped the necklace into Julien's hand.

"Thank you,"

Julien said. "If you'd just given it to me straight away, the gun wouldn't have been necessary. Where do you want dropping off? The next town?"

"You're joking."

Cheng gave a short laugh. "Now we have what we came for, the only place we should be dropping him is off a bridge. Preferably onto a motorway. He can identify us."

"Who?"

Ilya asked.

"The three of us."

Cheng turned and glared.

"Like I said, who?"

the kid repeated.

Julien huffed. For someone who was so bright, Cheng could be incredibly slow, but then his expertise was with IT and not people.

"You could always hold me to ransom,"

Ilya said.

Cheng laughed. "Who'd want you?"

"He's Morozov's son,"

Denis said. "The guy's worth millions."

Cheng stopped laughing.

Shit! Now Julien had a different sort of problem.

They changed cars in a layby fifteen miles away from Sandridge. The Discovery was driven onto a low loader carrying damaged vehicles, then part-covered with a tarp by Ramzan who'd change the number plates back to the original ones and wipe the satnav. The car would be back on a forecourt by tomorrow.

Once Ilya was secure in the rear of Denis' Audi, the three of them moved aside to talk.

"What do you think about a ransom?"

Denis asked Julien.

"A bad idea."

Cheng shrugged. "Then we kill him."

"No,"

Julien said firmly. "We're not killing him. And we're not going to hold him to ransom. "

"Why not?"

Cheng asked.

"I don't want to go to prison for murder. Whoever pulled the trigger, all three of us would go down."

"Who's going to know apart from us?"

Cheng stared at Julien.

"Ramzan, for a start."

The guy was one of Lors' right-hand men and he'd seen there were four of them. Was it something he'd tell the boss?

"You think we wouldn't be found out?"

Julien looked from Cheng to Denis. "Reclaiming a necklace that Morozov had stolen is one thing, because he's unlikely to do much about it. But the murder of his son? We don't want any attention drawn to us, and attention would be drawn. Every guest at that wedding, every member of staff and every person in the catering team would be investigated, thoroughly. That puts me and Denis at risk."

"Ransom then,"

Cheng said.

Julien shook his head. "What do you think Lors would have to say about that if he found out? And he would find out. Once you start along the ransom route, it will only lead to trouble. The less involved we are, the better. Success is dependent on keeping a low profile. Have you not watched films involving ransoms? Seen how they turn out? It's too risky. I'm not going to throw away my freedom."

"You are throwing it away,"

Cheng barked. "One word from him and we're all fucked."

"He doesn't know who we are or where we live,"

Julien said.

"The longer he's in the car with us, the more he'll find out. I'll kill him. We can just dump him somewhere."

"I'm not going to let you do that,"

Julien said quietly. "I'll blindfold him before we drive to Denis'. I'll take him in my car and I'll deal with him." His mouth was dry.

"We need to get moving."

Denis got into the driver's seat.

Julien didn't like the way Cheng was staring at him but the guy climbed in the front and Julien joined Ilya in the back.

"I need to blindfold you."

Julien took off his tie and fastened it around Ilya's eyes.

Ilya made no protest.

The awkward way he was holding himself and the slow careful way he'd got into and out of the cars said there was definitely something wrong.

He'd kept his coat on, and tucked his hands into the sleeves, even though the heater was blasting out warm air and the rest of them had their coats off.

Ilya leaned his head against the window.

Whenever the car went over a pothole, Ilya flinched and sucked in a breath.

Julien had the ridiculous urge to…pat his leg or something.

To comfort him.

The kid had to be feeling desperate.

But why? Julien had spent a long time repressing his protective instincts, but looking at the mark on Ilya's face made him want to swing for Cheng.

He's a fucking idiot.

Julien needed a way out of this and he wasn't just thinking of the current situation. But then he'd not wanted to be involved in the first place. A life of crime was not one he'd ever envisaged for himself.

The journey to Stevenage seemed to take forever.

Julien didn't want to consider what Cheng might be thinking of doing, but he had to.

The idea of a ransom wouldn't have evaporated.

The worrying thing was that Julien didn't know what their boss would think about that.

Lors might well consider it a good idea even though few kidnappings ended with both sides happy.

Denis was young and easy-going and would probably follow Julien's lead.

But not necessarily.

Julien had worked with him on two previous occasions, with Cheng and Ramzan three times.

Lors liked to keep his teams together for a few jobs, then split them up, though Julien had only been working in the UK for the last six months.

For the previous two and half years, he'd been based in France.

Usually, as the adrenaline faded after a job, the team would chat for a while and relive the excitement—or in Julien's case—the relief of having pulled it off.

Not this time.

No one spoke.

Julien could almost taste the tension.

He closed his eyes but didn't sleep.

He didn't trust Cheng and there was no way he'd work with him again.

As if I have any fucking choice.

Now Julien had the necklace, that should have been all that mattered, but the huddle of unhappiness on the seat next to him presented him with a big problem.

He wasn't sure what made him check his pocket then, but he nearly laughed when he found it was empty.

The little brat!