The flight was only two hours but seemed to take forever. We said goodbye at the airport. It was not easy. I hated walking away from her but I was at least able to tell myself it would be the last time. I landed at two in the afternoon. She was due in at just after six but I didn't want to do anything without her. I just waited.

The airport was full of people. Stag parties, families, couples on romantic breaks. And me. Waiting for her.

When her flight came into land, I was waiting for her to come through security. I watched as the crowd headed through. Where was she?

"Mr Ward," a man's voice said. I looked across to see someone heading across to me. "I was asked to deliver this to you."

I looked down at the envelope in his hand. "Who gave you this?"

"He gave me the envelope and your photo. Paid me a grand, can you believe that? It'll help with the holiday if I can find somewhere to change it!"

He was already walking away. I thought about going after him but already the security guards were glancing my way. Turning away from them, I tore open the envelope.

Dear John,

No one takes things from me without consequences. I hear a little of your reputation but you clearly do not know enough of mine. I give you a choice. Come and see your beloved in the tower. It can be just like old times, her fucking me for money, you having the shit kicked out of you while she watches. You'll beg for mercy like William did, whining like a bitch at the end, he was. That's option one. Come and play. Or, because I'm a nice guy, you can fuck off back down whatever hole you crawled out of. Call it quits. Enjoy Prague.

I read it again. He'd known about the flight. How had he known? "George," I said out loud. It couldn't have been anyone else. The son of a bitch had betrayed me.

The tower. He was back in the tower. When I'd last gone to it, they were still finishing off construction. He'd gone back there. No doubt in the same penthouse. Was he doing it to torment me or did he just not care? Either way, he had made one big mistake. He thought he could antagonise me into coming for her, gun me down before I got close. But he was wrong. My emotions weren't bringing me back. They were gone. This was a job. I had been doing jobs like this for years, all of them preparation for this. A smile flickered across my face. The fifteen year old me would look at me now and quail. Mr Sharp would quail too, before I executed him.

He thought he could treat her like this? He would find out what it meant to take my love away from me. If he hurt her, if there was so much as a scratch on her when I got there, he would suffer like no man ever had. But that was emotions. Lock them down. The job. Focus on the job. First, get to George.

I was on the next flight back, the letter in my jacket pocket. I left the luggage behind. There was no need for it where I was going. When I arrived in London it was gone nine and dark outside. I got a cab to George's cafe, surprised to find the lights out inside.

Warily, I went in, the door unlocked. I listened. Nothing. Then a sound over by the counter. I moved quietly, stopping when I saw a figure slumped down on the floor near the till.

"I'm sorry," George said, spitting out a tooth as he tried and failed to sit up. "I couldn't stop them."

"It's all right," I replied, grabbing a cloth from the counter top. I pressed it to the wound on his side, doing my best to staunch the flow of blood. "Hold that there."

"There were too many of them," he said, coughing violently.

"Tell me what you know about the tower."

"If you're going in there, you'll need what's in the case in the back. Bring it to me."

There was a suitcase I recognised in the kitchen. It had been used to ferry things back and forth to William, things like the skeleton swipecard that was still in my pocket. I brought it out to him and laid it on the floor.

"Open it."

I did as he asked, looking at the range of things inside, recognising no more than a couple.

"Take that, that, and that. Then go to Vincent Ellison's office."

"Who's he?"

"His company designed the security system for the tower."

His face started to turn grey. "Come on," I said, getting an arm under his shoulder. "We need to get you to hospital."

"So call me an ambulance."

"I'm faster. Where's your car keys?"

I got him onto the back seat of his car before climbing in and setting off. I raced through the traffic, getting him there in ten minutes. He gave me Ellison's address and talked me through how to use the things in my pockets. I skidded around a corner when we reached the hospital before coming to a halt outside A and E. I hit the horn then climbed out of the car. "Good luck," George said through gritted teeth as I started to run.