‘Not necessarily,’ Johnny says. ‘Not if it was known that the Turks had the Twelve in their corner.’
‘But just to be clear,’ Eve says. ‘Tahir has no idea that his son has been in contact with them. The Twelve, I mean.’
‘No idea whatever. He’d almost certainly view it as a very serious betrayal.’
‘So.’ Eve feels an icy hand close around her heart. ‘Where do we come in?’
‘Tahir Yilmaz, as I told you, will be attending the meeting with the Albanian and N’Drangheta bosses. It’ll be just the three of them on a private Greek island, although the time and place of the meet isn’t yet known, or not to us, anyway. Now Tahir may be a bit old-fashioned in his thinking, but he’s clever. He knows that he’s under constant surveillance by police and intelligence agencies, so he’s not going to try to disguise his presence in the Aegean. He is going to be cruising the Greek islands on his yacht, and he’s taking a party of family and friends with him, including his son Emir and his daughter…’ Johnny takes a folded sheet of paper from a jacket pocket and consults it. ‘His daughter Defne, and Defne’s friend Buse. And this provides us with a unique opportunity. Defne and Buse are both seventeen, and because there will be unmarried men on board the yacht, protocol demands that the girls are accompanied by a responsible female adult. In this case, Tahir has specified a British-trained nanny.’
Oxana frowns. ‘Surely nannies look after small children?’
Johnny opens his hands. ‘I’m not an expert. But I understand that they’re sometimes employed by traditionally minded European families to act as chaperones for teenage girls.’
‘Are you thinking what I think you’re thinking?’ Oxana asks.
‘It’s just possible that I am.’ Johnny smiles faintly. ‘The word is that Tahir Yilmaz is extremely protective of his daughter. He wants her in good hands on this holiday. He’s been told that British-trained nannies are the crème de la crème, and he’s set his heart on one.’
‘You want Oxana to pretend to be ananny?’ Eve bursts out, unable to contain herself.
‘That’s the general idea.’
‘A nanny for a mafia boss.’
Johnny nods.
‘With a view to killing two other mafia bosses?’
He shrugs. ‘That’s pretty much the long and the short of it, yes.’
Oxana frowns. ‘So no one on the yacht would know that I wasn’t a real nanny?’
‘No.’
‘Not even Emir, the son?’
‘No. We’d tell Emir that the Twelve will take charge of eliminating the other two bosses, but not who this would be done by, or how. There’s no reason he’d suspect you. From what I understand the Yilmaz clan are decidedly old-school. They’re not likely to see a female assassin coming.’
‘And how exactly is Oxana supposed to accomplish all of this?’ Eve asks. ‘Dive off the yacht in her nanny’s uniform with a knife between her teeth? How does she get anywhere near this mafia meeting?’
‘That would be up to Oxana. The Twelve have a very high regard for her resourcefulness.’
Eve glances sideways. Oxana’s lips have formed a faint smile, and there’s a dangerous glitter in her eyes.
‘And me?’ Eve asks. ‘What would my role be in all of this?’
Johnny regards her thoughtfully. ‘Why don’t we go through to the dining room?’
I bite down on my anger. The whole project seems reckless and poorly thought through. When all’s said and done, there’s no actual plan. Just the hope that Oxana can somehow improvise the death of two of the most ruthless and closely protected organised crime bosses in the world. The Twelve are playing her, that much is clear. Flattering her into agreeing to amission that will probably see her killed. And I’m not agreeing to that. No fucking way. I’ll fight them to my last breath. I will not see Oxana’s life thrown away.
‘There’s something I want to say,’ Eve says when the waiter has filled their water glasses, taken their order, and departed. ‘The three of us agreed, when we first discussed going freelance, that any one of us could veto a project, for whatever reason. Well, I want to veto this one. Partly because Oxana and I work together, and there’s clearly no place for me on this one, but mostly because it’s simply too dangerous. Oxana alone, without backup, without any chance of rescue if things go wrong…’ Eve’s face is pale. Her hands are clutching her knees beneath the table. In her peripheral vision she sees Oxana opening and closing her mouth. ‘I’m sorry,’ Eve says. ‘But no. No way. To any of it.’
Johnny nods, his lips compressed. ‘I hear you, Eve. And I know that the whole thing sounds very thrown together at this stage. But I promise you it will be extremely carefully planned, including Oxana’s exfiltration. You have my word on that.’
‘I’m sorry, Johnny, but no. That’s my last word.’
He nods again. ‘Well, I’m sorry, Eve, but it appears that you don’t actually have the last word. And nor, for that matter, do I. Because I’ve been informed by Captain Gladstone that, in return for five million pounds that was deposited to the account that the two of you share, and which paid for your new flat, Oxana agreed to place her services exclusively at the disposal of the Twelve.’
Eve stares at him, incredulous. ‘But… I thought that money was ourseverancepayment. In return for our silence about… about the Twelve and everything we know about them.’