‘Did you leave her or the other way around?’ Harley’s query was as direct as before.

‘I’m sorry, I . . .’ Andrew was stammering, uncomfortable with the question.

Harley fired straight back. ‘I know it’s not my business but I like to work with certain types of people, Mr Hunter. I have a very important job and I’ll pay you very well.’

Andrew paused for a moment. He dropped any pretence of being someone he wasn’t and leant forward in his seat, allowing himself to slump. ‘She left me.’

‘Hmmm . . .’

‘It wasn’t as simple as that,’ Andrew added, keen to justify himself. ‘We were very different. She has a very rich family, while I . . . don’t. Her dad never liked me. Her mum did but, well, that didn’t really matter. In the end, when we were thinking about kids, it fell apart.’

‘So her father didn’t approve?’

Andrew thought he sensed a flicker of sympathy in the man’s voice but he wasn’t sure. ‘No.’

Harley nodded slowly, scratching his chin. ‘We’re hard people to please when it comes to our little girls. You’ll learn that if you have children.’

Andrew said nothing but held the man’s gaze until Harley clapped his hands together loudly. For the first time, Andrew noticed how big they were. He’d felt his hand being squeezed when they shook hands but hadn’t noticed how brutish they now seemed. The clap echoed around the room.

‘I think you might be exactly who I’m looking for, Mr Hunter.’

Andrew nodded. ‘So how can I help you?’

Harley smiled and shook his head gently. ‘First tell me how you came to do this. Are you ex-police? Marines?’

Andrew snorted before he could stop himself. Just thinking of the marines’ training he had seen on television made him feel slightly sick. His idea of exercise was the walk it took to climb the stairs to his office each morning. His slightly overweight physique was certainly not the type to be accepted into the navy. He wouldn’t describe himself as ‘fat’ but he had noticed his suit clinging to his thighs in recent weeks. The football he used to play as a teenager seemed increasingly as if it was something from another life.

Harley was sitting impatiently with his legs crossed and fingers interlocked, waiting for a reply.

‘I have a degree in criminology,’ Andrew said.

The older man nodded. ‘But why are you doing this? Why aren’t you off with the police or MI5 or something?’

Andrew didn’t know why he continued to entertain Harley’s questions. It wasn’t because of the promise of money but perhaps it was because Harley had said he was the person he was looking for. Beyond money, Andrew was looking for something to stimulate his mind.

‘Do you want me to be honest?’ he said.

As if expecting something exciting, Harley leant in, licking his lips. ‘Always.’

‘It’s a bit of a complicated story. I studied criminology at university and met a girl, Keira, while I was there.’

‘The ex-wife?’ Harley interrupted.

Andrew nodded. ‘Her father is high up with a bank in London. They own this giant mansion in Cheshire which they use at the weekends. It’s unbelievable. Keira took me there one time while we were still first years. I thought the weekend had gone well but she was really upset on the drive home. She said her mum told her that her dad hated me and insisted we break up.’

Harley said nothing but Andrew looked up to see him nodding. He didn’t know if it was because the man had taken a dislike to him as well, or because he had children of a similar age of whom he was equally protective.

‘We didn’t break up,’ Andrew went on. ‘We stayed together through university and then flew to Vegas and got married the day after Keira’s final exam.’

The older man coughed and unlocked his fingers. He hadn’t said it explicitly but Andrew knew for sure that he had a daughter who was most likely a young adult, possibly with an equally troubling boyfriend.

‘Anyway, that didn’t go down too well,’ Andrew continued. ‘But her mum was great and her dad seemed to accept it in the end. Well, sort of. He got me a job in his bank. It wasn’t what I wanted to do but I didn’t have much choice.’

‘So how did you end up back here?’ Harley asked.

Andrew found the man hard to read. His legs were still crossed, while he was staring intently across the table, seemingly interested in Andrew’s story.

‘Guess.’

Andrew didn’t know why he’d said it but he suspected Harley Todd shared much in common with his former father-in-law. Harley seemed to relish the challenge. His eyes narrowed and he broke into a wide smile for the first time since entering the office. ‘He paid you off.’

Andrew laughed and spun his chair a quarter of the way around, before returning to face the other man. ‘How did you know?’

‘It’s what I would do.’

The answer was clinical and Andrew knew the person he was dealing with was uncannily like Keira’s father.

Andrew nodded slowly. ‘He told me he would make sure we broke up one way or another before we had children. He said that if I took the money, at least I’d have that. If I didn’t then he’d make sure I ended up with nothing.’

The other man didn’t speak for a few moments. ‘Smart man,’ he said eventually. ‘So you took the money?’

Andrew shrugged. ‘He didn’t give me much choice.’

‘How long ago?’

‘Seven years.’

Harley waved his arms around to indicate the office. ‘And this is what you did with the money?’ His tone sounded mocking but Andrew didn’t think he was trying to be cruel; it was simply the way he phrased things.

‘Among other things. I only started this six months ago.’

Harley nodded with a smile on his face. ‘Do you need my money?’

‘No.’ Andrew didn’t know why he continued to answer. It was almost as if he was facing his ex-father-in-law, unable to stop revealing his inner thoughts.

‘How much have you got left?’

‘Lots.’

‘So why do you do this?’

Andrew shrugged. ‘Because I want to.’

Harley made a point of looking around the room. ‘Why haven’t you got a better office if you have so much money?’

‘Money doesn’t interest me. It’s just there. I spend what I need to.’

Apart from nodding almost non-stop, Harley wasn’t moving. He stared at Andrew, as if fascinated by a new creature he had never seen before.

‘You’re perfect,’ he said, almost purring. Andrew didn’t respond. He didn’t know if he wanted to work for the man in any case. ‘Do you want to know what the job is?’ Harley asked.

Andrew sat up straighter, deciding that he would face the man, no matter if he felt intimidated. ‘Whatever it is, it’s going to cost you.’

‘I thought you had money?’

‘I do.’

Harley leant back into the broken seat, splaying his legs. He laughed loudly, the sound echoing around the room. ‘I’m really going to like you,’ he said.

‘So, what’s the problem with your daughter?’ Andrew asked.

The other man stopped laughing. ‘Who said I have a problem with my daughter?’

It was Andrew’s turn to smile defiantly at the man, waiting for a reply. Harley stared back before turning away.

‘Sienna,’ he said. ‘She’s just turned eighteen. She goes to college in the city. I wanted to take her away from the area but she insisted. In the end we agreed that she had to go to the university of my choice if she got to go to this college place with her friends.’

‘Why are you choosing where she goes?’ Andrew wanted to get a rise out of the man.

Harley didn’t react. ‘“We’re hard people to please when it comes to our little girls”,’ he repeated.

Andrew nodded. ‘What’s the problem?’

‘She’s pregnant. Well, she was . . .’

For the first time, Andrew thought he saw a small chink in Harley’s demeanour. One of his eyes twitched as if he was winking but it was clearly not deliberate.

‘What happened?’

‘What do you think happened?’ Harley said irritably. ‘I paid to make it go away.’