29

In the morning Mann could still feel the tingling from the fugu when he ran his tongue around his lips. He rolled over and studied Miriam. Classically beautiful, her porcelain skin was hardly touched by the sun. Her dark hair splayed out in waves across the pillow. She smiled sleepily, aware that she was being scrutinised.

‘Mmm, morning.’ She sighed contentedly.

‘I have a present for you, Miriam.’ Mann slid his arm beneath her and pulled her closer. ‘I brought something back for you that I picked up at the restaurant last night.’

‘Is it flowers?’

‘No.’

‘Chocolates?’

‘Not quite.’ He turned her on her back and pulled her down the bed a little. ‘You’ll enjoy it, though.’

Becky climbed out of the rooftop pool and stood drip-drying in the gentle breeze. The sky was milky blue. Hong Kong was just waking up. All around her were other rooftops, some with helicopter pads, others with pools or roof gardens. Immediately below her, people were playing tennis and practising Tai Chi in the green spaces. Further away she could see glimpses of the narrow streets already filling with morning traffic. In front of her was the deep-water harbour, dotted with container ships and fishing boats, and then came the glittering ocean all the way to the horizon.

It was a magical sight. The ocean and the land faced each other, defiant and yet harmonious at the water’s edge. Giant tower blocks threw up their arms to the heavens and tried to reach higher than all the others around. Each building was unique; a thing of beauty, created with the elements in mind, sculptured and multi-faceted like cut diamonds, now touched by the first rays of morning sun that turned their mirrored sides golden.

She stood gently drying in the warm breeze and watched the world come awake. She finally understood how you could fall in love with a vertical city. She felt like she was on top of the world. She was suddenly glad Alex had come. This might be just the space they needed to find the fun in their marriage again. They hadn’t made love for over six months. That thought shocked her, she hadn’t realised it was that long until she calculated it—then she remembered that the last time was after a drunken bonfire party. They had stayed up to watch the fireworks and they had drunk too much scotch. She smiled to herself when she thought about it. They had giggled like teenagers. She had let things slide for too long, thought Becky. She had to make more of an effort to make it better between them. After all—she had signed up for life—no one said marriage was easy. Her parents had had it rough sometimes and they stayed together. Becky had never invested so much in someone else before. She wasn’t about to admit it had been a mistake. If they had it good once they could have it again. But then Alex had to want it too, he had to make an effort and she wasn’t sure he was capable. She didn’t know how to please him anymore and he never tried to please her. Then a thought flashed into her head that maybe Alex was having an affair. The very idea stunned her. Becky shivered as the breeze got up. She pulled the towel closely around her and went back inside to their room. She found Alex in the bathroom, shaving. No time like the present she thought and slipping out of her bikini, she put her arms around his waist and pressed her cold body against him.

‘I need warming up.’ She looked over his shoulder at them both in the mirror. ‘It’s early. Coming back to bed for a while?’

‘I need to finish shaving.’ He held his hands away from his sides. ‘I have a busy day.’

Becky released him at once, almost as if he were too hot to touch. She went into the bedroom and lay naked on top of the bed. The rays of sun filtered in through the open curtains and flittered across her. She sighed heavily.

‘I can hear you,’ Alex called from the bathroom. ‘Stop sighing. Make sure you’re around later then we’ll have time to spend together, okay, baby?’

Becky didn’t answer; instead she lay back on the pillow and stretched out on the cool cotton sheets and enjoyed the warmth of the sun on her naked body—warming her through to the bone. Alex came into the bedroom.

‘I thought you were getting dressed?’

‘The car isn’t arriving for another hour. I have plenty of time. I am going to get some breakfast in a minute—I’m starving. Aren’t you eating?’

‘I’ll grab something later.’

She watched him get ready. He was always so meticulous. His attention to detail was frightening. ‘You look very smart,’ she said, as he finished getting ready and put the final adjustments to his hair.

‘It’s important here; people care what you look like. They judge you by what you’re wearing.’

‘Oh shit!’ she giggled. ‘I’m stuffed then.’

Alex finished looking at himself in the mirror and turned to her.

‘Maybe you should buy yourself some clothes whilst you’re here. Actually, I don’t think you’d find anything to fit you. They’re all size zeros here.’

‘Ah well, shan’t bother trying then.’

As soon as she said it she knew it was the wrong thing to say. He closed the wardrobe door abruptly and came to stand at the end of the bed.

‘That’s your philosophy for life, isn’t it, Becky?’ Alex picked up his jacket and briefcase. ‘I’m off. See you later.’ He didn’t wait for a reply. He was gone.

30

Mann was sitting next to Ng at his new desk when he saw Becky walk into the main PC area, escorted by the young policeman who had picked her up from her hotel. She didn’t see him straight away. The way the open-plan office fanned out from the central rectangle of PCs made it impossible to distinguish one area from another.

She looked lovely, thought Mann. She had swapped her trousers for a cream-coloured cotton skirt that ended just above her knee, and she had on a white open-necked blouse and carried a blue jacket.

‘You ready for a day’s work?’ He greeted her and thanked the young policeman who was steering her towards him. ‘Meet the team…Detective Sergeant Ng…’ Ng stood up to shake her hand. ‘Watch him—he has a way with the women—I’ve never worked out what it is.’

‘I’ll tell you later.’ She winked.

Shrimp walked in at that moment. ‘And this is DC Li—we call him Shrimp. Speaks English like a Yank, dresses to impress, but we haven’t worked out who.’ Shrimp looked very seventies today with his tight black stretch shirt and his black trousers. ‘He’ll be catching the plane over to join your team in the UK later tonight.’

‘Pleased to meet you, yes, I’m looking forward to it…Nice outfit, by the way. Love the shoes.’

‘Pleased to meet you too…Thanks.’ She looked down at her feet—she’d got it right by accident—they matched. ‘I’m amazed everyone speaks such good English here.’

‘English is still the main language in here for police work,’ said Mann.

‘That’s handy. What have we got planned for the day?’ she asked.

‘I’m going to give you a tour and we need to take in a couple of stops. We’ll start by buying some luggage. We’re going to need it.’ She looked at him, waiting for an explanation.

‘We need to go to the Philippines. We don’t have a lot of choice and time is not on our side. If we want to discover who has Amy and what they want in return we need to go where it all seems to be kicking off.’ Mann paused and looked at Becky. ‘What about Alex? How will he manage without you?’

She thought about it for a second and then shrugged and Mann could see she couldn’t resist a little smile. ‘Perfectly well, I’m sure. He has loads to get on with here. Anyway, the thing is, it’s work…If we have to go, we have to go. I’m ready.’ She could barely conceal her excitement at the prospect despite a short-lived twinge of guilt that the thought of heading off with Johnny Mann was much more appealing than spending any more time with Alex.