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‘That’s possibly because I’m already accounted for.’

‘Most of my best clients are married men,’ said Avril as the lift reached the top floor and the doors slid open. ‘So, what are you hoping to get for your five hundred dollars?’

‘Just follow my instructions to the letter, Mrs O’Reilly, and don’t waste time asking any questions.’

Ross got out of the lift and headed straight for the Presidential Suite with Avril a pace behind. He opened the door and was switching on all the lights when the phone began to ring. He picked it up, well aware who would be on the other end of the line.

•••

Salim stood in the lobby and watched the numbers rise on the display panel as O’Reilly’s lift progressed to the top floor without stopping. He then walked across and waited for thenext available lift. When it arrived, he joined several other guests. While one man swiped his pass card, Salim quickly pressed the button for the Executive Suites. The lift stopped on the seventh, ninth, fourteenth and twenty-first floors as it continued its slow progress to the summit. Salim began to curse out loud.

• • •

‘Khalil’s man has just got into a packed lift,’ said Jim, ‘so you’ve got about a minute, a minute and a half at the most.’

‘Understood,’ said Ross, quickly replacing the receiver. ‘We have to move and move quickly,’ he said, grabbing Avril by the arm before heading back towards the door. He left all the lights on and switched the card on the doorknob to DONOTDISTURB.

Once they were in the corridor, he began to run towards the lifts. He jabbed the Down button several times, aware that most of his ninety seconds were already up.

•••

Salim waited as the lift progressed, opening on twenty-one, twenty-three, twenty-five … When he reached the twenty-seventh floor, one door opened, and another closed.

Salim stepped out of the lift and walked cautiously across to the Presidential Suite. The first thing he saw was a narrow strip of light shining from under the door and the DONOTDISTURBsign hanging from the knob. He retreated to the far end of the corridor, took out his mobile phone and began to dial.

•••

When the lift reached the ground floor, Mr and Mrs O’Reilly stepped out and headed straight for the main entrance. They found Jim standing outside on the pavement looking as if he was hailing a taxi. When a car drew up, they both slipped into the back without a word passing between them. Ross handed Jim a tip to make it look as if he was a normal customer.

‘Thank you, sir,’ said Jim as he closed the car door, and the driver shot off, not needing to be told where his passengers wanted to go. Once the car was out of sight, Jim returned to the front desk and made a call. He woke the Ambassador.

•••

Khalil picked up the phone in his car.

‘They’re both in the Presidential Suite,’ said Salim, unaware that Mr and Mrs O’Reilly were heading towards the airport. ‘I’ll call you the moment O’Reilly comes back out.’

‘That’s when you move in. Once you’ve dealt with the girl, go straight back to the club, but make sure the “DONOTDISTURB” sign remains on the door, so they won’t find her body until a maid comes in the morning.’

‘What do I say if anyone asks when I last saw her?’

‘No one’s going to ask you anything, because you never left the club. And in any case, the police and hotel management won’t want to advertise the fact they found a hooker with her throat slit in the Presidential Suite, especially that particular hooker.’

‘And O’Reilly?’

‘We’ve agreed to meet in the lobby, and I won’t leave him in any doubt why he needs to be on the first plane back to Dublin.’

‘And if they come back out together?’ asked Salim.

‘Then my next call will be to the Chief of Police.’

•••

As the car sped along the King Salman Highway, Ross didn’t need to look across at Avril to know her usual self-composed front had been replaced by a mask of apprehension. He reached across and squeezed her hand, and she gave him a smile never afforded to a customer.

As they approached King Khalid Airport, they were greeted by a swarm of passengers heading into the concourse, and although the sun had not yet risen, from the size of the crowd one might have thought it was the middle of the day.

The driver came to a halt outside International Departures and handed his passenger two tickets.