Page 120 of The Last Kiss Goodbye

‘So Dominic Blake was a spy.’

She nodded.

‘KGB. Who’d have thought it?’

‘Well he was. But it turns out that he was working for the British all along.’

‘What do you mean? He was a double agent? Or is that a triple agent?’ he asked, trying to work it out. ‘It didn’t say that in the piece.’

The pizza arrived and Abby lowered her voice. She was glad that the patio was empty as she told Nick everything she had discovered about Dominic Blake, glad to share it with him, safe in the knowledge that he wouldn’t judge.

‘So you think Jonathon Soames dobbed Blake in to the Russians?’ he said, leaning back in his chair when she had finished.

‘That’s Victoria’s theory.’

‘Bloody hell,’ said Nick sipping his beer. ‘With friends like that, who needs enemies? So Dominic Blake is dead, probably murdered, and Soames get a peerage and a stately home . . .’

‘It isn’t fair, is it?’ said Abby, glad of Nick’s support, glad that he saw this the way she did, glad he had spotted the injustice of it all.

‘Can’t you out Soames?’

‘How?’

Nick shrugged as if he was thinking out loud.

‘Elliot Hall wrote the piece. I thought his dad was Andrew Shah.’

‘He is,’ she said, wondering how he knew that.

‘Shah owns one of the largest newspaper groups in Europe. The press have come under fire recently, but remember all the attention the Telegraph got for breaking the expenses scandal. Every newspaper in the world wants a bit of that kudos. If one of Shah’s papers outed Soames, as a Russian asset, a traitor, that’s big news. That sells papers.’

Abby shook her head. ‘Soames is establishment, Nick. So is the Shah family. They’re all going to protect each other. That’s how it works. I’ve learnt that much recently.’

Nick picked up the last bit of pizza and stuffed it into his mouth.

‘Shah cares about profit. He cares about the reputation and power of his newspapers.

‘Look, I’ve discussed this with Elliot, and he reckons it’s not in his interests to admit he was wrong about Dominic.’

‘But Elliot is just a writer,’ he said with pointed dismissiveness. ‘Bypass him. Take it straight to the editor.’

‘Which would be a kick in the teeth for Elliot.’

Nick looked slightly gleeful at her remark. She wondered if he had guessed. Guessed what had gone on between them.

‘So take it elsewhere,’ he said simply. ‘Take it to the BBC. Take it to the Times or Sky News.’

‘I can’t,’ she said softly. She heard the old Abby creep back into her voice. The Abby who thought her place was to stay in the archives and hide away from everything.

‘Do you want to?’ asked Nick.

She nodded. ‘If Soames betrayed Dominic, I want to prove that. Not just for Dominic or for Ros, but for me,’ she said honestly. ‘You know, I really felt kicked to the floor when you were unfaithful, Nick. You were my world, the only family I’ve got, the one person I trusted. Writing this story helped me through that. It made me think about other people, not just myself. It taught me I could be a little bolder, in life, in love.’

She thought about Elliot Hall and looked away.

‘Then do it,’ said Nick simply.

‘How on earth do I do that after so many years?’