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sincerely hope you’re going to have a slice of Jools’s birthday cake tonight. I made it with Holly last night. Chocolate sponge.’
    ‘I’ll have a tiny bit, but only because it’s Jools and I adore her. What present are you giving her by the way? Did you and Ben agree on the new iPhone?’
    Alice nodded. ‘I was against it, as you know, but Ben really wanted to treat her so we got her one. I’m going to give it to
her tonight. I wish Ben was here, though. He deserves to see her face when she opens it. She’s going to be thrilled.’
    ‘I’ll video it and we can send it to him,’ Kevin offered.
    Alice knew that if Ben didn’t call tonight to wish his beloved daughter a happy birthday, something bad had definitely happened. She took a deep breath and crossed her fingers.
    Alice and Holly lit the candles while Kevin distracted Jools. Then Alice turned out the lights and carried the cake to the table. Jools’s eyes lit up.
    ‘Ooh, chocolate sponge! My favourite! Thanks, Mum.’
    She looked so beautiful, her face framed in the candlelight. Alice wanted to hug her but knew it would ruin the moment, so she just smiled. ‘You’re welcome, darling, and Holly deserves thanks too. She helped me.’
    Jools looked across at her sister. ‘Thanks, Holly. You can have a big slice, not as big as mine, obviously, as I’m the birthday girl, but almost as big.’
    ‘Well, go on, then, make a wish,’ Kevin urged.
    Jools closed her eyes, inhaled and then, as she was about to blow and make a wish, Alice’s phone rang.
    ‘OMG, it’s Daddy. I was just wishing he’d call and now he has!’ Jools rushed to the phone and picked it up. ‘Daddy? … Oh, sorry, I thought … Yes, she is, I’ll get her now.’ Jools handed the phone to Alice. ‘It’s someone called Jonathan Londis.’
    Alice held the phone to her ear. ‘Hello?’
    ‘Hello, Mrs Gregory, it’s Jonathan Londis here, from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. I’m calling you from Eritrea.’
    ‘Yes?’ Alice felt a cold chill down her back. Why was the FCO calling her? Something was wrong.
    ‘I’m afraid it’s about your husband, Dr Ben Gregory.’
    ‘What is it?’ Alice whispered, her voice catching.
    ‘The car he was travelling in was –’
    ‘In an accident?’ Alice interrupted. An accident was okay. An accident meant he was injured, but she’d help him recover. Jonathan Londis said nothing. The phone shook in Alice’s hand. ‘Is Ben all right? Tell me, is he all right?’ Fear gripped her throat. Was Ben seriously injured? Maybe he’d just broken his leg or had concussion or something. She had to hope for the best. She clung to hope.
    ‘Do you need me to come out and look after him?’ she asked.
    ‘I’m afraid it’s rather more serious than that.’
    Alice’s whole body began to tremble. ‘What do you mean? What …’
    ‘I’m terribly sorry, Mrs Gregory, but the jeep your husband was travelling in hit a landmine.’
    ‘I don’t … I’m sorry, but what does … I …’ Alice stumbled over her words as her mind tried to push away the dark thoughts engulfing her.
    Jonathan Londis cleared his throat. ‘I’m afraid it appears that your husband and his co-passenger, Declan Hayes, were killed instantly.’
    ‘
Noooooo!
’
    Alice’s knees gave way. Jools screamed. Holly threw her arms around her mother as if to shield her from something that might come crashing out of the sky.
    Although the girls didn’t speak a word to each other, from their mother’s scream, they understood. Their father wasn’t coming home, ever.



Part 2
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LONDON AND ERITREA

Ben: ten hours earlier, Eritrea …
    Ben woke up and jumped out of bed. He threw back the thick curtains and looked out at the blue sky. He felt filled with energy. This trip had been like a shot of adrenalin in the arm. He was his old self, full of vigour and optimism, ready to take on the world.
    So far Declan had been a great travel companion and colleague. He was enthusiastic,