heart accelerate, as it did every time it was mentioned. ‘And did you?’
‘I tried.’ Dita shrugged. ‘But I couldn’t do it in the timeframe he wanted. As you know, he quit almost a year ago, surrendered his visas, permits . . . All the paperwork needed fresh approvals, so . . . these things can’t be done overnight.’
‘So you didn’t get him out there?’
‘Well now, I didn’t say that,’ Dita said obliquely. ‘Just that I couldn’t get the paperwork he wanted arranged in time.’
Lee felt a shot of acid burn her stomach. She knew exactly what this double talk meant. ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ she demanded.
Dita arched an eyebrow. ‘I’m not allowed to mention his name in your presence, but if he’s leaving the country you need to be told?’
‘It’s Syria, Dita. It’s not just anywhere. You know that.’
‘Look, I didn’t think he’d actually do it. When we spoke about it, he was conflicted. He sounded a mess. I think he’d been drinking. He was rambling, making no sense. He’s going to be a father soon. I thought the baby would keep him here. That’s a big reason to stay.’
Clearly, though, there was a bigger reason to go, Lee mused. And if this trip hadn’t been instigated by Dita, then that meant he wasn’t out there for a story. So what was he doing over there? The memoirs notion was seeming less credible too: he’d never been motivated by money and he certainly wouldn’t prize it over his new little family. ‘Do you know where he is out there? I heard Palmyra.’
‘Who told you that?’
‘His wife.’
‘You saw his wife?’ Dita looked surprised. ‘You must be worried.’
Lee ignored the question. ‘As far as I’m aware, things are pretty stable in Palmyra at the moment. There’s no obvious reason I can see that he would choose to go there. You and I both know that’s not where the headlines are.’
Slowly, grimly, Dita nodded. ‘He said Palmyra to stop her from panicking. He doesn’t want her stressing about him and risking the baby.’
‘Okay.’ Lee’s muscles braced, knowing this meant bad news. If he was giving out false information to stop his pretty young wife from worrying, then clearly there was reason to worry. ‘So where is he then?’
‘He was smuggled over the Turkish border in an aid convoy.’
Lee’s eyes narrowed, her heart giving a small skip of fear. ‘Where on the border?’
‘Near Jarabulus.’
Lee inhaled sharply. She knew it well – it was in the northern region of the Aleppo province, where the Euphrates flowed in from Turkey. The road came in from Karkamıs¸ on the Turkish side and was – as far as she knew – open, controlled by the Syrian National Army.
She felt a kernel of anxiety take root in her stomach. Jarabulus was close, too close to be coincidental . . . She could feel Dita watching her, trying to read her reactions. ‘And now? Where is he heading for?’
Dita shrugged. ‘I don’t know. He’s gone off-grid. One of our guys heard he’d hitched a ride with a US unit heading east, but that’s all we know.’
He was heading east.
Dita sat forward, her fingers interlaced between her knees. ‘You’re worried. I’m worried. This isn’t like him. Cunningham’s a pro. He knows the protocols. Without the right paperwork, he knows there are no back-ups in place if anything goes wrong, he’ll have no UN protection.’
‘So then why did you help him?’
‘He wasn’t going to be stopped. If not me, he’d have got someone else to get him out there. This way, at least I knew the drop point.’
Lee blinked, her eyes feeling dry, her breath a rasp. ‘It could all be perfectly innocent. Perhaps he really does just want one last run before domesticity hits.’
‘No.’
‘How can you be so sure?’
‘Because he left a message on my personal phone once he was over the border, the night he disappeared.’
‘Saying what?’
‘That he’s got some unfinished business to deal with.’ She stared directly into Lee’s eyes. ‘I don’t suppose you know what that would be, do you?’
Lee felt her thoughts become jumbled and confused, like they were snow in a snow globe being shaken. ‘Why do you think I’d know?’
‘Because the last thing he said before ringing off was that I was not to tell you.’
‘You’re agitated today,’ Dr Hansje said, seeing how her fists clenched and unclenched.
Lee looked down, catching herself, and stretched them out, sliding them slowly down her thighs. ‘Sorry. It’s been a shit week.’ She breathed out through an exaggerated