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pause. ‘He mentioned that Sereyev knew of something big on the horizon. Did he ever elaborate?’
    ‘I don’t know anything beyond what you’ve read,’ Cooper said, ‘though the timing worries me.’
    Harvey perked up. ‘What do you mean?’
    ‘I take it you’ve heard of the recent troubles in Tagrilistan,’ she said, soliciting a nod from Harvey.
    The sanctions imposed on Russia following their annexing of Crimea had hit the country’s economy hard, and its reliance on energy exports added to their woes with the slump in oil prices. The rouble had lost more than sixty per cent of its value against the dollar in one year, and foreign investment had all but dried up.
    Far from learning their lesson, though, the Russians had turned their attention to Tagrilistan, one of many former Soviet republics bordering Russia to the south. As with Ukraine, a pro-Russian government had once led Tagrilistan, but their recent defeat in the elections had caused serious unrest. Russia seized the opportunity to stoke up further resentment and had sent in troops and equipment, though they denied having anything to do with the civil war ravaging the country. Those sent to fight wore no insignia and carried no identification, and the weapons they used were available in many countries in the region, though no-one was under any illusion as to their real origin.
    ‘I was as surprised as anyone when Demidov sent his troops there,’ he said. ‘It didn’t work out too well in Ukraine.’
    ‘It’s all about securing his own future,’ Cooper said. ‘With Ukraine, he was still reeling from accusations of vote rigging in the 2012 elections, and he saw it as the perfect chance to unite the nation and increase his approval rating. It worked for a while, but once their economy took a nosedive, so did his popularity. Focusing on a new enemy in Tagrilistan allowed him to bounce back a little, but he doesn’t seem to have a clear strategy, and that makes him unpredictable.’
    ‘So what does this have to do with the big thing that Sereyev told Willard was on the horizon?’
    ‘Viktor Milenko is Tagrilistan’s new president, and he’ll be visiting London at the end of next week,’ Cooper said. ‘He’s looking to sign a trade deal with us and the rest of Europe, and the Russians aren’t happy about it. Tagrilistan is sitting on a large oil deposit, and Milenko is offering it to us at five dollars a barrel below Moscow prices. If this deal goes ahead, it will push Russia further into recession.’
    ‘You think they’ll try to hit Milenko while he’s over here?’
    ‘In the absence of any other information, I have to assume the worst. I’m preparing a report for Veronica detailing my concerns, but this is one time I’d be glad to be mistaken.’
    Harvey agreed. If Milenko were assassinated in London, it would send out the message that dealing with Britain came at a hefty price.
    ‘If you could copy me into that report, I’d appreciate it,’ he said. ‘In the meantime, I’ll try to find out what Bessonov is really up to.’

Chapter 3
    18 January 2016
    Stanislav Yerzov pulled up at the front of the Novotel nestled in the centre of the Tagrilistani capital and handed the valet the keys to his two-year-old Toyota RAV4 before heading inside the hotel. Normally he would have had a driver take him everywhere in his armour-plated BMW, as befit Tagrilistan’s vice president, but this wasn’t a typical social meeting.
    He made straight for the restaurant and walked past several foreign businessmen before taking a seat at the table he’d reserved. His two dinner guests arrived just as he gave the waiter his order from the wine list, and he greeted them nervously.
    ‘I’m not happy at the thought of being seen with you,’ he whispered. ‘Is it really necessary?’
    ‘This isn’t something we could have done over the phone,’ the first Russian said. He was almost as large as Yerzov, but carried muscle rather than flab. His