Bennett frowned as Knox sped through a roundabout and the road started to curve, skirting the edge of Horsham.

‘Kidnapping the head of a security service is a hell of a play,’ Bennett said. ‘Bigger than I thought even the KGB would try.’

‘Apparently they’re changing the rules of engagement,’ Knox replied.

‘But surely the fallout would be more dangerous than anything they could get out of Holland.’

‘All bets would be off. It’d be total anarchy.’

Bennett stared at the display in front of her, willing it to light up. For another three fast miles there was nothing. Then, at last, a faint blip appeared on its edge.

‘You were right after all,’ she said. ‘We’ve found them.’

‘Thank God,’ Knox replied, shifting once more into a higher gear. ‘Now we can stop this and work out once and for all what those bastards have done to Jack.’

He smiled over at Bennett, but she was still frowning. She understood how desperate he was to save his best friend, and to believe he was only a victim. But with so much evidence to the contrary, she worried just how big a blind spot Williams was for Knox, and if that was exactly why he’d been sent to abduct the director general.

‘Richard,’ she said, ‘I need to ask you something. If it’s the only option, will you kill Williams to save Holland?’

‘I’ll do what I have to,’ Knox said, keeping his eyes fixed on the edge of the Jaguar’s headlight beams.

Bennett nodded. She wasn’t happy with Knox’s answer. But she didn’t say anything else. She just looked at the blinking light that was starting to move little by little towards the centre of the tracker-­receiver’s screen.

Chapter 58

Chapter 58

Holland spotted the glint of slow-flowing water in the clear moonlight. Wherever Williams was driving them, they were now following the course of a river.

After a few minutes, the water began to widen and they started passing the hulking shapes of sheds and warehouses lit by milky yellow lights that ran along narrow pavements. They’d reached the fringes of a town, but unfortunately for Holland there was no sign announcing where they’d arrived.

Williams kept driving in silence. Holland hadn’t tried to get anything else out of him since he’d come to, but he had kept watching his kidnapper, looking to see if there were any signs of stress or cracks in his stony facade. There weren’t.

The Bentley passed through a railway arch, and the buildings started to change. Holland could tell they were getting closer to the centre of town, but it was late and the place was extremely sleepy. Then Williams took an abrupt right turn and they crossed the river, which had suddenly widened again. Holland wondered if they were driving over an estuary and they’d travelled all the way to the coast.