And then he turned and carefully, slowly, quietly climbed the steps, clambered out into the night, and replaced the hatch. He returned to his car, where he made a 999 call, informing the operator that a man had been shot and killed in the cellar of The Freemasons Arms and giving the address. He removed the battery from his phone and then waited, wanting to witness the moment when the cops arrived, and they marched out the guys inside. When the captive kids and girls were brought out and put into vans bound for safer places and happier times.

He waited.

And with a sinking sensation he realised that, of course, the local police, instead of getting in their cars to investigate, would instead have made a call to Doyle, who would have told them to stand down.

Just as he was having that thought, the door to the pub opened and out poured three of the security men, including the doorman and the barman, the security light flicking on, sending light skittering down the blades of the machetes they brandished. He heard voices, shouting.

With a heavy heart, Abbott fired up the motor, drove it back to where he had found it, and then returned to the Travelodge.

Where, to his surprise, he found McGregor waiting for him.

Chapter 27

CHAPTER 27

‘What are you doing here?’ he asked. McGregor was sitting in the driving seat of his Beamer.

‘You weren’t answering your phone,’ said McGregor, cheerfully.

‘So fuckin’ what? It’s the middle of the night. Anyway, how did you know I was here?’

‘I’ll tell you how I know, shall I?’ replied McGregor. ‘I know because there is very little that goes on in this city that we don’t know about. I know because you’ve taken somebody’s identity, haven’t you, ya cheeky bastard?’

Abbott tensed, ready to draw the Glock . . .

But wait, something wasn’t quite right here. If Doyle knew he’d been impersonating Flyte, they wouldn’t have sent the assistant to deliver the news. He’d either be dead or bundled into the back of a van by now. ‘That’s right,’ he said carefully.

‘What happened? You find Abbott’s hotel room key and decide that you wanted a free room, did you?’

Abbott nodded, still feeling cautious. No way was he out of the woods. After all, a sharp-eyed receptionist might have put two and two together. On the other hand, it wasn’t as though he’d ever exchanged more than a word with anyone. Half the time he’d passed through reception with no one on duty. After dark, forget it.

So it was quite possible that any receptionist would have been none the wiser and unable to shed any light for an enquiring member of the Doyle crew.