‘Good luck, brother,’ said Assadi, climbing out of the car. He hurried to the rear doors of the Transit. Al-Kawthari got out of the Prius and tried to open the boot. He found it was locked and banged impatiently on the rear window. Malik waved an apology and pressed the boot button. Al-Kawthari grabbed the gun case and joined Assadi at the back of the Transit. Assadi climbed in and al-Kawthari passed him the gun case, then got in after him. The van drove off.

Malik sat where he was and watched them go. His instructions were to wait in the car park for thirty minutes, then to drive back to Ealing. His job was done.

‘Bravo Two, I have eyeball on the vehicle, but two of the tangoes have gone. Only the driver is in the vehicle.’ Willoughby-Brown frowned at the transceiver. Gone? Where could they have gone?

‘Bravo Two, are the other tangoes on foot?’ asked Aspden.

‘I don’t know, I can’t see them,’ said Bravo Two.

‘Charlie One, can you get on foot and into the mall?’

‘Charlie One, roger that.’

Willoughby-Brown’s frown deepened. It didn’t make much sense for two jihadists to be wandering around Westfield with a gun case. One, there was a good chance someone would recognise the case for what it was and report them. Two, a sniper rifle – assuming that was what was in the case – would hardly be the weapon of choice for an attack on a crowded shopping centre. The gun was slow to reload and generally sniper rifles had small magazines and weren’t geared up for rapid fire. If the jihadists were planning to mount an attack on Westfield, they’d more likely go for AK-47s or semi-automatics. He looked at the screen map and pressed the button to talk to his driver. ‘Tim, let’s go to Westfield Shopping Centre. See if you can get near to where the cars come out of the car park.’

‘No problem, sir.’

Willoughby-Brown pressed the transmit button on his transceiver. ‘Mike One, I’m not convinced they’re on foot. It makes more sense to me that they’ve switched vehicles.’

‘We’ve not seen anything like counter-surveillance before,’ said Aspden.

‘I get that, but that’s not to say they wouldn’t leave it until the final run,’ said Willoughby-Brown. ‘And I can’t see them arranging to meet a sniper in a shopping centre. It just feels wrong.’

‘I agree, I’ll get Charlie Two to hang back.’

‘Roger that,’ said Willoughby-Brown. ‘And I’d suggest you get someone at the exit, check the drivers and passengers. I think we’re in the middle of a switch.’

His phone vibrated and he looked at the screen. It was Shepherd. He took the call. ‘The tangoes are on the move, with the gun,’ he said. ‘Westfield Shopping Centre, but I don’t think that’s the target. I’ll get the SFOs to pick you up. How did it go with the O’Neills?’

‘All done and dusted,’ said Shepherd.