Haslam stood still for a moment, then went to the door of the hangar and stuck his head out. He came back quickly. ‘I think you’re right. They have gone.’ He nodded to Bruno. ‘Bring the tractor.’

Bruno ran outside and Frank said, ‘All right, everybody, start heaving those sacks.’ Haslam and Philips each grabbed the nearest sack of currency and dragged them to the Lear. Terry joined in. Frank pointed his gun at me. ‘And you stay quiet.’

‘I’m not going to stop you leaving,’ I said. I didn’t care if they got away with the lot, as long as the people in the Boeing were safe.

Bruno roared in driving one of those curiously specialised vehicles you see on airports, just an engine set between wheels with a seat on top and a steering wheel. It was probably weighted with concrete so it wouldn’t lift off the ground when it manoeuvred the Lear about the airstrip. He backed it up to the Lear, and Philips started fiddling with the fixings on the plane’s front undercarriage strut. Haslam yelled, ‘Everybody in – we’re leaving now. Never mind those bags.’

Haslam was first on board and Terry followed. Bruno revved his engine and looked over his shoulder at the flight deck of the Lear, waiting for Philips to hook it up to the tractor and for Haslam to give him the signal.

Frank was about to climb into the jet when there was a faint cry from outside the hangar. ‘Hey!’

Frank turned his head. ‘What the hell is it, Slim?’ he shouted.

The armed man who had been out by the Boeing’s cargo hold appeared at the door of the hangar. ‘Something’s happening on the runway.’

Frank said, ‘Go see what’s up, Bruno.’

Bruno looked behind him, saw that the drawbar was not yet connected to the Lear, and sped the tractor out of the hangar. Philips watched it go and threw up his hands in exasperation. ‘Bloody hell,’ he said to no one in particular.

Then he beckoned to Frank, who joined him while keeping a wary eye on me. ‘We take her out of the hangar,’ said Philips. ‘And as soon as we start the engines we’re on our way. There’ll be no preliminary run-up. If the police hear aircraft noises in here, they’ll start to move. You’d better get Slim on board.’

‘He can join us just before you start the engines.’ He grinned tightly. ‘I told you they were pulling a bluff with those fighters.’

Bruno appeared at the hangar door on foot. He came inside at a dead run, his legs pumping at the ground like pistons. He skidded to a halt and said breathlessly, ‘They’ve blocked the runway. Looks like three trucks.’

‘How far up?’ asked Philips.

‘About halfway.’

‘Son of a bitch!’ exploded Frank. ‘We ought to be able to clear those. There are enough of us.’