‘We could get a game for your PlayStation.’

‘Nah, there’s nothing I want.’

‘What about a movie?’

Liam sat up. ‘Yeah, OK. What’s on?’

‘I don’t know. We’ll take pot luck. We’ll go to the cinema and see what they’ve got. It’s been ages since we’ve been.’

‘Cool,’ said Liam, using the remote to switch off the television.

Katra picked up the keys to the X3 and waited for Liam to get his jacket. They walked together to the BMW. ‘Why did Dad take the CRV?’ asked Liam.

‘The BMW needs a service,’ said Katra. She pressed the fob to unlock the doors.

‘What do you think of the X6?’ he asked.

‘X6? What is that?’

Liam looked at her in disbelief. ‘You don’t know about the BMW X6? It’s the coolest car.’ He opened the passenger door and climbed in.

‘I think this car is pretty cool,’ said Katra, getting into the driving seat. She put the key in the ignition. ‘Fasten your seat belt,’ she said.

One of the technicians jumped to her feet. ‘I have a live feed!’ she shouted. ‘I’ve found it!’ Everyone in the room turned to look at her. She was a Chinese girl in jeans and a baggy sweater that seemed several sizes too big for her. Her cheeks were flushed with excitement and her head was bobbing back and forth as she stared at her monitor.

‘Where?’ said Button, hurrying over to her.

‘M25 heading east, between Junctions Eleven and Ten.’

‘Patch it on to the main screen.’

The technician sat down, tapped on her keyboard and the CCTV image filled one of the monitors on the wall. The truck was moving slowly, hemmed in by traffic.

‘Thank goodness for weekend roadworks,’ said Button. ‘OK, we have to take care of this before they reach London.’

‘What do you have in mind?’ asked Shepherd.

‘The Increment,’ said Button. ‘We can’t afford to take any chances with whatever they’ve got in that container.’

‘You don’t know how they’re going to trigger it, Charlie,’ said Shepherd. ‘If the Increment goes in they might panic and detonate.’

‘You think it might be a suicide bomb?’ asked Button.

‘If Crazy Boy is on the run he might think he’s got nothing to lose,’ said Shepherd. ‘But suicide bomb or not, I’m not sure that the Increment is the way to go. Too many cooks.’

‘How do you think we should handle it?’

Shepherd grinned. ‘I thought you’d never ask.’

Two Knives swung his feet up on to the dashboard and stared at the slow-moving traffic ahead of them. ‘It’s Sunday, where are all these people going?’ he asked.

‘It’s a sunny day so people want to go out,’ said Crazy Boy.

‘But go where? To sit in traffic with thousands of other people? The British are crazy. Maybe we should leave the motorway. We can drive up to London on the smaller roads.’